The Second Half of Easter
Daily Scripture Readings
Monday: 1 John 1:1-4
Tuesday: 1 John 1:5-2:2
Wednesday: 1 John 2:3-6
Thursday: 1 John 2:7-14
Friday: 1 John 2:15-17
Saturday: Phil 1:3-11
Sunday: Romans 8:1-11
Opening Prayer
Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.
Jesus, I belong to you. I lift up my heart to you.
I set my mind on you. I fix my eyes on you.
I offer my body as a holy and living sacrifice to you.
Jesus, We belong to you.
Praying in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, Amen.
DEVOTION:
The Following was written by J.D. Walt and published by Seedbed Inc.
Romans 8 introduces us to what I like to call the second half of the gospel. This is the territory of great awakening. Why do I say this? Because most self-identifying Christians are not really pressing into Romans 8 so much. They are still back in Romans 5–6 territory as it relates to their faith and living more in a Romans 7-esque experience of anemic growth and arrested development.
Here’s why I call Romans 8 the territory of great awakening. When the church wakes up to the second half of the gospel, the world will wake up to the first half of the gospel. See what I mean? The world is simply not going to wake up as a result of the witness of a lot of half-baked Christians. So what about this movement from the first half of the gospel to the second half of the gospel? Here’s a sketch:
The second half of the gospel is the big shift from:
Romans 5–6 to Romans 8.
Jesus is my Savior to Jesus is my Lord.
The Holy Spirit is an interesting idea to the Holy Spirit is an infused reality.
Deliverance from the penalty of sin to deliverance from the power of sin.
Forgiveness for sins to freedom from sin.
Justification by grace through faith to sanctification by grace through faith.
Lord, you took me out of Egypt too—now take Egypt out of me.
God as King and Judge to God as Abba Father.
True in principle to true in fact.
Christian in name to Christian in game.
A life of commitment to a life of consecration.
I’m not perfect, just forgiven to I’m not just forgiven I’m being made perfect.
Again—the big idea—when the church wakes up to the second half of the gospel, the world will wake up to the first half of the gospel. And then we will be ready to lead them into the fullness of the second half. It makes sense, doesn’t it? When a person who says they are a Christian actually begins to live the Christian life, people take note.
Prayer: Father, I’m ready for the second half of the gospel–the second part of Easter. I am ready for the life-giving law of the Spirit to be the governing dynamic of my life. I am ready to leave behind the country of a compromised life. Thank you Jesus for this life, which is your life in my life. Thank you for sending the Holy Spirit who makes this life real. I’m ready. Praying in Jesus’s name, amen.