Present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life. – Romans 6:13
Eugene Peterson was a minister, scholar, theologian, author, and poet. He founded Christ Our King Presbyterian Church in Bel Air, Maryland, where he served for 29 years before he retired. Many knew of him through The Message: The Bible in Contemporary Language, in which he wrote a paraphrase of the entire Scripture. Among his many other works is Living the Resurrection. He went to be with the Lord in 2018 and, at family graveside services, his son Eric read these words from his memoir, one of the last books he wrote:
“Resurrection does not have to do exclusively with what happens after we are buried or cremated. It does have to do with that, but first of all, it has to do with the right way to live right now. But as Karl Barth, quoting Nietzsche pithily reminds us: ‘Only where graves are is the resurrection.’ We practice our death by giving up our will to live on our own terms. Only in that relinquishment or renunciation are we able to practice resurrection.”
Peterson could well have echoed the words of the apostle Paul, “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20). As Peterson said, “We practice our death by giving up our will to live on our own terms.” Ask God to enable you to release the desire to live on your own terms so that you might know the power of living His resurrected life today.
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