The power of His Resurrection

   BY Argie Simonis

The Resurrection of our Lord is for many people a controversial issue, but for us it is absolutely fundamental to our Christian faith.

"But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen:

And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain." 1Cor. 15:13-14

No other religion offers atonement for sins through a Savior who was raised from the dead. All the leaders of the other religions are still in their graves. But the tomb of our Jesus is empty because He overcame death and rose from the dead, and it is this fact that keeps all our faith alive.

The Resurrection of our Lord is a historical event that has been recorded even by non christians. Some have tried in various ways to justify the reason for the absence of Jesus' body from the tomb. They said that some people stole it, some people hid it, and lots of other unproven arguments.

The Roman soldiers guarding the tomb reported that angels had come and that Jesus had been resurrected (Matt. 28: 2-4). In fact, they were one of the first eyewitnesses of the Resurrection!

We may not yet be able to grasp the power of the resurrection in its entirety, but the Word of God promises to be fantastic:

We may not yet be able to grasp the power of the resurrection in its fulness, but the Word of God promises it is going to be awesome:

"For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us." Rom. 8:18 

Many bad and ugly things happen around us (wars, deaths, diseases, sufferings) that can bring  frustration and despair, but when we hold in our hearts this picture of Heaven, when we will be in the presence of the Lord, all these sorrows of the world are not even worth mentioning!

This is the power and hope of the Resurrection! The Resurrection cancels the fear of death. When you come to Jesus you are not just accepting a religion; you are securing your salvation and your own resurrection to eternal life with Him:

"I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believes in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:" John. 11:25

"if you shall confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and shall believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you shall be saved.

For with the heart man believes to righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made to salvation." Rom. 10:9-10

Death existed from the beginning of creation, but it was idle. God is the first to use this word in the book of Genesis:

"But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat of it: for in the day that you eat thereof you shall surely die." Gen. 2:17 

Jesus came to kill the one who wants to kill you:

"For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil." 1John 3:8

"For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." Rom. 6:23

Jesus overcame death with His own death. From the moment the wage is paid, (always speaking with the prospect of eternity and not with our temporary life here on earth) death no longer has any right over us:

"​And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, has he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;

Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;

And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it." Col. 2:13-15 

Let me clarify something very important here: Jesus was not sacrificed to ignore sin. The Lord continues to hate sin and died to remove its power from us. In short, the Lord went on the cross for three main reasons:

- He took our place, meaning he was punished for something that normally we should have been punished,

- Ηe canceled the power of sin,

- He restored our broken relationship with the Father because of sin and reconciled us to Him.

This is the hope we have thanks to the sacrifice of our Jesus. The word "hope" does not mean that I just wish for something to happen. The biblical definition of hope is "the joyful expectation of something good to come."

When the angel of the Lord moved the stone to show that the tomb was empty, he sat on the stone to portray God above all our problems.

So let us stay with this picture in our hearts and if there is a lack of hope in some area of your life I pray the Lord will reveal to you

"what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:" Col. 1:27

Amen!