EASTER MESSAGE

 EASTER MESSAGE

The wonder of the resurrection of Christ

Today, Sunday 20th April 2025, is a worldwide celebration of the resurrection of Christ.  We cannot be sure it is the exact date, but we can be sure about the reality of the great event.

The resurrection declares Him to be the Son of God with power  Romans 1v4.  He came in a human body, subjecting Himself to bodily limitations, and even more to the cruel whims of godless men.  "For though He was crucified through weakness, yet now He liveth by the power of God"-2nd Corinthians 13v4.  For the sake of our salvation He allowed men to mock Him, abuse Him, torture Him, kill Him.  Now, in the same body, glorified in heaven, He is the Son of God with power, no more humiliation, as Paul wrote, "He is the head of every principality and power".  All His adversaries will become the footstool of His feet.

The resurrection guarantees the justification of every believer  Romans 4v25 "He was delivered for our offences, and raised again for our justification".   God ratified His work on the cross to remove our offences by raising Him from the dead.  He presented His work before the supreme judicial throne, and God accepted it enabling all who believe to be justified.  All who believe are justified from all things, from which they could not be justified by the law of Moses

The resurrection proclaims Christ's victory over sin and its consequences  Romans 6v9 "...knowing that Christ being raised from the dead, dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over Him".  He had no sin of His own, but became sin for us.  "The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death"-1st Corinthians 15v26.

The resurrection guarantees that the bodies of all believers will be raised from the dead-Romans 8v11 "But if the Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, He that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by His Spirit that dwelleth in you".  No longer mortal, no longer sinful, raised, changed, and glorified just as He was raised in glory.

The resurrection guarantees every believer an eternal inheritance- 1st Peter 1v3-4 "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ which according to His abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a living hope, by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance, incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you".

The resurrection of Christ is fundamental to the preaching of the gospel  1st Corinthians 15v1-4.  Paul goes on to shew the futility of life without the resurrection of Christ.  It means we are all doomed without hope, that the apostles are liars, that all preaching is vain-refer verses12-19, and all believers are "of all men to be pitied".  He concludes, "But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.  The faith of all believers will be ratified, their sins are forgiven, their bodies raised and glorified, and the apostles preached the good news to the world!

ON A MORE SOLEMN NOTE 

The resurrection of Christ assures all men that God will judge the world in righteousness  Acts 17v31 "He hath appointed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom He hath ordained; whereof He hath given assurance to all men, in that He hath raised Him from the dead".