Here we are on Easter Sunday to celebrate the risen Savior! Today is the day we celebrate the most significant day in the history of the world. Just 72 hours earlier to the great morning of His resurrection, Jesus was betrayed by one of His trusted followers and captured by Roman soldiers. He endured much suffering through beatings and torture we can only imagine. He was mocked and ridiculed by not only the Romans, but also His own people. He was ultimately crucified on a cross and once dead, buried in a borrowed tomb.
One can only imagine how His disciples must have felt as they helplessly watched Him die. Think of their feelings sorrow, disappointment, confusion and sense of emptiness. Their hopes were dashed and their futures were uncertain. I’m sure they thought it all over. But the truth is…it was really just beginning…
Listen as I read Matthew’s account of what happened on Easter morning.
“Early on Sunday morning, as the new day was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went out to visit the tomb. Suddenly there was a great earthquake! For an angel of the Lord came down from heaven, rolled aside the stone, and sat on it. His face shone like lightning, and his clothing was as white as snow. The guards shook with fear when they saw him, and they fell into a dead faint. Then the angel spoke to the women. ‘Don’t be afraid!’ he said. ‘I know you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead, just as He said would happen. Come see where his body was lying.’” Matthew 28:1-6
He is risen from the dead!
On several occasions Jesus told who He truly was and what would take place, but no one fully believed or understood Him.
In Mark 10:33-34 Jesus said, “Listen, we’re going up to Jerusalem, where the Son of Man will be betrayed to the leading priests and the teachers of religious law. They will sentence Him to die and hand Him over to the Romans. They will mock Him, spit on Him, flog Him with a whip, and kill Him, but after three days He will rise again.”
Just as He said, Jesus arose from the dead and everything changed. Despair turned into hope and fear was replaced with joy. The painful sting of sin and death was crushed and defeated. The victory was won by Jesus and today we celebrate because we know the victory is ours!
Neither the cross nor the grave was a surprise to Jesus. In obedience, Jesus willingly suffered and died on the cross. He gave His life for the world knowing He would triumphantly arise from the dead!
He is risen!
The question for today is, “What does the resurrection of Jesus mean to us today?”
>>>The resurrection of Jesus offers us 3 blessed assurances:
1. The resurrection assures our forgiveness!
The gospel of Jesus Christ gives us the old, “I have some Good news & I have some bad news” scenario. Both can be presented in one scripture – Romans 6:23. “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.”
The bad news: Because we are not perfect and can never live up to God’s glorious standard, we are condemned to death.
The good news: Grace. Because of God’s love for us, He offers us eternal life through Jesus Christ.
God knew that we couldn’t keep the laws He gave us, so He sent His only begotten Son to take our sins upon His back and pay the price for all of our sin and shame.
Our pasts are forgiven. No matter how sinful we might have been, Jesus paid the price for us and now we are forgiven. Our slate is wiped clean and we justified. We are made right with God.
In the name of Jesus Christ, we are forgiven!
The resurrection of Jesus Christ offers us the blessed assurance of forgiveness.
2. The resurrection assures our transformation!
The resurrection isn’t simply an erasure for our past, but is God’s way of making all things new right now. The power of the resurrection assures us with new life. It works into our everyday as it transforms us and makes all things new. Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.”
We are able to experience revival, renewal and rejuvenation in our lives because we have been given the gift of a new life. We have been resurrected!
What a blessing it is of knowing that your old life of sin and destruction is gone and having the assurance to know that you have been born again with the resurrection power of Jesus Christ.
The same power that raised Jesus from the dead can be used in our lives right now. All we must do is to trust in God and rely on Him each day. He will continually change and mold us into the person He wants us to be. He will transform us toward perfection.
The resurrection of Jesus Christ gives us the blessed assurance of transformation.
3. The resurrection assures eternal life.
The truth is, one day we will all die. I know that’s the last thing one wants to hear about on Easter Sunday, but it’s a fact of life. Unless Jesus returns in the foreseeable future, we’ll all wind up pushing up daisies…kicking the bucket…biting the dust…etc…
So, the question is – what happens after we die?
Hebrews 9:27-28 states it clearly,
“And just as each person is destined to die once and after that comes judgment, so also Christ died once for all time as a sacrifice to take away the sins of many people. He will come again, not to deal with our sins, but to bring salvation to all who are eagerly waiting for him.”
One day we will stand before God to give an account for our lives. On that day, we will have the assurance of eternal life. We can have hope of eternal life based on our faith in the grace God offers to us through His Son, Jesus Christ. We express that hope as we affirm our faith in the recitation of the Apostles’ Creed. Join with me as we recite this historic creed together as we affirm our faith.
I believe in God, the Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried;
He descended to the dead.
On the third day He rose again; he ascended into heaven,
is seated at the right hand of the Father,
and will come again to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic church,
the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.
As born again Christians, we have the assurance that our lives don’t end. We are given a living hope to spend eternity with God. We have access to God’s resurrection power which comes when we place our faith in the gospel of Jesus Christ.
The resurrection of Jesus Christ gives us the blessed assurance of eternal life.
Let’s celebrate the resurrection as we rejoice the blessed assurance of Forgiveness, Transformation & Eternal Life.
Pray with me…
