Imagine the tomb… on the 3rd day… Jesus is no longer inside…but there are people in the tomb…Jesus has left His shroud on the table and walked out… but there are Christians still inside. People who believe Christ died for them but have yet to follow Him out of the tomb and start living in the freedom of His resurrection power. Jesus wants us to leave “it” in the tomb and “come out!”

These people exist. They are holding on to their sin, shame, hatred, depression, disappointment, rejection, fear, control, doubt, pride, greed, lust,  _____ (fill in the blank with your own)… they are holding on to “it”.  I have been one of these people. More than once in my life.

8 This is what the Lord says: “In the time of my favor I will answer you, and in the day of salvation I will help you; I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people, to restore the land and to reassign its desolate inheritances,9 to say to the captives, ‘Come out,’ and to those in darkness, ‘Be free!’ “They will feed beside the roads and find pasture on every barren hill. 10 They will neither hunger nor thirst,nor will the desert heat or the sun beat down on them. He who has compassion on them will guide them and lead them beside springs of water. 11 I will turn all my mountains into roads, and my highways will be raised up.  Isaiah 49:8-16

In order to be free we must leave “it” in the tomb and “come out!”

Jesus did not allow Himself to be beaten and killed on a cross for us to remain in the darkness of the tomb. He rose on the 3rd day to give us eternal life but also the freedom that comes with His resurrection power. The same power that rose Jesus from the dead lives in all believers. Yet, we are afraid to leave it and come out.

Why do you think Jesus left His shroud behind?

What bound Him in the past… held Him no more! The same is true for you. The Bible says that you are a new creation.

Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. 2 Corinthians 5:17

Why do we hold on to the “old things” instead of doing what is proper with “things passed away” and leave them in the tomb? I think it boils down to fear. Fear of not having control. Fear of the unknown. Fear of the past being better than the future. Fear of being alone. The list could go on and on. If we are truly “in Christ” and have trusted Him with our souls and eternity… shouldn’t we trust Him and “come out” of the tomb?

We can’t truly BE FREE until we leave the “old things” behind and take hold of the “new things”. Jesus did His part. He died and rose again for our salvation and the same resurrection power that lives in Him lives in each of us. We do our part when we reach the point of Fully Releasing Everything… Everything…. and step out of the tomb with Christ FREE.