Why Do We Celebrate Easter?

00:00:00.000 | Hello everyone, it's Good Friday today, but we are making our way quickly to Easter, my

00:00:09.760 | favorite holiday of the entire year.

00:00:12.840 | So why do we celebrate Easter to begin with?

00:00:15.640 | It's a great question that takes us back to the very roots of our confession and to the

00:00:19.760 | very basis of our faith.

00:00:22.040 | The question arrived recently in the inbox.

00:00:24.200 | "Hello Pastor John, my name is William.

00:00:26.120 | I'm a 15 year old new believer of about 7 months.

00:00:30.040 | Your podcast has been a wonderful help for my journey of faith and I thank God for your

00:00:34.320 | online ministry.

00:00:35.520 | Truly the Lord has blessed me through the wisdom he has given you."

00:00:39.160 | My question is this, what is the importance of Jesus' resurrection?

00:00:44.040 | Since Jesus died on the cross for all of our sins, why does it matter that he rose again?

00:00:49.140 | Is it essential for salvation to believe so?

00:00:52.440 | I've heard people deny that he physically resurrected, saying he only spiritually resurrected.

00:00:58.980 | What difference, Pastor John, would this make?

00:01:02.080 | It's a great question and there are great answers in the Bible.

00:01:08.920 | This is not a hard question to deal with because the resurrection is the greatest event, along

00:01:18.540 | with the death of Jesus in the universe.

00:01:21.520 | It is greater than any galactic event that may embrace light years of distance and brightness,

00:01:29.520 | a million times greater than our sun.

00:01:32.280 | The resurrection of Christ is greater.

00:01:35.160 | So before I give three reasons from the New Testament that the resurrection is essential

00:01:41.360 | to God's purposes in creation and salvation, let me just say clearly, affirming the bodily

00:01:48.680 | resurrection of Jesus is essential to being a Christian.

00:01:53.920 | Paul says in Romans 10:9, "If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe

00:02:01.520 | in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you'll be saved."

00:02:06.960 | Now I know Acts 16:31, it says this, "Believe on the Lord Jesus and you will be saved."

00:02:15.240 | But when he said that, "Believe on the Lord Jesus and you will be saved," he did not mean

00:02:21.440 | believe on a dead man.

00:02:23.480 | When he said, "Believe on the Lord," he meant he's Lord.

00:02:27.600 | He's Lord.

00:02:28.600 | You can't read Paul's letters and think, "He was Lord and now he's in the grave."

00:02:33.640 | He said in 1 Corinthians 12:3, "No one can say Jesus is Lord, is Lord, except by the

00:02:41.120 | Holy Spirit.

00:02:42.120 | He is Lord."

00:02:43.600 | You can't be a Christian if you only believe in a dead human being who was Lord.

00:02:51.120 | You can't.

00:02:52.120 | He is Lord, and Jesus is Lord, is the fundamental early church confession.

00:02:57.840 | So here are three reasons why the resurrection and consequently Easter is so important.

00:03:05.620 | It's important because of, one, the connection between Christ's resurrection and his death.

00:03:12.080 | Two, it's important because of the connection between Christ's resurrection and our resurrection.

00:03:18.800 | And three, it's important because of the connection between Christ's resurrection and his present

00:03:25.740 | and future ministry.

00:03:27.240 | Let's take this one at a time briefly.

00:03:29.620 | The connection between Christ's resurrection and his death.

00:03:33.240 | Consider two key passages, Romans 4.25.

00:03:37.520 | Christ was delivered up to death on account of our trespasses and raised on account of

00:03:46.000 | our justification.

00:03:48.760 | That means that the resurrection was God's sovereign act to emblazon the triumph of Christ's

00:03:58.760 | death across the universe.

00:04:02.060 | The death of Christ successfully completed the foundational work of our justification.

00:04:11.480 | Nobody would be saved without God's declaring us just and righteous before his throne of

00:04:18.280 | justice.

00:04:19.280 | And Romans 4.25 says that the death of Christ so completely and successfully secures this

00:04:28.680 | justification that God put his omnipotent stamp of approval on it by raising Jesus from

00:04:37.320 | the dead.

00:04:38.400 | The bodily resurrection of Jesus vindicated the saving success of the bloody death of

00:04:46.680 | Jesus.

00:04:47.680 | And here's the other text, 1 Corinthians 15.14-18.

00:04:53.580 | If Christ has not been raised—and he's talking bodily resurrection here because you

00:05:00.220 | can see that in the rest of the chapter—if he's not been raised, then our preaching

00:05:04.220 | is in vain and your faith is in vain.

00:05:08.420 | If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile.

00:05:12.240 | You are still in your sins.

00:05:15.340 | Now get that because Jesus died to remove the guilt of our sins, and Paul is saying

00:05:21.420 | if he's not raised, you're still in your sins.

00:05:24.000 | Then those also who have fallen asleep have perished.

00:05:27.300 | In other words, Paul's preaching of the cross—cross, death—is pointless if Christ

00:05:36.180 | was not raised from the dead.

00:05:38.140 | Futile, he says.

00:05:39.440 | And we know it means bodily resurrection because the rest of 1 Corinthians 15 makes that clear.

00:05:45.180 | That's the kind of resurrection he's talking about.

00:05:47.440 | You are still in your sins.

00:05:49.400 | They are not forgiven.

00:05:51.840 | The blood of Jesus is powerless, useless, a failure.

00:05:55.840 | It aborted if Christ was not raised from the dead.

00:06:01.500 | Verse 20.

00:06:02.500 | In fact, Christ has been raised from the dead.

00:06:05.880 | So the resurrection is important because of its connection to the death of Christ.

00:06:12.480 | Number two, the resurrection is important because of its connection between Christ's

00:06:18.400 | resurrection and our resurrection.

00:06:21.420 | First Corinthians 15.20.

00:06:22.980 | Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep.

00:06:27.980 | That means the resurrection is viewed as a one great harvest, and Christ's resurrection

00:06:32.820 | is the first fruits, the first stage of the resurrection that guarantees our resurrection.

00:06:38.720 | Or Romans 6.5.

00:06:41.680 | If we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with

00:06:49.580 | him in a resurrection like his.

00:06:52.860 | Our resurrection will be owing to our union with Christ who was raised.

00:06:59.840 | If he wasn't, we won't be.

00:07:02.900 | Or 2 Corinthians 4.14.He who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus.

00:07:12.920 | So Christ's resurrection is important because ours depends on his.

00:07:19.660 | If he wasn't, we won't be.

00:07:22.080 | Finally, number three, the resurrection of Christ is important because of the connection

00:07:27.920 | between Christ's resurrection and his present and future ministry.

00:07:34.360 | The death of Christ was the purchase of our salvation, not the application or consummation

00:07:40.160 | of it.

00:07:41.360 | The Bible describes much more to be done for our everlasting enjoyment of the glory of

00:07:48.480 | God and the fellowship of Jesus.

00:07:51.160 | His saving work goes on in his resurrection body as he intercedes for us and when he comes

00:08:00.360 | again in glory to establish his kingdom.

00:08:03.260 | The goal of our eternal life is to enjoy and magnify the living Christ as he rules over

00:08:12.960 | his church and gives himself in service and fellowship to his bride.

00:08:18.360 | It is a salvation of living fellowship.

00:08:22.680 | If he weren't alive, we wouldn't have any salvation.

00:08:25.640 | There would be nothing to enjoy forever and ever that is supremely satisfying.

00:08:30.960 | So no resurrection, no fellowship, no salvation, no joy.

00:08:36.760 | So consider these texts.

00:08:38.520 | Romans 6.9.

00:08:40.180 | We know that Christ being raised from the dead will never die again.

00:08:44.960 | Death no longer has dominion over him.

00:08:47.920 | Romans 8.34.

00:08:49.600 | Who is to condemn us?

00:08:52.120 | Christ Jesus is the one who died.

00:08:54.320 | More than that, that's really important.

00:08:57.600 | More than that, who was raised, indeed, who is at the right hand of God, who is interceding

00:09:06.040 | for us.

00:09:07.840 | Ephesians 1.20.

00:09:10.760 | God raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places,

00:09:16.360 | far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, above all names that are named.

00:09:20.940 | He put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church,

00:09:30.160 | which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.

00:09:34.400 | That's his present ministry today as all-supplying guide and head for the church.

00:09:39.600 | Acts 17.31.

00:09:41.560 | God has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he

00:09:48.920 | has appointed.

00:09:49.920 | So judgment is coming.

00:09:51.520 | Jesus is going to be the man who does the judgment.

00:09:54.120 | And of this, he has given assurance by raising him from the dead.

00:10:01.120 | And finally, Colossians 1.18.

00:10:03.240 | He is the beginning of the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent.

00:10:12.020 | So the resurrection of Jesus is all-important because his death would be ineffective without

00:10:18.520 | it and because we would have no hope of resurrection without it and because the ministry of Jesus

00:10:26.680 | that he is performing right now and will perform forever for our everlasting joy would not

00:10:34.260 | exist without the resurrection.

00:10:38.520 | Together with the death of Jesus, his resurrection is the all-important event in the history

00:10:46.880 | of the world.

00:10:48.940 | No overstatement there.

00:10:50.200 | Amen.

00:10:51.200 | Thank you, Pastor John.

00:10:52.200 | May we celebrate his death and resurrection this weekend in particular.

00:10:57.280 | And on behalf of Pastor John and the entire team at DesiringGod.org, we're praying that

00:11:02.840 | you would have a wonderful, incredible weekend reflecting on the implications of Jesus' cross

00:11:09.400 | and his resurrection.

00:11:11.360 | Everything for us, everything for us hinges on these precious realities.

00:11:17.040 | Have a great celebration weekend.

00:11:18.720 | We'll see you back here on Monday.

00:11:20.760 | Amen.

00:11:21.760 | Amen.

00:11:22.280 | Amen.

00:11:27.280 | [BLANK_AUDIO]

Why Do We Celebrate Easter?

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