“He is not here, for He has risen.” The angel spoke these assuring words to Mary Magdalene and the other Mary when they went to see Jesus’ tomb. (Matthew 28:1-6). The Resurrection of Jesus Christ. What does it mean? Why does it matter? Is it to be given great prominence only at Easter? The resurrection matters not only at Easter, but in each and every day of our lives. This historical event will always be most essential to the christian faith and experience. Jesus declared of Himself, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” (John 11:25-26). This was so proven in many recorded instances in the scriptures.
Because of the resurrection, Christians have a sure and eternal hope that cannot be denied or destroyed and is already secured and awaiting us in heaven. The apostle Peter writes, “According to [God’s] great mercy, He has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you” (1 Peter 1:3-4).
One of the essential aspects of the gospel of Jesus Christ is His resurrection. The apostle Paul presents a most compelling argument of the significance of the resurrection as it pertains to the gospel. He writes, “And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain, And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied” (1 Corinthians 15:14; 17-19). Paul also highlighted the fact that christianity would be devoid of its power to save.
The resurrection is positive proof that Jesus conquered sin, death, and the grave. Paul writes, “O death where is your victory? O death, where is your sting? ”The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 15:55-57). Because of Christ’s resurrection, death is “swallowed up in victory” being deprived of its sting. Therefore, the Christian has absolutely nothing to fear.
Another significant factor of the resurrection is that there would be no justification. Justification means that the person who trusts Christ as Savior is “declared and treated as righteous.” The Bible tells us that Jesus was “delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification” (Romans 4:25). In other words, Christ was raised to life “on account of” our justification. He being “raised to life” means there is no more sacrifice for sin. Jesus fully met all the demands by God Almighty so that the sin question could be settled once and forever.
It is also noteworthy that the resurrection does transform the lives of all believing Christians because of the “indwelling presence” of God’s Holy Spirit. Being well aware that the Christian’s body is God’s “temple,” Paul wrote accordingly: “Your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body” (1 Corinthians 6:19). An ongoing reminder for all Christians.
Paul was already a recipient God’s righteousness when he received Jesus while on the road to Damascus. He also took into account that Jesus was the object of his life in “resurrection power.” Therefore he confidently expressed his eager desire to the Philippians, “that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and may share His sufferings, becoming like Him in His death that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead” (Philippians 3:10,11). Here, Paul gives us a little window into his life—a life of complete reliance on Christ and energized by the Holy Spirit.
It is only because of the resurrected Lord Jesus why we can live lives of great victory and righteousness each and every single day. The Christian life is the outliving of the in-living risen Christ. Not surprising that Paul having experienced this to wrote the congregation in Galatia saying, “I have been crucified with Christ, it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20). This is a wonderful testimony for all born again believers in Christ. Christians, let us burst into ecstatic joy of the resurrection of our Lord and Savior with heartfelt gratitude to Him “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.