Risen and Active

Jesus is not a doctrine, a theology, or a good idea. He is a reality. In the midst of going deep in Kingdom revelation, Jesus whispers,"Don't forget the One who is the King of this kingdom."

It is important to understand doctrines and theologies, however,  I refuse to only know Him through a theological standpoint.

I must experience Him.

Brennan Manning states this in His book, Abba's Child...

"For me, the most radical demand of Christian faith lies in summoning the courage to say yes to the present risenness of Jesus Christ. I have been a Christian for more nearly 50 years, and I have seen the first fervor wear off in the long, undramatic routine of life. I have lived long enough to appreciate that Christianity is lived more in the valley than on the mountaintop, that faith is never doubt-free, and that although God has revealed Himself in creation and in history, the surest way to know God, is in the words of Thomas Aquinas, as tamquam ignotum, as utterly unknowable. No thought can contain Him, no word can express Him; He is beyond anything we can intellectualize or imagine."

The more we journey into Him, the more we see that there is still to go. In the words of Gregory of Nyssa,  "This is truly the vision of God: never to be satisfied in our desire to see him. But by looking at what we do see, we must always rekindle our desire to see more. So there can be no limit interrupting our growth in ascending to God, because there is no limit to the Good, and our desire for the Good is not ended by being satisfied.".

The very instant I try to place Jesus in a theological box, He breaks it every time. I am not speaking about biblical truths of who He is. What I am talking about, is how I experience Him day in and day out. Do I live with the constant awareness that He is with me in the midst of my greatest struggle?

Manning goes on to expound on the present risenness of Jesus. He makes this statement, "The resurrection of Jesus must be experienced as more than a past historical event. Otherwise it is robbed of its impact on the present."

May we echo the heart cry of the Apostle Paul, "that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection".  That word "Know" is an experiential knowing.

In the midst of struggle, hardship, confusion, ambiguity, suffering, disappointment and tragedy, we must not lose sight of Him. "It may happen in these most desperate trials of our human existence that beyond any rational explanation, we may feel a nail-scarred hand clutching ours."

"Pessimism and defeatism are never the fruit of the life-giving Spirit but rather reveal our unawareness of present risenness."

Our hope lies in the finished work of the cross. But the power of the cross lies in the resurrection. And the hope we have rests in this phenomenal statement Jesus makes in Matthew 28:20, "I am with you always".  Our awareness of Him being with us, is the key to sustainable hope in the midst of chaos and confusion.

May we all come to an "experiential knowing" of His present risenness that usurps all other false mindsets we so easily fall into.

He is with you. Always.