Do you really believe Jesus was resurrected? Why is His resurrection so important? What difference does His resurrection make in our daily lives?

If we take the resurrection away from the Gospels we are left with a defeated, failed Messiah who died a shameful horrible death on a cross. No hope. Period. The end of the story. Look at His disciples on the Sunday after His crucifixion to see how the narrative would have ended without His resurrection. The disciples were deeply disappointed and paralyzed with fear of the Jewish authorities. They were locked in a room refusing to believe the first reports of some of the women about His resurrection. Do you think this crew was ready to take the Gospel out to the world?

The disciples on the road to Emmaus that same afternoon expressed their feelings this way, “But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel.” The implication is, “but He was crucified, our hopes have been dashed, we are absolutely crushed.” Jesus was defeated and so were they. No resurrection would have meant the end of Christianity before it began. The birth of the church hinged upon the resurrection of Jesus.

But because He was resurrected everything changed. The lives of the cowardly disciples were transformed and every one of them, with the possible exception of John, went on to die a martyr’s death as they boldly shared the Gospel…all because they were convinced Jesus is alive.

The birth of the church and its early life were firmly rooted and shaped by the resurrection of Jesus. Throughout the book of Acts the resurrection is cited as the moment that changed everything. Acts 2:24 “(You) put him to death but God raised him up again…”. Acts 3:15, “ You put to death the Prince of life, but He is the One whom God raised from the dead, a fact to which we are witnesses.” In Acts 4:2, the Sadducees were “greatly disturbed because they (the disciples) were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead.” Again and again in the book of Acts we see the apostles, “giving witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and abundant grace was upon them all.” Acts 4:33

When Paul went to Athens and preached on the Areopagus this was the was the crescendo of his sermon, “God has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead.” Acts 17:31. When Paul was before the Jewish Council in Acts 22:6 he declared, “I am on trial for the hope and the resurrection of the dead!” When the Roman governor Felix explained Paul’s disagreement with the Jewish Council he said, “They simply had some points of disagreement with him about their own religion and about a certain dead man, Jesus, whom Paul asserted to be alive.” Acts 25:19. The resurrection of Jesus is foundational to the early church, it is the primary fact upon which the church was born.

The resurrection of Jesus is God’s answer to the crucifixion. It is His vindication of Jesus. It is God’s stamp of approval. Through the resurrection God basically declares that Jesus paid the price in full for the sins of the world on the cross. He died a substitutionary death for all who would look to Him as their savior. His sacrifice was accepted, approved by God. Death could no longer hold Him. “God raised Him up again, putting an end to the agony of death, since it was impossible for Him to be held in its power.” Acts 2:24. Because of His resurrection we are justified in the sight of God. “He who was delivered up because of our transgression, was raised for our justification.” Romans 4:25.

In the resurrection of Jesus God demonstrates His power, a power that was victorious over the worst enemy known to man, death. Paul prays for every believer in Ephesians 1 that we will begin to understand and grasp“the surpassing greatness of His power that was on display when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand.” This same resurrection power will someday be manifested in each one of us who are believers when we, too, are resurrected. Jesus stated this truth in John 11:25, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me shall live even if he dies.”

The resurrection of Jesus guarantees our resurrection. He literally was raised on the day the ancient Hebrews were celebrating the Feast of First Fruits. That very morning in the Temple the priest waved the first fruits of the barley harvest in thanksgiving for the harvest yet to come. This is a vivid picture of the fact that the resurrection of Jesus is our first fruits. Because He lives, we shall also live. It gives us hope, not merely wishful thinking, but solid hope that some day the body of every believer will also be raised up. Now when we stand over the body of a loved one who has died in the Lord we are naturally sad, but we have this hope, that body will be raised up to eternal life because Jesus was resurrected.

This is a game changer. This truth shifts our focus. This life is not all there is. There are two ages, this age and the age to come. If we really grasp the truth of the resurrection we will be future oriented. This is our destiny, this is where we are going. The fact that we will be resurrected shapes our current decisions in the here and now. We are motivated to live lives pleasing to God. As Paul sums up his teaching on the resurrection he says in I Corinthians15:58, “Therefore, my beloved, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain.”

Dear Heavenly Father,
Thank You that You did not leave Jesus in the grave but you validated what He did on the cross by raising Him up to life. Thank you that You that His resurrection guarantees our resurrection. Help us understand the ramifications of resurrection so that we live lives fully pleasing to You.
In Jesus’ name,
Amen