How did Jesus’ death and resurrection change the way we live? Here is a fourth devotion on understanding our new life in Christ:

IN WORD The story of God’s people is a long one, stretching back thousands of years to the beginning of creation. What purpose did the Lord have in mind in this strange and beautiful world? What was He aiming for when He began the redemption story with a chosen family? What were all those Hebrew biographies and chronicles about? What ultimate purpose was it all pointing to?
God’s ultimate aim was and is to bring everything in heaven and earth under Jesus. That goal was present in the Hebrew Scriptures, but it’s only unveiled in completeness in the New Testament. This purpose is why we take every thought captive to Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5) and rejoice in the fact that every knee will bow to Him (Philippians 2:10). The fall of humanity scattered elements of creation out from under God’s good dominion, and in Christ they are brought back into His hand. Jesus, as other translations of this passage say, is the “sum” of all things.
We often miss the significance of “all things.” We think Jesus reigns over compartments of our lives, especially the spiritual things. But His reign is comprehensive; the whole earth, and in fact the whole universe, is coming into His dominion. The world doesn’t always look that way, but that’s the direction we’re headed. Every knee will bow—it’s inevitable. And all things, even the physical creation, will be restored.
IN DEED That’s why the New Testament is so insistent on a bodily resurrection. Jesus is Lord of every atom in the universe. And that’s why our tendency to confine His lordship to the purely “spiritual” aspects of our lives often leaves us with a sense of defeat and discouragement. But there’s no need to limit our expectations of what we can bring to Him or what He might do. We can be encouraged that He is interested in every detail of our lives because every detail is ultimately His. Our whole life—including whatever we might be facing today—belongs to Him. “There is not a thumb’s breadth of this universe about which Jesus Christ does not say, ‘It is mine.’” —Abraham Kuyper (in “God With Us” by Chris Tiegreen)

Today’s devotion reminds us that following Jesus is not just about life after death. It profoundly affects our life on earth before death. The question we must ask regularly is whether we are submitting to Jesus’ Lordship daily. Do we give in to our desires, our struggles, our fears, etc.? Or do we live by faith, trusting in Christ’s Lordship over all things, our ambitions, our hurts, our failures, etc.?
One of my favorite composers is City Alight, which has written many biblically-grounded hymns. One of them is “Yet Not I”. This song manifests today’s devotion in daily life. Meditate on the words and know that Christ is Lord indeed and if so, we need not fear or be anxious on the one hand, but on the other hand, we are also challenged to submit to His Lordship over our ambitions and purposes daily. In this is our joy and our hope. Have a blessed week! - from Singapore, Pastor Sam