The way of resurrection

Easter is a time to reflect on the significance of the resurrection. The resurrection of Jesus is not a philosophical or theological point to be argued, nor is it a simply a symbol. But rather, it stands as the single fact on which all Christian belief depends. And when I say fact I do not mean a firmly held opinion, I am referring to a historical fact, a thing which actually happened. If the resurrection did not actually happen, everything else you think or believe as a Christian is meaningless.

Easter therefore is the core celebration of the Christian faith, much more so than even Christmas. Celebrating a famous persons birth does not hold a candle to the celebration of the Son of God’s resurrection from the dead. And if Jesus did not rise from the dead, he becomes nothing more than a famous man.

Today I want to focus on the meaning of the resurrection to the believer. If you wish to explore some of the reasons to believe in the historical fact of the resurrection I have included a few YouTube videos below that I think make the historical case for the resurrection of Jesus pretty well. So if you are interested in this aspect of resurrection enjoy those videos!

Why this matters

Let’s move on to the question of, “why is the resurrection so important?”. To get a sense of how important Paul thinks the resurrection is, we have this passage from his letter to the church at Corinth.

For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. 
     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.  
(1 Corinthians 15:16-19 ESV)

...If the dead are not raised, 
     “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.”  
(1 Corinthians 15:32 ESV)

So we see that the resurrection of Christ is not a minor side issue, it is instead the foundation for all of Christian faith. Beyond that, the resurrection of Christ certifies that the things that Jesus said about himself are true. It can be fairly said that we don’t believe in Jesus because of the truth of the bible, we believe in the truth of the bible because Jesus has risen from the dead. In rising from the dead he verified what the bible, particularly the old testament, has said. And without the resurrection I seriously doubt the new testament would have ever been written or preserved. Jesus would have been just another wannabe Messiah or wannabe cult leader. So for this podcast we are going to accept the resurrection of Jesus as a fact, and focus on why that is so important to our lives today and everyday as we walk the path to life.

Resurrection and New Life in Christ

The death of Jesus was a sacrifice, it was in fact the ultimate sacrifice for sin. Justice after all is about balance, if $10 is stolen the thief is accountable for a $10 loss. We are however all guilty of a capital crime, rejecting the very source of all life - God.

Thankfully, God in his love and mercy found a way.

But how could God who is just overlook justice?

By paying the debt himself.

And that is what He did in Jesus.

So since the death of Jesus paid our debt for sin what did the resurrection do?

The death of Jesus gave us a clean slate, but the resurrection of Jesus gives us a new life to live. A life united with Jesus, a life in Jesus, a life that does not end in destruction but goes on to eternity. Paul describes this new life in several places. Here are a couple of examples.

For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: 
     that one has died for all, 
          therefore all have died; 
     and he died for all, 
          that those who live might no longer live for themselves 
          but for him who for their sake died and was raised. 
From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer.           
     Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. 
          The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.   
(2 Corinthians 5:14-17 ESV)

And again in Romans

Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 
     We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, 
          in order that, 
     just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, 
     we too might walk in newness of life.  
(Romans 6:3-4 ESV)

When we join ourselves to Christ in baptism we do much more than get wet. This is more than a ceremonial washing, or a symbol of cleansing. This is our total identification with Christ in his death and since we are now united with him in his death for sin we are also, and this is the really amazing part, united with him in his resurrection from the dead, never to die again.

But this is not a blessing that will kick in only after we physically die, Paul is saying we have already died with Jesus. This is a blessing that is given to us now that will never end. It is a new spiritual life now, with a new transformed and eternal body in the future¹. This new life does not belong to us, it belongs to God. We squandered our old life with rebellion and sin, our old life was beyond repair, so it had to be replaced with something new. And in Jesus, his death and resurrection, we have also been resurrected and given something truly new. Our life is now embedded in Jesus. He will never die again and neither will we. He lives for God alone - and in Him so do we.

Passion week should always be a time of reflection on the precious nature of life, and the love of God for us, even in the face of the outrage of our sin against him. It cost Jesus his life to redeem us to the father. Now we must sacrifice our old sinful life to partake in the new life provided by God through Jesus and his resurrection.

What keeps us from this blessing today?

The one thing that prevents us from embracing and enjoying this new life is our desire to try and cling to our old dead life. We need to see the love of God clearly to see why we should give up what we have now for something better in Christ. At the cross and the empty grave we see this love more clearly than at any other time. Our old life may be “ours to rule” so to speak, but it makes us the captain of a sinking ship. There is another captain whose ship cannot sink and he is reaching out his hand to us today. No we can’t be captain of that ship, but since we already sunk ours, is that a bad thing?

he died for all, 
          that those who live might no longer live for themselves 
          but for him who for their sake died and was raised. 

This week let’s stop pretending that we know what we are doing, and allow the resurrected life of Jesus to flow through us to others. Let’s honor Jesus this Easter by allowing him to be our Lord, our King, our Commander, our Boss, because in reality He is our life and our only hope. This week let’s embrace our eternal life in Christ, love others as we have been loved - and leave our fallen and fading life behind.

We are in this together, let’s have a truly great week in Jesus!

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! 
According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,  
     to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, 
          kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 

In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 

Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.  
(1 Peter 1:3-9 ESV)

For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, 
     but the life he lives he lives to God. 
So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin 
     and alive to God in Christ Jesus.  
(Romans 6:10-11 ESV)

For further study:

1. For more on the nature of our resurrected bodies read 1 Corinthians 15.