The Resurrection of Jesus Christ

Easter is the most significant event of the Christian Church as it commemorates the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ from the dead. 

Christians around the world rejoice with thanksgiving to Almighty God for the death, burial, and resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. This was the purpose for which Jesus came into the world. 

The apostle Paul states: “For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received; that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:3,4). The death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ is foundational to the Christian faith. 

God has concluded that without exception, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). And also, “as it is written: None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one” (Romans 3:10-12). 

The Holy Scriptures make it very clear about the true condition of mankind—helpless, hopeless, and lost. However, it was not God’s intent that this situation should remain. In His wisdom, love, mercy and grace, God has made the divine provision whereby mortal man can be reconciled to Himself and share in His glory.

Man in his sinful state cannot please God in any way, because God cannot look favorably on evil or wickedness (Habakkuk 1:13). God is holy, just, and righteous. Therefore, man needs to repent of his sins, trust Jesus Christ as his Savior for forgiveness. In doing so, man receives the “new birth,” that is, reconciliation takes place, and he becomes a new creation, whereby the old lifestyle is passed away and a new life begins in Christ. 

The Bible says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to Himself” (2 Corinthians 5:17).

Dr Charles Stanley explains, “The new birth experience is exactly what God says it is—a fresh beginning. When we are born again, we not only have our sin forgiven and our guilt removed, but we also receive the Holy Spirit—who comes to indwell us and lives Christ’s life through us. We can never be what we were before because we have been born into His life—with a new spirit and nature. And because of that, our desires and goals should be conformed to those that God has for us” (Life Principles Bible, pg. 1387).

Jesus had no sin of His own. He was the only perfect sinless man that ever lived. Yet, He had to be “made sin for us.” The Bible says, “For our sake He [God] made Him  [Jesus] to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21). And this was accomplished through His death on the Cross.

If there was no resurrection of Christ, we would still be in our sins (1 Cor. 15:17). However,  “God raised Him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for Him to be held by it” (Acts 2:24). Herein lies the believer’s hope. Here we see the significance of Christ’s resurrection to the Christian faith.

“He is not here, for He has risen.” The Scriptures carefully record Christ’s resurrection and events of that memorable day. “Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. But the angel said to the women, Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for He has risen, as He said. Come, see the place where He lay” (Matthew 28:1,5-6). 

Note these words, “He has risen, as He said.” The Son of God did exactly what He promised he would do. The women were assured by the angel that they had nothing to fear. The stone being rolled back from the door was to allow them to enter and “see the place where He lay” for themselves.

There was unmistakable and foolproof evidence of Christ’s resurrection. The angel at the tomb appointed the women saying, “Then go quickly and tell His disciples that He has risen from the dead and behold, He is going before you to Galilee; there you will see Him. See, I have told you. So they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to tell His disciples” (Matthew 28:7,8). 

Then a most interesting thing happened while these women were on their way. Jesus appeared to them and said, “Greetings! [or “Rejoice”] And they came up and took hold of His feet and worshipped Him. Then Jesus said to them, Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me” (Matthew 28:9,10). 

The Lord is risen indeed! And there is absolutely no clearer and stronger evidence of His resurrection from the dead. Let us therefore rejoice, keeping these significant events in mind, as Christians worldwide join together in celebrating this most glorious and special occasion. Hallelujah! Glory to God!