If you have talked to me at all about theology, you know I have a pet peeve. I think all theology books begin at the wrong place. In most theology books, the first chapter is on the nature of Scripture or God. Of course, we need chapters on these subjects and many more – that’s not my point. My point is that’s not where we begin. We begin with an encounter with the risen Christ as Paul did on the Damascus road. In some way, Jesus comes to each of us and confronts us with His Being.
From that moment on, we have to rethink everything in light of the resurrection.
Let’s face it. If somehow we find the body of Christ and prove the resurrection never happened, Christianity is over. If Christ has not been raised, then Paul is right and our faith is for nothing.
But if Christ has been raised from the dead, then everything has changed. We have to change the way we think about everything. We have to change the way we think about Jesus. If He is conqueror of Death, then He is the Lord of Life and His teachings become the expectations of citizens for the coming kingdom. We rethink God in light of what Jesus taught us about the Father. We rethink humanity in light of the incarnation… and on and on it goes. We have to rethink everything.
This is the first day after Easter. The resurrection of Christ changes everything. Now, we have to think differently about everything. Love, hope, forgiveness, faith, courage — have all been redefined by Jesus. Success, victory, death and life have all been restructured by Jesus. Our world is fundamentally rearranged by the Risen Christ.
Sometimes you will hear someone say Jesus has turned the world upside down. I don’t think that’s true. I think we turned the world upside down. I believe the resurrection of Jesus started the process of turning the world right side up.
And we have to think differently in this right side up world Jesus has brought to us.
To think differently. To live differently. Everything is different now. Us included.
