Let’s Remember Easter Sunday Every Day
I wish every Sunday was Easter Sunday: Worshipping with our families dressed in our Easter best, the beautiful music, and the message of the empty tomb and our triumphant Lord. This past Sunday, Chris in his Sunday school class and Bernard in his sermon did a wonderful job explaining and describing the implications of Jesus’ resurrection. However, if I want every Sunday – and even more---every day—to be Easter Sunday, how would that change my life practically?
To start, we must understand that the resurrection is central to our Christian faith. If Jesus was not raised from the dead, then our faith is worthless. I Cor 15:14. If there is no resurrection of Christ, there’s no forgiveness of sins, there’s no hope of heaven, and there’s no escape from eternal judgment. Our salvation comes from confessing that Jesus is Lord and believing that God raised him from the dead. Rom 10:9. But how does that apply to my everyday life?
First, the resurrection gives us the strength to persevere against sin. Because of Jesus’ resurrection, we, too, have been resurrected. Think about that. As Christians, we are united with Jesus Christ both in his death and his resurrection. Our old selves were crucified with him so that we would no longer be slaves to sin. But even more--just as Jesus was resurrected, we, too, are resurrected to live a new life with Christ as our master, not sin. “We are dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.” Rom 6:11-12. It’s not that we will never sin again, but we now have the ability to resist sin and live as slaves to God, which leads to holiness, and eternal life. Rom 6:22. Accordingly, as Christians we walk and live in a new way, like Christ who was raised from the dead into a new life.
Second, the resurrection gives us hope. In God’s great mercy, “He has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” I Pet 1:3. A living hope in what? “An inheritance that can never perish, spoil, or fade—kept in heaven for you.” I Pet 1:4. That inheritance is joining our Maker for eternity in heaven, where there will be no mourning, crying, nor pain any more. Imagine that. “He who raised the Lord will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into his presence.” II Cor 4:14. Death has lost its sting. But even more, as a result of this hope made possible through Jesus’ resurrection, we do not lose heart because we are promised that our momentary troubles are “far outweighed” by the unimaginable, eternal glory that awaits us. II Cor 4:16-17.
Are you like me? Does life just sometimes get you down? Are you disappointed in yourself, do others not live up to your expectations, and are you just tired of these wacky, upside-down times in which we find ourselves? If so, then the practical, everyday implications of Jesus’ resurrection is to just remember that you, too, have already been resurrected from a spiritual death and into a new life with Christ and all the joy and freedom that brings and that all the pain, sorrow, and wackiness of this world are only momentary and cannot compare to the glory we will experience with spending eternity with Jesus and our fellow believers. All these things are only made possible through Jesus’ resurrection. Christ is risen! He has risen indeed!
Carter Dukes