The Finished Work of Christ
Before the death of Christ, man was being ruled by death and sin. By death, I mean the separation from God caused by a spirit being. We need to understand that death is not just the cessation of life. Death stands for spirit beings working in topmost positions with the devil to accomplish various hideous and evil against man on Earth.
God sought for a way to redeem man so, He sent Christ to come lay down His life as an atonement for the sins of man which He obeyed. What God did through Christ Jesus brought eternal life to man and that was the beginning of the reign of eternal life.
Now, what determines and defines our lives here on Earth is not much of what we do but the knowledge of who we are. Sadly, many persons do not know who they are in Christ and this makes them wallow in ignorance. Until a person comes to the knowledge of Christ, he continues to carry the adamic or old nature which is the nature of sin and death. This adamic nature is that which is dead to Christ and alive to the devil. With this nature in an individual, its only desire will be to please the devil.
But when a man comes into Christ, the nature of God is being inputted in him. In consequence, such an individual becomes dead to sin while being alive in Christ. He also begins to have the nature of righteousness and does the purposes of God without his own efforts. It becomes his nature to fulfill the will of God.
What God did in Christ when He raised Him from the dead is what God did to produce the new creature. The life of God in a believer can do in him and for him what life did in Christ when He was raised from the dead. His resurrection is the resurrection of the believer in Christ.
We need to come to this knowledge of what Christ did for us to live a fulfilling and victorious life here on Earth.