Seated and Secured: A Rooted Identity, a 5-Day Plan by Brittany TurnerSample

Promise #1-I am ALIVE

One of my favorite passages of scripture can be found in John chapter 11. It’s the beautiful narrative of Jesus resurrecting his dear friend Lazarus from death to life. After Jesus gets the news that Lazarus is sick, instead of rushing to his aid, he lingers for two full days before heading to Bethany after Lazarus has already died.

When he arrives at the scene, Martha, Lazarus’ sister, rushes to meet Jesus. She was hurt and yet still held onto hope. He meets her weary, tear-filled eyes with a revelation typically reserved for religious leaders in synagogues. In one sentence, Jesus wraps up the fullness of the power of the Father in the Old Testament and adds a right now revelation of who He is in the New Covenant–“I am the Resurrection and the Life.” (John 11:25)

Our new life is found in Christ alone. The statement “I AM” carries with it the full weight of heaven and denotes the personal name of God given to His people through Moses.

Jesus isn’t just saying here that He can raise Lazarus. He is saying that in Him exists life that can never be taken away. Any of us here on earth are mere shadows until we are brought to life by the blood of Jesus Christ.

Against impending persecution, Jesus exchanges the safety of His own life to raise that of His friend. It is that powerful picture that Paul extends to us here in Ephesians chapter 2.

Just like Lazarus, we, too, were dead and buried in our sins, unable to free ourselves from its grasp. Is it just me, or does anyone else struggle to bring their flesh under submission?

Does anyone else have a tongue that sometimes reacts faster than their brain? Or maybe a heart and head that gets so busy doing all the things that they miss the most important things? Anyone can blaze past Sabbaths and rest for the sake of productivity, or maybe you struggle with something more.

The issue with all of us is that our hearts are without hope apart from Christ. They deceive us and are without recourse apart from the rejuvenating and sanctifying work of God in our lives.

It’s because of His great love for us expressed at the cross that we are no longer dead but instead alive—no longer a slave to sin but able to hear Christ declare us, just like Lazarus, alive and free indeed.

We are a new creation (2 Cor. 2:15), and now, through the power of Christ, we are renewed and remade day by day. (2 Cor. 4:16) We are being washed in the word as we read and learn, and with every encounter, born in us is the ability to both believe and align ourselves with who God is and how He loves us.

Friends, Christ died so that we might be set free and brought to life. Just like His friend there, He calls us friends and births in us a new life, transformed into His image.

We were on life support, and His blood transfusion gave us new life again.

May we be a people who accept His invitation to embrace this lavish gift by choosing to surrender our lives in response to His unending love, unfailing mercy, and abounding grace.

Affirmation: I was once dead, but now I am alive and brand new—free from the bondage of my past or any entanglement of the future. I am anchored and secure in His love and free to respond from the leading of the Spirit in newness and life.

Question: In what ways have you allowed the habits of your past to keep you bound and separated from newness and freedom in Christ? What triggers or habits do you need to take to Jesus for strategy in charting a new way forward?