New Life in Christ
Open Your Bible
Romans 6:1-23, Galatians 2:20-21, Ezekiel 36:25-27, 1 Peter 2:24-25, Galatians 3:27
BY Bailey Gillespie
We call our home Goose Place. We have at least twenty houseplants of varying styles and personalities trailing about the house, reaching for patches of sunlight. They all survived a blistering California summer. But once winter came, I accidentally left one overnight in the backyard, and it froze to the core. Cold and crispy, the leaves turned black and shriveled. I was pretty sure it was a goner.
Then a wondrous thing happened. After a few weeks of gentle watering and a dash of foolish hope, I saw a brand new leaf unfurl at the tip—bright, green, beautiful. I couldn’t have been more surprised. Despite my neglect, this unabashedly proud little leaf burst into existence almost overnight.
It reminds me of “eucatastrophe,” a term J. R. R. Tolkien coined for a sudden, joyous turn of events. Even when all hope seems lost, something often changes the story’s end. Death in reverse. Hope restored. What comes after is nothing like what came before. There was an old way of doing things, and now there is a new way. Now, when I look at this little fiddle leaf fig, I don’t just see an ordinary houseplant—I see the power of death-reversing, hope-restoring life at work.
Our resurrected life in Christ is like this, only far better. “Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too may walk in newness of life” (Romans 6:4). Just as each bud draws its life from the whole plant—including that decaying yet nutrient-dense soil—each of us draws our new life from Christ’s glory.
When we stop to think about this, it’s wild. God has given us new hearts, new minds, new eyes to bear witness to His miracles. Unlike those in the Old Testament, we live in an age full of first-hand stories that speak to how the resurrection shapes our present lives. Many of these appear in Scripture, and others are happening around us. Even in our hearts!
Christ in us changes everything. We are freed from our “old self” (vv. 6–7), the version of ourselves that is unbridled and keeps us bound to sin. We are healed and restored and have the privilege of partnering with Jesus in healing and restoring others. And we have the joy of walking with Him as our daily companion and friend.
How does the resurrection shape our present life? It gives us a lens for hope. It deepens our love for God and others as we experience His presence—a presence that draws in close and heals our hurts (1Peter 2:24). And it allows something as simple as a houseplant to reflect Christ’s death-reversing, hope-restoring life. Thank you, Jesus, for all you have done for us and continue to do.
51 thoughts on "New Life in Christ"
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I want to be moved in my heart to continuallyo obey
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Old self dead and gone. New self, in Christ, will be my strength as we push forward to advance the kingdom and create disciples across the nations. Only through Christ alone is this possible.
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It is strange. So much of my life I think my personality told me to do the right thing or else. This is a very old testament view of being a person who fears God. It’s also fairly Catholic the constant need for confessing of sins. Not that confessing sins is bad, but when the focus is on what we have done wrong, our eyes are truly out of focus because they are not Christ focused. The whole of the gospel is that through Christ we are made righteous. Righteous is not doing what is right but being part of that which is right. Christ. It is a deeply mysterious thing, but ultimately if we, if I, can really embrace that, it should give us hope freedom. What a burden to have to be right, do good, try not to sin, all the time. It is impossible! Christ knew it was impossible so he created a new way because he loves us. God did not mess up in his plan, making us people who sin. He knew there would be a better way through Christ. It takes the focus off of the creation, us and our sin, and onto the creator, God and his beauty and his deep love for us.
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