Happy Easter - HE IS RISEN!

This past Sunday we celebrated the most important event in the history of our faith, the resurrection of Jesus Christ. We often talk about Christ dying for our sins, which of course is important, but just as important is the fact that He did not stay dead. In rising again, Jesus defeated death not just for Himself but for all who trust in His name.

This weekend I read an article in the newspaper questioning whether or not the resurrection was a physical event. There are some Christians who believe that Jesus rose in spirit only, appearing to His disciples as some kind of ghost, not as a flesh-and-blood human. In the article one pastor said that if someday a tomb were found containing the bodily remains of Jesus Christ, that it would in now way affect his faith.

But is that really true?

In 1st Corinthians 15:3-4, Paul tells us that the core of his message is that Christ died for our sins, was buried, and rose again. Some of the people in the Corinthian church, however, did not believe in a physical resurrection of the dead. They believed that our souls would go to heaven, but our bodies would merely decay and we'd never need them again. Paul had a huge problem with this. He told them that if there is no resurrection, then Christ Himself could not have been raised either.

"So what?" some of them may have thought. Just like the pastor in the article I read this weekend, these believers wouldn't have had a problem with the idea of Christ not physically rising from the dead.

Paul goes on to say in verse 16-17, "For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins."

In a world without sin, death would not be an issue. The power of the resurrection is that in Christ physically rising from the dead, he reversed the consequences of humanity's fall and he defeated death. Without a physical resurrection, death still has the edge and we don't have hope for new life.

As we continue to reflect on Easter, let us remember the transforming power of the resurrection.