Question: What does Christ’s resurrection mean for us?

Answer: Christ triumphed over sin and death by being physically resurrected, so that all who trust in him are raised to new life in this world and to everlasting life in the world to come. Just as we will one day be resurrected, so this world will one day be restored. But those who do not trust in Christ will be raised to everlasting death.

Scripture: 1 Thessalonians 4:13-14

Kevin DeYoung offers three reasons why the resurrection of Jesus Christ is good news in his book, The Good News We Almost Forgot: Rediscovering the Gospel in a 16th Century Catechism.

“First, by His resurrection Jesus Christ has overcome death, so that He might make us share in the righteousness He won for us by His death. First Corinthians 15 makes it clear taht if Jesus has not been raised, our “faith is futile” and we “are still in [our] sins” (v. 17). Why is the resurrection, and not simply the cross alone, necessary for the forgiveness of sin? Because without the resurrection nothing has been conquered – not sin, not death, not the Devil. Jesus’ resurrection from the dead testifies not only that Jesus is the Son of God (Rom. 1:4) but that the offering of life was an acceptable sacrifice to God. If Jesus had not been raised, it would be an indication to us that the work of salvation had not yet been accomplished.”

“Second, by Christ’s power we too are already now resurrected to a new life. Our hope of new life is not just a future goal; it is a present reality. Dozens of times in the New Testament we see the phrase “in Christ.” This little phrase speaks to the glorious union believers have with Christ through faith. We died in His death and we rose again in His resurrection to new life (Rom. 6:5-11; Eph. 2:5). But this new life is not as good as its going to get.”

“The third benefit of Christ’s resurrection is that it guarantees our future glorious resurrection. Christ’s resurrection was the first fruits of a resurrection harvest yet to come (1 Cor. 15:23). It’s not hard to imagine women, like those racing from the empty tomb to tell the disciples He is no longer dead, coming in from the fields with the good news that the first ear of ripe corn had just been plucked and the rest of the splendid harvest is not far behind. Easter confirms that we have new bodies coming. No one knows exactly how God will gather our molecules from the sea and the ground, but He will put us back together again, in some ways just like we are, but in all ways new and better. Therefore, “we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body” (Phil. 3:20-21).”

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