Today is, I believe, the most important celebration in the Christian calendar. The other events in our calendar have led up to this day: the pinnacle of all that we believe and worship.
Christmas: God came down as a baby, a birth both miraculous and unusual.
Good Friday: Jesus became the sacrificial Lamb and took our sins upon Himself, a death cruel and public.
Resurrection Sunday: our Saviour resurrected from the dead.
Christmas we joyously celebrate a birth; Good Friday make us a little uncomfortable and we let our thoughts quickly pass to other things; Easter Sunday, no babe lying in a manger, no image of a cross, but instead an empty tomb.
An. Empty. Tomb.
He is not here; for He is risen, as He said (Matthew 28:6a, NKJV).
Jesus Christ rose from the dead. He is alive!
The tomb was empty. The grave clothes not needed. The stone rolled away. And Jesus, our risen Saviour, had broken the chains of sin and death. Resurrected. Alive. No more to die.
And there lies the difference. Our belief and faith in a resurrected Saviour is what makes Christianity different to all other religions.
Jesus was a historical figure but He is more than that.
Jesus was a good Man but He is much more than that.
Jesus was crucified at the hands of the Roman soldiers but the story doesn't end there. If it did, we would be more to be pitied for placing our faith in just another sorry human and trusting him to take away the stain of our sins.
And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty (1 Corinthians 15:14, NKJV).
And in case it wasn't clear the first time:
And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins! (1 Corinthians 15:17, NKJV).
But it is true. He rose again. He is alive. He lives!
For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures (1 Corinthians 15:3-4, NKJV).
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