The resurrection of Jesus really has changed everything. Because Jesus was resurrected, we have a better understanding of what the His cross means. And we begin to understand why He died in the first place. At the cross, Jesus died in our place to become the sacrifice that was needed to pay for our sin. He entered our pain and our shame. Jesus took the weight of evil itself, so that its power could be broken!

Jesus didn’t stay in the grave and we see that the death and resurrection of Jesus is God freeing us from sin, overcoming death and announcing that one day a new creation will come. It is because of the death and the resurrection of Jesus that we see the love of God. When we look at Jesus, we can say, “This is love.”

I want to talk to you today about how the resurrection is also about God conquering death. Of all the things we experience as humans, death has to be the most troubling to us. Beth Cadman Medical News Today – THANATOPHOBIA, a form of anxiety characterized by a fear of one’s own death, or the process of dying. It really doesn’t matter if we worry about these things happening to us or not, the point is that we all live with the reality that one day death is coming. 329,000,000 people live in America. 2,700,000 people die in America every year.

Sociologists tell us that almost every society has or has had its own version of immortality symbols or things that give us assurance of living forever. In ancient Egypt, the pharaohs were concerned with being enshrined or buried with the gods. For us as Americans, it is about a big house, more cars, bigger bank accounts, and retirement accounts. These things we think will live on long after we are gone. We want to leave a mark by leaving a name for ourselves or a legacy. There is nothing wrong with leaving the world a better place for future generations but as far as these things making us live on after death – they fall very short. Death is inescapable.

When Jesus went to the cross on that Friday (we call good Friday) it was anything but “good.” His followers were overwhelmed with grief. Like the disciples who were walking on the road to Emmaus after Jesus was resurrected, “we had hoped He would be the Messiah, but now that hope had ended.” Sometimes we rush past this part of the story without realizing that the darkness and the tragedy of Jesus death on the cross is how we feel before we meet Jesus; overwhelmed and broken; filled with discouragement and despair and fear. Death really is the end of all possibilities. And if there is no answer to death, then there is no answer to anything! What is going to lift our sagging spirits?

On that first Easter morning, God the Father showed the world that there is a love that is stronger than death. The NT points out in so many places that God the Father raised Jesus from the dead. Why is this important? Because Jesus was not a Superman who was brought to the brink of death by some evil villain and at the last minute, he mustered the courage to bust free. The NT preachers preached that Jesus really did die. He really was buried. He was fully dead.

But God the Father didn’t leave His only Son in the grave. He vindicates what Jesus did on the cross and how He lived His life by raising Him from the dead.

Acts 5:30-31 (HCSB) ³⁰ The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom you had murdered by hanging Him on a tree. ³¹ God exalted this man to His right hand as ruler and Savior, to grant repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins.

Acts 13:32-37 (HCSB) ³² And we ourselves proclaim to you the good news of the promise that was made to our ancestors. ³³ God has fulfilled this for us, their children, by raising up Jesus, as it is written in the second Psalm: You are My Son; today I have become Your Father. ³⁴ Since He raised Him from the dead, never to return to decay, He has spoken in this way, I will grant you the faithful covenant blessings made to David. ³⁵ Therefore He also says in another passage, You will not allow Your Holy One to see decay. ³⁶ For David, after serving his own generation in God’s plan, fell asleep, was buried with his fathers, and decayed. ³⁷ But the One God raised up did not decay.

The Apostle Paul wrote letters to some churches in a city called Corinth that weren’t sure that the resurrection of Jesus was good news for the world. These people were wondering if it really was necessary to believe. They thought maybe they could just say the Jesus was a good teacher and was here spiritually. Why did it matter if Jesus had actually been raised from the dead? Let’s look at what the Apostle Paul teaches on this and make some observations.

1 Corinthians 15:20-26 (HCSB) ²⁰ But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. ²¹ For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead also comes through a man. ²² For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. ²³ But each in his own order: Christ, the firstfruits; afterward, at His coming, those who belong to Christ. ²⁴ Then comes the end, when He hands over the kingdom to God the Father, when He abolishes all rule and all authority and power. ²⁵ For He must reign until He puts all His enemies under His feet. ²⁶ The last enemy to be abolished is death.

Resurrection is the Defeat of Death

Paul calls death an enemy. It is a beast! But it will be destroyed because of the victory Jesus had on Easter. Can you imagine begin free from death? What if we can look that monster right in the face and say that even that, even death, will not be the end?

Tyrants and thieves always use the fear of death as a weapon. But when death no longer holds a sting, these tyrants no longer have any power. This is why it is so important to understand what really happened to Jesus. He didn’t have a near death experience and was resuscitated. He didn’t pass out on the cross. The disciples were not hallucinating when they saw Jesus alive again. The ancient world often thought this way. But what happened to Jesus shattered all these ideas. There were no words to describe it. This is the way Paul explained it.

1 Corinthians 15:3-8 (HCSB) ³ For I passed on to you as most important what I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, ⁴ that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, ⁵  and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the Twelve. ⁶ Then He appeared to over 500 brothers at one time; most of them are still alive, but some have fallen asleep. ⁷ Then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles. ⁸ Last of all, as to one abnormally born, He also appeared to me.

Resurrection is God’s New Beginning when all possibilities have ended

Resurrection is not a resuscitation like Lazarus may have experienced. It is also not hallucination. It is not a spiritualization of the afterlife. Resurrection is what only God can bring when all other possibilities are gone.

Do you need resurrection in your life? Are there things that are dead and possibilities that have ended? Maybe you are thinking that it is no use to think about those areas because how could God change your story now. Well, the Apostle Paul mentioned one last thing we see from these verses.