Happy Easter, everyone!

This is one of my favorite holidays of the year.  It is the day we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus.  He died, but He did not stay dead.  This is the most important belief of Christianity.  Some would disagree with me.  They would say Jesus’ death is the most important belief.  And yes, that’s important.  But without the resurrection that is nothing.  It’s just a dead man.

You see, everyone dies.  And there have been many people throughout history who died for others.  And some people have even come back to life again.  Jesus Himself raised people from the dead.  But no one did what Jesus did.  He did these three things:

1. He lived a sinless life.  He kept the whole law and never offended in one point.
2. He died for the sins of humankind.  He died a substitutionary death, experiencing God’s wrath in the place of those who deserved it.
3. He rose from the dead–a proof of God’s acceptance of his death and sacrifice and at the same time conquering man’s greatest and oldest enemy–death.

All three are important.  Jesus conquered death for me; He conquered sin; and He keeps me from having to experience the wrath of God.  And when I think of God’s holiness, I feel so dirty in comparison.  I don’t deserve to have any favor with God, and yet Jesus makes it possible.

It’s awesome when you think about it.  Jesus didn’t have anyone raise Him from the dead.  He did it Himself.  And He didn’t just have a near-death experience.  He was in the grave, stone-cold–pronounced dead–for three days.  That’s long enough for the body to start decomposing.  And if you know anything about how he died–crucifixion–you know there’s no way He could have been anything but dead.

And then three days after His burial when His followers went to mourn at the grave, He wasn’t there.  They thought somebody had stolen the body, that someone had played the cruelest kind of joke on them, but then He appeared to them and talked to them, and they could see and hear and touch Him.  He was real.  He was really alive.  It was amazing.  It had never happened before.  And it has never happened since.

By rising from the dead Jesus proved two things: that He is God and that God accepted His sacrifice.

If any of His followers doubted Jesus’ divinity, His resurrection caused them to stop doubting.  Coming back to life after being dead takes power.  And who else would have that kind of power but He who could create life in the first place?  And who can create life but God?  Jesus’ resurrection shows that He has the ultimate power–that of creating life, especially life from death.

And His resurrection shows that He does that on a spiritual scale as well.  For what is the message of the gospel but that Jesus lived a sinless life, thus earning Him favor with God, but chose to instead suffer God’s wrath on behalf of people (you and me) who could never earn that favor and who would otherwise be doomed to suffer God’s wrath?  And that He basically creates new spiritual life where before there was just deadness.  (Ephesians 2:1,5; 2 Corinthians 5:17)  God accepted His sacrifice.  And He had to come back to tell us about it.  Otherwise how would we know?  Besides, if He conquered sin (that sacrifice God accepted) but couldn’t or didn’t conquer death, what good is that really?  Don’t we fear death a whole lot more than judgment?  What good is power if it isn’t useful?  And so Jesus conquered death too.  He left no enemies undefeated.

And He offers the same power to us.  Not only can He save our souls, but He can save our lives as well.  I mean the day-to-day living of our lives.  The life of Jesus in us breathes power into our routines; He helps us fulfill our responsibilities when they would overwhelm us.  He changes us too.  His business that first Easter Sunday and every day since has been and is to create new life out of death.  He takes our brokenness, our hurts, our issues, our bad habits, our problems, our failings, our sinfulness, and redeems it.  He makes us new creatures–new, but still us.  He makes us better people.  From the inside out, not the outside in.  In Paul’s letter to the Ephesians he prays that his readers would know

what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power

which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places (Ephesians 1:19,20)

and in his letter to the Philippians Paul writes that his goal is to

…know Him [Christ] and the power of His resurrection… (Philippians 3:10)

May you know the power of Jesus’ resurrection today and every day.  May we all live in that power daily.

If you will permit, I’d like to share my favorite resurrection hymn.  I learned this hymn as a very young child.  My dad taught it to me at home.  It’s always been special to me since.

Listen to it at cyberhymnal.

Christ Arose

Low in the grave He lay, Jesus my Savior!
Waiting the coming day, Jesus my Lord!

Refrain:

Up from the grave He arose,
With a mighty triumph o’er His foes;
He arose a victor from the dark domain,
And He lives forever with His saints to reign.
He arose!  He arose!
Hallelujah!  Christ arose!

Vainly they watch His bed, Jesus my Savior!
Vainly they seal the dead, Jesus my Lord!

Refrain

Death cannot keep his prey, Jesus my Savior!
He tore the bars away, Jesus my Lord!

Refrain