As we approach this celebration there are two theological positions for us to reflect on:

Resurrection:  His resurrection is equally important and without the resurrection our eternal state is still encased in sin.  The penalty of sin has been satisfied through the cross but it is His resurrection that overcomes sin.  Scriptures teaches the wages of sin is death, but Jesus overcomes death, and as a result overcomes sin.  I was reading recently that few in the ancient world believed in the resurrection and although it is familiar to us, Christianity was born into a world where its central claim was known to be false.  

The common thought was the body was so undesirable that nobody in their right mind would want to return to it.  To be clear Christianity doesn’t merely teach “life after death” as much as it does a story of redemption when judgment has been satisfied through the death of Jesus and although sin has been disarmed it hasn’t been destroyed, therefore, we wait, we long for the return when there will be a flash, a twinkling of an eye, and the dead will be raised imperishable and the mortal with immortality.  That is why when we see the phrase “He Has Risen” it should move us spiritually and emotionally.    

1 Corinthians 15:
 55 “Where, O death, is your victory? 
      Where, O death, is your sting?” 

56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Take the time to reflect on these truths and how it shapes how we live.  How we raise our kids, our marriage, our jobs, our neighbors, our purpose.  It radically redirects our life.  The apostle Paul ends 1 Corinthians 15 with, “Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.” 

How we live matters!