COV LIFE BLOG

Easter 2013 – Why Does the Resurrection Matter?

The French positivist philosopher Auguste Comte once told Thomas Carlyle that he planned to start a new religion to replace Christianity. “Very good,” replied Carlyle. “All you have to do is be crucified, rise the third day, and get the world to believe you are still alive. Then your new religion will have a chance.”

The cross and the resurrection stand as the pivotal events at the heart of the Christian faith. Christianity stands or falls with the substitutionary atonement wrought by the death of the incarnate Son of God on the cross and the resurrection of the Son of God on the third day. If Christ did not die in our place, then we are still under the divine verdict. If Jesus was not raised, He was merely a victim, and not the Victor.

The church comes each year to this celebration of resurrection because we must constantly remind ourselves and the world of the resurrection hope, and of the reality of the risen Christ. The church of the Lord Jesus Christ must always remain a company of resurrection witnesses, speaking the Gospel of the cross and the risen Christ to a world desperate for genuine hope.

The modern flight from the reality of the empty tomb and the resurrected Christ is but another example of the revolt against classical Christian orthodoxy seen in some segments of the church. But the biblical message will not allow such compromise. The Gospels record the bodily resurrection of Jesus from the dead and the appearance of the risen Christ to the disciples and to others.

Paul left no door open to misunderstanding when he stated: “If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.” (1 Corinthians 15:17) If Christ was not raised, “we are of all men to be pitied.” But, Paul proclaimed, Christ has been raised, the first fruits of the resurrection of the believers.

The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the vindication of the Gospel and the eternal sign of the atonement accomplished on the cross. The resurrection was recognized by the disciples as God’s sign that Jesus was indeed the incarnate Son, that His messianic claims were true, that His preaching of the Kingdom of God would be realized, and that His sacrificial death was sufficient for the salvation of sinful humanity. The resurrection is also the sign of his return.

Furthermore, the Scriptures make clear the fact that Jesus’ resurrection is the promise of our own resurrection and the concrete hope of life beyond the grave. The reality of the resurrection prompted Paul’s triumphant cry: “Death is swallowed up in victory.”

Albert Mohler

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Heart Preparation
Read 1 Corinthians 15 and consider this question: So why does the resurrection matter?