Every man has a death certificate that lists some cause of death, perhaps a sickness, heart attack or cancer. These are but symptoms of sin, the ultimate cause of death.  But there is hope!  Jesus suffered and tasted death for every man. The Bible tell us that Jesus came to "destroy him who has the power of death and sin—that is, the devil” (Hebrews 2:14). There is even more good news, and it comes from the cemetery. In the tomb where Jesus had been buried, the angel of the Lord said, “Why seek ye the living among the dead? He is not here, for He is risen.” (Luke 24: 5, 6). On the third day, Jesus rose!  He left the cemetery over 2000 years ago. You won’t find Him there, for this living Lord Jesus Christ is here and would like to meet with you today.

 

The resurrection of Jesus is a mind-boggling truth; people go nuts because they cannot understand this great miracle. As a result, Easter season is often surrounded with much skepticism from the secular world. In a very delicate but insidious way, leading newspapers and magazines begin to slice the Person of Jesus Christ and His resurrection in their cover stories or use some so-called “scholars” to debunk the gospel or the “myth” of Christianity. But as Solomon wrote, “there is nothing new under the sun”. People have been doing this since the very day Jesus rose from the dead.  The powers of hell were totally surprised; they had the priest and their cohorts come up with some false explanation for the disappearance of Jesus’ dead body. Still to this day, the devil and his agents continue to actively promote some conspiracy theory or another. Certainly, there will always be a new theory floating around every passing year!

 

But the fact remains: Jesus rose from the dead. With a mighty triumph, He rose, just as He said He would.  He rose!  Every one of His disciples and all of the early Christians—without exception—believed that Jesus Christ had risen from the dead. They would rather lose their lives than disbelieve this truth. It was not just the Jewish Christians who believed but the Gentile Christians as well.  Wherever the gospel went, it produced converts who joined in proclaiming the risen Christ. The death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ became the cornerstone of the New Testament teachings and the centerpiece of the preaching as well. The focus was not Jesus’ death or His last seven words on the cross but the fact of the resurrection of Jesus and His seven words after His crucifixion.  (The great commission to be precise.)

 

Jesus is Risen. Because of His resurrection, we have a reason for eternal hope. Celebrate the resurrection not merely as a tradition but as the greatest day of your life, just as it is the greatest event in history.