03/31/2024
Resurrection Sunday. Death defeated. Sin conquered. Prophecy fulfilled. He is risen!
Recommended reading: Matthew 28:1-20; Mark 16:1-13; Luke 24:1-12; John 20
“Easter says you can put truth in a grave, but it won’t stay there. You can nail it to a cross, wrap it in winding sheets and shut it up in a tomb, but it will rise!” (Clarence W. Hall)
The last enemy, death itself, has been destroyed!
"Early on this Sunday morning during Holy Week, some of Jesus’ disciples set out to His grave to anoint the body of their friend and teacher. But when they arrived, they were greeted by an angel whose 'countenance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow.' He told them, 'He is not here; for He is risen, as He said.'
Jesus Christ, God’s eternal Son, present at creation, came in the flesh to be the mediator between God and man. He lived the life of perfect righteousness that all people have failed to live.
He died as a lamb led to the slaughter, offering Himself up as the perfect sacrifice to atone for the sins of the world, once and for all.
He rose from the grave defeating death itself. Bearing all authority in heaven and on earth, He lives as the appointed heir of all things.
Jesus rules over every corner of creation, putting every enemy under His feet, while making alive—by His grace through faith—those who were dead in their sins."
The Importance of the Resurrection
Jesus’ Resurrection means that His sacrificial death on the cross was sufficient, and therefore our sins can be forgiven.
Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 15:14 & 17, "And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty...And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins!"
"In other words, Paul saw a direct connection between the resurrection of Jesus and the sufficiency of His death to atone for our sins. When Jesus rose again on the third day, it was the public announcement that God was fully satisfied with the sacrificial death of his Son.
If Jesus has not risen, those who trust in Him are to be pitied because their hope extends no further than their wishful thinking. Their faith is futile, and they remain in their sins. But if Jesus has risen, then His disciples are born into a new hope—because just as death entered the world through one man, Adam, now resurrection has done the same through the incarnate Son of God, who has prevailed over the power of the curse."
"O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?" (1 Corinthians 15:55)
