What the Resurrection Says to the World

He is risen!
He is risen indeed!

 

While Christ’s resurrection has special significance for those who are united to the resurrected Christ through faith, his resurrection also sends a message about Jesus Christ to everyone, believer and unbeliever alike.

• The resurrection is evidence that Jesus is the Promised One.
  David prophesied that the Messiah would not see corruption, and at Pentecost, the apostle Peter tells us this prophesy is fulfilled by the resurrection of Jesus: 

  … [T]he patriarch David … [b]eing therefore a prophet, … foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption. This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses. Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing… .

   

  Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified. (Acts 2: 29-36 ESV)

  It is because Jesus was raised that we can “know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ.” His resurrection confirms his fulfillment of messianic prophesy, proving that he is the long awaited Promised One.
   
• The resurrection declares that Jesus is the Son of God in power.
  Jesus was born in weakness, and during his earthly ministry and perfect obedience unto death, we see his human frailty; but with the resurrection, a new phase of Jesus’ human existence has dawned. In his resurrection, Jesus is shown to be the Son of God in power. Paul tells us that Jesus was

  …descended from David according to the flesh and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord… (Romans 1:3,4 ESV)

  The resurrection announces to the world that Jesus Christ, who came and lived and died as one of us, has now been appointed to a position of power and authority.


• The resurrection is proof that Jesus is appointed Judge of All.
  The apostle Paul told the people of Athens that Jesus’ resurrection gives assurance to all people everywhere that he is the one whom God has appointed to judge the world:

  The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead. (Acts 17:30, 31 ESV)

  We know Jesus Christ is the Judge of All because he has been raised, and the only reasonable response to the surety of this promise of judgment by Christ is repentance.

The Jesus of history is not just another prophet or teacher or humble servant, but the Promised One, the Son of God in power, and God’s appointed Judge of All.  We can know these things for certain becaise they have been verifired by the historical resurrection.

 

The resurrection calls all people to respond by turning from rebellion against Christ to reverance of him.  The resurrection calls everyone to affirm this universal message: Jesus Christ has been made Ruler of All and is declared before all as worthy of worship. The resurrection  is confirmation to all people that

God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:9-11 ESV)

 

He is risen!
He is risen indeed!

 

 This is an old Easter post from the old blog, but I wanted to have it here, too, and it seems like now’s a good time to repost it.