Pastor John, this weekend we will be celebrating Resurrection Sunday. In a nutshell, what is the significance of Easter? Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who came into the world from the Father, born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, did wonderful miracles, loved people, blew all of our categories, nevertheless was crucified for our sins.

And then on the third day, and this is Easter, the celebration of that Sunday, He was raised from the dead, never to die again. And Luke tells us, having done all of his historical research, that He, for 40 days, gave many infallible proofs. And Paul himself, who was a kind of Johnny-come-lately to the Apostles, said that when he wrote 1 Corinthians, 500 people had seen Him alive, and some of those are still alive, if you want to go talk to them.

That's the kind of historical control they had. He was raised physically, they recognized Him, they could put their hands in His wounds, He ate fish in front of them, precisely to say, "A spirit, a ghost, doesn't have flesh and bones, as you see that I have." He was more than physical, because He seemed to go and come at will.

Doors didn't--locked doors didn't get in His way, so there's this unusual new dimension to His body. He ascended to the right hand of the Father, He sits on the throne with God, He intercedes for us there, praying for His people every day, He's reigning until He puts all of His enemies under His feet.

The end of Matthew says He has all authority in heaven and on earth, He'll never die again, He has the keys of death and hell in His hands. For starters, Tony, that's what happened. And the question then--let me just add this--the question then is, so what's the implication of that stunning claim and reality for us?

And I would say, one, it means my sins are forgotten, because Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15, "If Christ is not raised, we're still in our sins," implying if He is raised, our sin problem is over. And that's because the Resurrection vindicates the event of Good Friday, namely His death.

This death really did cover the sins of His people, it really did provide a perfect righteousness for us, so that it says in, I think, the end of Romans 4 that He was delivered up, that is, to the cross, because of our trespasses, and He was raised up because of our justification, meaning just as our sin brought into the cross, the finished work of taking care of our sins brought Him out of the grave.

God looked down and said, "Oh, my son's work was perfect. He's not staying in the grave, and He raises Him from the dead to vindicate all that He had accomplished for us." So in a sense, you could say, practically, Easter means every day that the promises of God for me, to help me, every minute of my life, are secured by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, because the Resurrection vindicates the cross where those promises were bought for me.

And then, maybe I should add, at the end of my life, Philippians 3, 20-21, says, "He's going to give me a body when I die, and I'm raised from the dead, a body like His glorious body." So that the body of Jesus, with which He came from the dead, is a forerunner, it's a first fruit, it's a kind of paradigm of the way all of His people who trust Him are going to have new bodies someday.

And then, as if that were not great enough, Romans 8 says that when the freedom of the glory of the children of God comes to pass, and they are raised from the dead and given glorified bodies, the whole creation gets made over as a suitable galactic playground for those of us who have been given bodies that will never sin again, never get sick again, all tears wiped away.

So I would say, Tony, that the implications of Easter are simply staggering. They are personally precious for every day's life of struggle, and they are globally and galactically precious, because the Resurrection guarantees that this whole created order is going to be made new. So everything hinges on the reality of the Resurrection.

That's exactly the reasoning of 1 Corinthians 15, 17, following. If Christ has not been raised, our Gospel is in vain, your faith is in vain, we are found to be preaching a false gospel, we might as well eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow we die. Paul put all of his eggs in that basket.

If that didn't happen physically, bodily, permanently, then Christianity is just a sham. We may as well pack it up and just be gluttons the rest of our lives. The stakes are very high. Thank you, Pastor John. For more details about the life of Christ, consider picking up Pastor John's book, "50 Reasons Why Jesus Came to Die." You can download it for free right now at DesiringGod.org.

I'm your host, Tony Reinke. Thanks for listening, and have a wonderful, Christ-centered Resurrection Sunday. you you