We live in the days after Easter. That’s true for us historically. Jesus died and rose again on the third day over 2000 years ago. Hundreds of people saw him alive. All of them have fallen asleep. We live on the basis of their eyewitness testimony. We live in the days after Easter.

We also live in the days after Easter in another way. By our baptism, we, too, have been raised with Christ and have been seated with him in the heavenly places. We live after our own spiritual resurrection. We live after Easter and before eternity. And that presents us with tension, an after Easter and before a final Easter resurrection. It’s the already and not yet tension. We are already raised with Christ and we will later be raised again to eternal life. We are already perfect in Christ and not yet fully glorified. We are already redeemed, and yet we wait for the redemption of our bodies. We live between Easters.

Romans 8 means to help us maintain this tension. And this weekend, as we get into the second half of this great chapter, Paul is going to help us live in this tension by teaching us to rethink life. He’s going to help engage our minds and to think about what Easter means for our lives. He’s going to help us rethink life. We’re in Romans 8:18-30.