The Resurrection
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.
But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
–1 Corinthians 15:17-20
Without a doubt, the resurrection of Jesus is the defining moment in all of Scripture. All of our Christian faith originates with this one event. All of our beliefs and hopes rise or fall on the resurrection. All of the missionary activities over the last 2000 years took place because of the resurrection of Christ. Our country itself and all of western civilization is founded and based on this seminal event. No other religion claims a resurrected leader. You can visit all the other religious leaders tombs and final resting places. Probably the best way to think of it is, what if there were no resurrection? The resurrection proves that this life is not all that there is, that there is a certain hope of heaven and a life forever with our God and his son Jesus. Paul says that Jesus, the Christ and our Messiah, was the first fruits and a guarantee of that promise.
This Easter season we need to come to the realization again of how much God loved us. We need to be reminded again of what he did and how marvelously amazing his redemptive plan was. God worked out every detail, from Abraham 2000 years before Christ, right down to 3:00 p.m. , the hour of his death and to his resurrection on the third day. We need to be reminded again during this blessed week of Palm Sunday, Passover, and Easter that we serve a resurrected Lord! The stone has been rolled away and the tomb is empty! He is alive! And, we have been commissioned by our resurrected Lord to go and tell this good news! He is Risen! Risen indeed!
About the author:
Bob is the creator of this site and a disciple of Ray Vander Laan. Along with his wife of 50 years, he teaches a Bible study at Christ’s Church in Roswell, NM. He is also an avid hunter and fisher.