Did you know that without the resurrection we wouldn't know if we'd truly been forgiven and made whole?
If we thought Jesus died to save us, but was still buried in a tomb somewhere, would we know if we were actually forgiven?
Let me give you a good example to emphasize what I'm talking about. One day a man was caught in the act of committing a crime. The King in that country tried him and found him guilty. The man begged to not be punished and said he couldn't go to jail or his family wouldn't be able to survive without him. So the King thought about it and said, if the man could find someone else to go to prison in his place, then he would consider the debt paid.
The man said he had a brother that had no children and was willing to serve the time for him. So the king agreed and the brother went to jail. The sentence was set for 1 year. After that year the man that committed the crime looked and looked for his brother but couldn't find him. He went to the prison where he was supposed to have been held but nobody knew anything. So the man wondered if the king was satisfied that the debt had been paid. He wasn't sure if he was really free from it.
Until that man saw his brother walking around free, he would always wonder if he was truly free.
When Jesus died in our place, it was imperative that He was seen after He died. To have risen from the grave, showing himself to the disciples, let them know that the price for sin had been paid and they no longer had to bow to it. Bondage was a thing of the past, totally set free.
If He had not risen and shown himself, they would have always wondered if or when his promise was sure.
Thinking that His death was enough is only half of the story. He is risen and seated at the right hand of God. It is finished! There is no longer any labor to be done to complete the finished work. Jesus labored and birthed our freedom from bondage to fear, to be sick, to be anxious, to be without love or acceptance. We now have the opportunity to live eternally with Him.
The moment you choose Jesus, you choose life. You enter into the heavenly realm of possibilities. Heaven on earth produces life altering results. If you can think it, it is. Nothing is withheld to those who love Him and are called according to His purposes.
What are His purposes? Walking totally free from any bondage that keeps you in grave clothes. Grave clothes are nothing more than old ways of thinking. Old ways of thinking are generational illnesses, exposure to any sickness that comes along. Change your stinking thinking!
Being born again places you with a new bloodline. You've been grafted into a new family tree. Your branch stems from a healthy root system. There is no dis-ease from within, only health and wholeness. God's glory, His good opinion of you, covers you completely. You are no longer wearing the grave clothes but glory clothes. Shine forth!