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Sentenced to Resurrection LIFE

A final verdict has been issued on relationship failure, loss of health, business disaster and any other dead-end situation: we are sentenced to Resurrection Life!

Sometimes, while in the midst of distress and despair, Resurrection Life looks like the last thing that is pronounced upon our lives.

Paul felt the same way when he wrote his candid report from Asia, ". . . we were so utterly and unbearably weighed down and crushed that we despaired even of life itself. Indeed, we felt within ourselves that we had received the very sentence of death, but that was to keep us from trusting in and depending on ourselves instead of on God Who raises the dead" (I Corinthians 1:8-9).

In a recent publication, Rick Renner, Greek scholar and teacher, serving God in Moscow, Russia, explains the depth of what Paul the Apostle is saying, "Paul's words teach us what to do when we feel like we simply cannot make it any further in our own strength or that we're no match for the challenges we're facing. We simply must surrender to the resurrecting power of God!" Rick goes on to break down the Greek meanings in these verses, "The word 'sentence' is the Greek word krino - a word that usually referred to a jury who had just handed down their final sentence in a court of law. You could say that it denoted a verdict or a final sentence pronounced as the result of a court trial. After all the evidence had been presented and the judge had examined all the facts, a final verdict was issued by the court."

Even though to Paul, it appeared the verdict or sentencing would be death, actually the opposite was true. Resurrection Life showed up big time and he was completely rescued out of a hopeless situation.

Seventeen-year-old Conner Rabinowitz could identify as well. He had all reason to believe he had a bright future ahead of him. He was a top-rated baseball catcher and was working toward a baseball scholarship for college. Then, during a routine medical exam, it was revealed that due to a genetic disease, he was in desperate need of a new heart - just to survive.

This was devastating news and Conner must have felt a death sentence had just been handed to him. He turned to God and prayed that a heart would be found, but mostly he prayed for the family who would be receiving a painful call that would make this happen.

A perfect match donor heart from a perfect match family was found 96 days later. Two years after the transplant he connected with the family who had lost their son and that's when he met the younger sister where there was a "connection" at first sight. Today, Conner is a trained cardiac ultrasound technician as well as in love with the pretty sister of his donor. Conner is someone who definitely believes in the power of resurrection life!

When the pressures of life and seemingly a sentence of death have been issued, that's when God's resurrection power can begin to operate. Our dead-end is His beginning. Indeed, a final verdict has been passed down to all of us! We are sentenced to Resurrection Life!

Ellene Meece lives in Meeker, Colorado and works with her husband in their natural resource company while running her own online store, Grandma's Treasures Online.

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