The Power of the Resurrection
By
Bishop Melvin L. Maughmer, Jr.
Most people accept Jesus’ resurrection although they celebrate it as Easter instead of Resurrection Sunday, but how many fully comprehended the power and impact of His Resurrection?
Sure, turning water to wine, walking on the water feeding 5000 with two fish and five loaves of bread, opening blinded eyes, healing the lame, and raising the dead are awesome miracles but the most important event in Christianity is the resurrection of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. It is this powerful event that changed the course of human history and is the cornerstone of our faith. Without the resurrection, the death of Jesus would have been in vain, and Christianity would have no foundation. A resurrection less Christianity would be empty, and our faith would be useless. Our message that we preach would have no validity and the cross would carry the significance of coloring book. The resurrection proves that Jesus is the Son of God, conquers death, and brings eternal hope to all believers.
PRAYER
SCRIPTURE: - Matthew 28, Mark 16, Luke 24, John 20
The resurrection is documented in all four Gospels, each providing unique details that together form a comprehensive narrative. According to the Gospel of Matthew 28:1-4, “In the end of Sabbath of the week Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the sepulcher. And, behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, rolled back the stone, and sat on it. And for fear of him the keepers did shake, and became as dead men”. The angel announced to the women, “He is not here; for he is risen, just as He said. Come, see the place where He lay” Matthew 28:6. The details in this passage mark the beginning of a new era, a new week, and a new life in Jesus’ resurrection.
In the Gospel of Mark, the women had their minds blown finding the stone rolled away and a young man in a white robe inside the tomb, who tells them, “He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid Him” Mark 16:6. The main idea here is the King has come but he is not here; everything must change you must seek him, look for him, tell other about him.
The Gospel of Luke adds that two men in dazzling apparel appeared to the women, reminding them of Jesus' prophecy “Remember how he spoke unto you when he was yet in Galilee, Saying, The Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified, and the third day rise again” Luke 24:6-7. Luke’s account shows the grace of God in 5 separate scenarios, 5 is the number of GRACE, 1) the women at the empty tomb 2) the appearance to the two disciples on the way to Emmaus 3) the appearance to the disciples in Jerusalem 4) Jesus’ final instructions, 5) Jesus’ ascension
The Gospel of John provides a more personal account, focusing on Mary Magdalene's encounter with the risen Christ. Initially mistaking Him for the gardener, she recognizes Jesus when He calls her by name John 20:14-16 “And when she had thus said, she turned herself back, and saw Jesus standing, and knew not that it was Jesus. Jesus saith unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? whom seekest thou? She, supposing him to be the gardener, saith unto him, Sir, if thou have borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away. Jesus saith unto her, Mary. She turned herself, and saith unto him, Rabboni; which is to say, Master”.
The word “resurrection” means to come to life, after death. In John 11, after the death of his friend Lazarus, Jesus told Martha and Mary, “Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this” John 11:25-26.
The original Greek used is anastasis, which means rising to life the act of going from sitting or lying down to standing. The word resurrection isn’t a metaphor but a literal term. When the Bible tells us Jesus resurrected, it means exactly that: Jesus was dead, yet He rose to life again.
UNDERSTANDING THE POWER OF THE RESURRECTION
We must understand the resurrection of Jesus is not just a historical event, but it is the very foundation of our Christian faith, it affirms everything that Jesus taught it solidifies everything we stand for, is the basis of all that we believe and hope in. Ultimately it is through His resurrection, gaining victory over sin death and the grave that He secured our victory over sin, death, and the grave.
The resurrection proves that Jesus is who he says he is. He clearly said that he was the Messiah. He acknowledged that he was “the Christ”, that is, the Messiah. By claiming that God was his Father, Jesus identified himself as one with God and by saying that he was working just as the Father was working, Jesus boldly implied that he was God’s Son. John 1:1 & 14 says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us”. However, the resurrection of Jesus proves that Jesus is the Son of God. Romans 1:3-4 says, “Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh; And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead”. The power of the resurrection proves Jesus is the Son of God because He was the first to be raised from the dead that has a glorified body never to die again.
The resurrection justifies us. Sin requires punishment but the resurrection of Jesus secures and affirms our justification Romans 4:24b-25 says, “Jesus our Lord from the dead; Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification”. Justification means just as if nothing happened. WATCH THIS: - Christ was “delivered up on account of our trespasses and raised on account of our justification.” Our sin was the reason for his death, and our justification was the reason for his resurrection. In his death he identified with us such that our punishment became his. So also, in His resurrection He identified with us such that his vindication / justification became ours. He was accursed in death in union with his people, and He was raised in justification in union with His people. And just as his resurrection declared His vindication/justification, so also His resurrection declares all who are in union with him to be righteous. “He was raised on account of our justification.” The resurrection of Christ is the divine announcement of Christ’s vindication (justified by the spirit) and, so, ours. 1 Corinthians 15:54-57 “So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ”. This is our ultimate victory and the basis and motive for dedicated service in Jesus Christ and shows the power the resurrection has for us. Through His resurrection Jesus confirms that the price for sin has been settled fully paid and that we are justified before God.
The transformation power of the resurrection. The resurrection of Jesus gives us new life and the power to live victoriously over sin. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, we are “a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new”. When we accept Jesus into our lives, we become new creatures’ old things are passed away, and everything becomes new. Romans 6:4-5 says, “Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection”. This new life and power to live victoriously is the transformative power of the resurrection through the Holy Ghost that Paul said in Philippians 3:10 “That I may know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings being made conformable unto his death”.
The resurrection of Jesus gives us Lively Eternal Hope. The Greek term for “hope” means “an eager, confident expectation.” This hope of the believer is not only “living” but “lively.” Unlike the empty, dead hope of this world, this “lively hope” is energizing, alive, and active. “We live with great ETERNAL expectation. Our eternal hope originates from a living, resurrected Savior. 1 Peter 1:4-5 says, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time”.
The resurrection of Jesus gives us the Promise of a Future Resurrection 1 Corinthians 15:20-23 says, “But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept. For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming”. Christ in his bodily resurrection is the “firstfruits of them that slept”. As such, we are guaranteed that all who belong to him will be raised from the dead at His second coming. In the natural world, the first sheaf of the crop was to be brought to God Leviticus 23:10-11&17 as a guarantee that the rest of the harvest was coming. So, it is in God's redemption harvest. First, Christ the “first fruits” has triumphed in his resurrection; then, the rest of his “crop/harvest”, the redeemed, will be raised triumphantly at his second coming that’s us those that are saved.
CLOSING: - The resurrection of Jesus is the most important and most significant event in human history. It is the victory of life over death, of hope over despair, and of light over darkness. Through the resurrection, Jesus offers us new life, new hope, and a secure future in Him.
To deny Christ’s resurrection is to go against all the evidence in the Bible. If Christ is not raised, our preaching is senseless. If Christ is still in the tomb, preaching is nothing but empty words, our faith would be useless, and our future would be doomed.
The power and impact of the resurrection is the glorious and triumphant victory we as Born Again Children of God hold on to. Jesus died was buried and rose again on the third day and is coming again to receive unto Himself those who have accepted Him as their Lord and Saviour and in a moment in the twinkling of an eye we shall be changed and caught up to meet Him in the air. This is the hope we have and the power and impact of the resurrection.
Bishop Melvin L. Maughmer, Jr.
