The Resurrection

The resurrection is not just proof that God accepted Jesus’ payment for sins on the cross. The resurrection is not just a receipt.

The resurrection is Jesus’ vindication and therefore the vindication of all who are in him.

The resurrection is Jesus’ justification, as it overturned the condemnation of the earthly courts that put Jesus to death. Therefore, it is our justification as well (Rom. 4:25). 

The resurrection is a legal event and a transformative event rolled into one. To be united to the risen Christ is to have a new legal status and new life, and it is impossible to have one without the other.

The resurrection is Jesus’ victory over death and therefore ours as well. The last enemy is already defeated. Satan’s greatest weapon has been taken from him. We do not need to fear death because Christ has risen – and people who are not afraid of death are not afraid of anything. 

The resurrection means we can taunt and mock death. We can trash talk death. “O death, where is your sting?”

The resurrection means death does not have the last word. In his earthly ministry, Jesus cancelled every funeral he ever attended. Then he cancelled his own funeral. He will bring you forth from the grave, just as surely as he came out of the grave. Life will have the last, and lasting, word for all who have trusted the risen Christ. 

The resurrection is the inauguration of the new creation. The new world has already begun. The whole creation will be renewed at the last day. 

The resurrection means Jesus is the new Adam. When Mary mistook him for the gardener in John 20, she wasn’t exactly wrong. 

The resurrection means his mission of love to bring salvation to the nations will be fulfilled. The mission of Christ, through his church and in the power of the Spirit, is unstoppable. The progressives cannot stop the kingdom of the risen Christ. The Muslims cannot stop the spread of his gospel. The sexual and social revolutionaries cannot stop what Christ is doing. Christ came forth from the grave to claim his inheritance of the nations, and they will be his. The risen Christ is the Savior of the world. His resurrection life will outweigh the death Adam brought into the world. Jesus will have more sway in history, more impact on nations, more influence on the shape of the world, than anyone or anything else. The world belongs to the risen Christ. The nations are under his dominion.

The resurrections means nations and governments, as well as individuals and families, should acknowledge and bow before the kingship of Jesus. The resurrection means Jesus is in charge. Every square inch of creation is under his rule. All authority and dominion are his. The resurrection has cosmic and political consequences. Earthly rulers killed him; now earthly rulers must submit to him. The cross was a political event – the execution of a supposed rebel against Caesar. The resurrection is a political event too – the coronation of the world’s new and eternal emperor. 

The resurrection is the firstfruits of a great harvest. Firstfruits reveal the quality of the crop that will follow. A farmer would sample the firstfruits to see what he could expect. The risen Christ is a prototype of the cosmic resurrection to come. 

The resurrection means all your scars and sufferings in this world will be glorified in the world to come. 

The resurrection means nothing we do for God in this life is in vain. Nothing good will be lost. Everything worthwhile we do will somehow be woven into the fabric of the final new creation. You will bring your treasures to the risen Christ. Every nation will bring its treasures to the risen Christ. 

The resurrection is the source of our power to put sin to death and live in obedience. The resurrection means we have sin-killing, Satan’s-skull-crushing power. The same power that raised Jesus from the dead is at work in us. Therefore, the Christian is never stuck in his sins. The Christian never needs to wallow in guilt and shame. The Christian is never at the mercy of the devil or his temptations. We can live in victory. 

The resurrection means God works all things for the good of those who love and trust him. The resurrection is proof that God can use evil to accomplish his good purposes. He can bring light out of the darkness. He can use man’s evil to fulfill his glorious plan. If God could use the greatest act of evil and injustice in the history of the world (the crucifixion) to bring about the greatest deliverance in the world, then the resurrection is proof that Romans 8:28 is true in your life as well.

The resurrection is the guarantee of our hope that God will set the world to rights, that justice and restoration are coming, that everything broken in this world will be repaired, that everything sad will come untrue. 

The resurrection is Jesus’ coronation. He is now king of kings and lord of lords. Anyone who fights against his lordship will lose. 

The resurrection means you should trust everything Jesus said. If he has the answer to death, he has every other answer. So listen to him speaking in the Scriptures. 

The resurrection means Jesus is the judge of all. The resurrection means all will stand before Jesus’ judgment seat at the last day. This is good news for the Christian because we know Jesus has already stood trial in our place. Our sins are covered and forgiven; our imperfect good works are accepted through his mediation and intercession. The resurrection means justice and mercy will prevail in the end. The resurrection guarantees the story of the world has a happy ending.

The resurrection of Jesus ensures all who oppose him will be eternally destroyed. For the enemies of Jesus, then and now, the resurrection is not good news — it is terrible news, the worst possible nightmare. In light of the resurrection, the only sensible thing to do is to repent.

The resurrection means the Scriptures have been fulfilled. The whole Bible is about his suffering and the resurrection glory that follows. 

The resurrection is the gospel. It is our salvation. A dead Christ cannot save. If Christ is not risen, we are still in our sins. The risen Christ is the one in who we trust, the one in whom we hope, the one in whom we rest, the one in whom we rejoice. The risen Christ is our all in all. 

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Christian, you serve a risen and conquering Lord, so live like it. 

Jesus is risen, so your sins are forgiven. 

Jesus is risen, so everything sad is going to come untrue.

Jesus is risen, so whatever you’re worried about is no big deal.

Jesus is risen, so everything is going to be ok – the story you’re in has a happy ending.

Jesus is risen, so all your suffering will be turned into glory. 

Jesus is risen, so death has lost its sting. 

Jesus is risen, which means the world, the flesh, and the devil have been defeated. 

Jesus is risen, which means life has overcome death.