Life. You grow up, go to school, get a job and get married, have 2.4 kids, buy a house, save for retirement, and enjoy an occasional vacation and dinner out. Along the way you learn the rules. It takes money to get what you want, and that requires skill, preparation, and befriending the right people. If you play it smart—with timely moves—you can forge a career replete with promotions and a retirement right on schedule. And then you die, leaving a surprisingly sizable inheritance to your heirs. That’s life—the same for you as for everybody—as far as the eye can see.

But what if we aren’t limited to our sight, but can hear a Word from God that teaches us a different way to live? Paul said that “faith comes from hearing, that is, hearing the good news about Christ” (Romans 10:17). This Good News is that “Christ died for our sins, just as the Scriptures said. He was buried, and He was raised from the dead on the third day, just as the Scriptures said” (1 Corinthians 15:3-4).

The good news is the great game changer. Jesus entered our world, died on the cross, and rose again to defeat sin, death, and Satan. After His resurrection, He was seen in a variety of places by hundreds of witnesses (vv.5-8). Due to Jesus’ world-changing words and existence, life as we know it has turned upside down. The rules have changed.

Here’s our new life: “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:39); “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35); “Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves” (Philippians 2:3); and when we return—and Christ’s resurrection means that we will return—“those who are humble . . . will inherit the whole earth” (Matthew 5:5).