Risen Indeed!

Fellow Traveler,

Most of us will hear a resurrection sermon today. That translates into over 300,000 messages since there are over that many “Christian” churches in America. Most of these will be using the Bible to proclaim the good news, but there will be some that propound the lessons to be learned by Easter Bunny traditions and worse. Those congregations will minimize the inerrant claims of Scripture, replacing them for Jesus the great moral teacher and example. For them, the resurrection isn’t necessary. Neither is His death for that matter. Their Christology is an insipid collection of moralistic and virtuous attributes given to the Son of God, and their soteriology (doctrine of salvation) is only concerned with the ability of men and women to do the best they can morally in this life so God can reward them in the next. The Pharisees in the first century were supreme examples of this error. Jesus told them they were going to hell. (Matthew 23:33).

Unfortunately, many who believe in a literal resurrection as written in the four Gospels fail to understand its importance. It has little meaning in their day to day lives. They may go to church and know much of the Bible, yet they aren’t affected by it. They haven’t considered that if the resurrection of Jesus is true, everything He said and did was completely true. If He is sitting at the right hand of the Father, He has been given all authority in heaven and on earth. (Matthew 28:18). If He is the rightful King of the universe and is ruling right now over a spiritual Kingdom, every one of His promises will come to pass. His final judgment for sin at the end of the age is certain. (Revelation 20:11-15). Every idle word we have said will be accounted for. (Matthew 12:36).

Additionally, the resurrection should change my whole perspective on life and give me the greatest of love for God and comfort in Him. Pastor John MacArthur says, “The Resurrection is the ground of our assurance [of salvation], it is the basis for all our future hopes, and it is the source of power in our daily lives here and now. It gives us courage in the midst of persecution, comfort in the midst of trials, and hope in the midst of this world’s darkness.” R.C. Sproul adds, “A Christian is not a skeptic. A Christian is a person with a burning heart, a heart set aflame with certainty of the resurrection.”

God’s gift of faith gives us this certainty. God’s gift of the Holy Spirit gives us the willingness and power to live with two resurrections in view – the one belonging to Jesus Himself that insures our justification, and the other belonging to each and every one of us who believe. We have already been positionally raised with Christ when we were born again. “But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” Ephesians 2:4-9.

May God encourage us on this Resurrection Day! We have nothing to fear, with Jesus on heaven’s throne and at the same time at our side. “The Lord is risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!” Luke 24:34.

Old Davy