Observation: People are violent. Parallel realization: dead people can’t be violent. Interesting corollary: resurrected people can choose violence or nonviolence (though only nonviolence makes sense given their new state of existence). (Colossians 3:1-10 and Romans 6:2-4)
Second observation: We are resurrected people as followers of the resurrected Christ. As resurrected people, we are part of the new creation and the image of God in which we were first made (Genesis 1) is being renewed in us through knowledge of Christ. Violence is no longer a ‘given’. Daily, we can ‘put into practice’ the ways of the ‘new self’ and refuse to resurrect our old violent way of life. We have a choice. Free at last! Free at last!
So, why do I struggle so much with violence? Maybe it’s because I forget to remind myself that I’m alive–I mean really alive.
Tongue on Fire 