If Christ did not rise, our faith is useless and we are still in our sins. The core of Christendom is that Jesus died and was buried and rose again.
Matthew 16:21
From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.
John 11:25-26
Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”
Jesus did not hide his purpose from them. It was because of this that when he was crucified, taken down from the cross and was buried, the Pharisees wanted to ensure he doesn’t complete that purpose.
Matthew 27:62-66
The next day, the one after Preparation Day, the chief priests and the Pharisees went to Pilate. “Sir,” they said, “we remember that while he was still alive that deceiver said, ‘After three days I will rise again.’ So give the order for the tomb to be made secure until the third day. Otherwise, his disciples may come and steal the body and tell the people that he has been raised from the dead. This last deception will be worse than the first.” “Take a guard,” Pilate answered. “Go, make the tomb as secure as you know how.” So they went and made the tomb secure by putting a seal on the stone and posting the guard.
The Pharisees and chief priests put things in place to ensure Jesus did not complete his purpose. But there was an earthquake because the soil recognised a foreign entity that did not belong there.
The women followed Jesus from the beginning of his death to his resurrection. They followed him even when the disciples had fled. Two of them returned the morning following his burial but he was not there anymore. The grave gave Jesus up. Through death, he defeated death.
Because he died, we have a new generation of people that have the same life that God has.
1 Peter 1:3-4
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you,
If anyone is born again, he is a new creation. He has entered into the order of Christ who died, was buried and rose from the dead. Anyone that believes in Him has been given power to be called sons of God.
When Jesus died, there was nothing special about Him in his flesh and when he died, it was the same thing. Yet he had the spirit of God in Him. You may look ordinary but you have the Spirit of God living inside you. You have the same power and ability as Christ.
Hebrews 9:11-12
But when Christ came as high priest of the good things that are now already here, he went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not made with human hands, that is to say, is not a part of this creation. He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption.
Jesus went into that holy place once and for all. He went to that holy place for you and me.
Hebrews 7:23-25
Now there have been many of those priests, since death prevented them from continuing in office; but because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. Therefore he is able to completely save those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.
Christ saves completely. Everyone born again has that same power, that same life of God.
It is the same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead. He gives life to our mortal bodies.
Your body cannot submit to sickness. You can enjoy the ability of God in you.
The beauty of Christ that rose again, the beauty of redemption and the most exciting part is that we too would do the same one day.
1 Corinthians 15:52-58
Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.” “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.
Believers live as if they are ordinary but someday this body will take on immortality. It will be transformed into a body that never dies. Death will be swallowed up. Nothing compares to what you have on the inside.
Therefore, be strong in the Lord for nothing you do will be useless. Our hope is eternal.
We preach the gospel not for people to get rich but because eternal life is at stake. Even though through our preaching men become rich yet that is not the purpose. It is our responsibility.
We preach the gospel so that beyond this life, we can all reign with him forever. The purpose is eternal life so that people can come to Christ. As we preach this message, many will be won in the Kingdom of God.
