Sunday is Resurrection Day. Easter is the more common name of this Holy Day, but for the believer in Jesus Christ, Resurrection is the central focus. Without the resurrection of Jesus Christ, Christianity would not exist. If Messiah has not come and taken on the judgment God had against sin, we would still be waiting for the hope of salvation from that sin nature that infects us all.
And yet, many, many people were crucified in Jesus’ day. It was Rome’s favorite form of execution. Crosses dotted the landscape in those days. What difference did it make that Jesus was one of those crucified?
IF NOT FOR THE RESURRECTION, THERE WOULD BE NO DIFFERENCE.
IF JESUS HAD NOT RISEN, WE WOULD STILL BE DEAD IN OUR SINS.
I know that sin is not popular today. We look around us and we see good people who do not believe in Jesus Christ, so why should it matter what we believe? As long as we are good people, isn’t that what matters? To be born in sin grates against our senses. We look at an infant in his innocence and cannot fathom how he could be anything but good.
If you take the goodness of humanity—that is if we are born good without sin—to its logical conclusion then there should be no evil in the world. How could there be, if everyone is good from birth?
The Bible teaches the opposite, and that teaching fits what I see when I look on a world that is broken. Do people do good things? Yes. Of course. The presence of the Holy Spirit in the world gives even those who don’t believe the ability to be kind, compassionate, do good things for their neighbor, love.
But that doesn’t mean we don’t also lie, speak hurtful words, covet what isn’t ours, and the more serious evils we see in the world around us today.
Truth is, we are sinners in need of a Savior. That’s why the cross. That’s why Jesus came. He endured torture so we would never have to. And once a person believes in Him, we are no longer considered a sinner in God’s eyes. We are a saint. A forgiven human who is on a new journey of faith that not only helps us in our desire to be good, but gives us grace to find love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, goodness, self-control.
JESUS CAME TO SET US FREE FROM CONDEMNATION, FROM BONDAGE TO SIN, TO FEAR, TO SEPARATION FROM GOD.
BUT NONE OF HIS ACTIONS WOULD HAVE MADE A BIT OF DIFFERENCE WITHOUT THE RESURRECTION.
The thing is, the mystery of the cross is wrapped up in the fact that Jesus also came to destroy death and the power it holds over us. Satan holds the power of death and the fear it holds over us until Jesus breaks those chains. He did that when He broke through death’s hold and rose from the dead.
Some people doubt resurrection. People have scoffed at the idea for centuries. But others believed. One might think that believing is naive. How can you believe something you cannot see? We do it all of the time. We believe in the laws of nature when all we can see is their effects, not the actual laws themselves.
Resurrection is a defiance of natural law. But then God who created natural law can change it if He wants to. He’s doing miracles around us all of the time. We just don’t recognize them as such because we’re so used to them. But have you ever considered the miracle of the human body? The birth of the child? The way seasons change and new buds, once dormant or dead, return to life? Spring is a testament to resurrection every year.
I know it seems impossible to accept that Jesus – or anyone – could rise from the dead. And for those who don’t believe that Jesus is truth and His Words are accurate, such belief might be a leap they simply are not willing to take.
The thing is, we can’t see Jesus walking around the world today. We weren’t there when He lived, died, or rose again. We either accept this by faith or we don’t. And faith in God is risky. It cost Jesus His life. It will cost us ours too.
But for those who do believe, it is life-changing. To know about the Bible, about Jesus, is something anyone can do. You can gather all of the information about Him that you want. But you won’t truly know Him in an intimate, friendship, saving grace way without believing who He said He is and that what He came to do was real.
His life culminated in the resurrection. We can’t prove it any more than we can prove with absolutely certainty how the world began. It takes a believing heart to see Him as He is. If we are willing to risk that trust in Him, our honest faith will not be disappointed.
#resurrectionsunday #resurrection #faith #christisrisen #trusthim
