On Easter morning Christians around the world celebrate the reality that Jesus rose bodily from the grave (Luke 24:6-7). We don't have a dead savior, or an ethereal savior, but rather a risen savior. A savior that wasn't merely resuscitated, but one that was resurrected from the dead.
Believers around the world worship a risen Savior on Easter. A Savior, as Paul tells the Corinthians, fulfilled scripture by doing so (1 Corinthians 15:1-4). This reality, Paul says, has great implications for us as believers as well. Not only does Jesus resurrection give us new birth and a living hope, as Peter would tell believers in 1 Peter 1:3, but it points to the reality of glorification and life with Christ in eternity.
When we celebrate Easter we not only celebrating Jesus' resurrection from the grave, His defeat of death, and His power displayed but we celebrate the reality that He gives us an example in Himself of what will one day happen to our bodies (1 John 3:2).
The older I get the more hope I take in this.
The more mornings I wake up and can't move because I slept wrong, the more hope I take in this.
The more conversations I have with others about the pains and hardships of this life, the more I take hope in this.
The more I see families and friends mourn the loss of loved ones, the more I take hope in this.
Jesus' death and resurrection point us to a greater hope. A hope that sin is defeated and one day will be destroyed (Revelation 20:1-10). That the pain that is brought about in a variety of different ways by sin will ultimately be no more. That the bodies that suffer because of the affects of sin will one day, for believers, be changed into glorified bodies like Jesus (1 Corinthians 15:35-58).
We have a hope Christian, a hope in a risen Savior.
A Savior that not only frees us from the chains of sin in this life (1 Corinthians 6:9-11), and that would be a gift in itself, but promises too and points to a life free of sin with Him for eternity. So on this Easter morning take hope in the reality that you Christian have a resurrected Savior that reigns forevermore (Ephesians 1:20-21).
Do you trust in this resurrected Savior? Do you know Jesus?
If not we'd love to talk to you about Him and how He can change your life. E-mail us at Matt@thehonestyouthpastor.com