A few weeks ago we as Christians celebrated the most amazing weekend in the history of the world. The weekend Jesus Christ was crucified and arose from the dead. The sad part about this weekend is often times it’s the only time we think about the resurrection of Jesus, it is often the only time we think about the low point (for the followers of Jesus) of Friday and Saturday but also the high point of Sunday! It is often the only time many people read through the resurrection texts such as 1 Corinthians 15.

See For us to just spend one week remembering the resurrection is to forget the complexity and completeness of the resurrection. It is to forget what Paul says about the resurrection in 1 Corinthians 15:13-14 which states “But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain.” So according to Paul the greatest fact by which our faith stands is the resurrection of Jesus. If the resurrection did not happen then we need to stop believing in Jesus because that faith is in vain. So why is the resurrection so important?

Well for starters Paul says our sins have not been forgiven but he also says that our faith is in vain. Which means if Jesus didn’t rise from the dead then He (Jesus) is not the messiah, He is not our savior. If Jesus didn’t rise from the dead there is not hope for a future. The resurrection fulfills Old Testament Prophecy as well because the Holy One will not see corruption. The last reason and one that we forget most often is that the resurrection is the precursor to our resurrection as believers. If Jesus was not raised from the dead then you, as a believer will not rise from the dead.

The Bible is clear that Heaven right now is a spiritual existence in which as Paul says “to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.” So Heaven for people who have passed on now with faith is a spiritual existence but it will not always be that way. The Bible declares that when Jesus returns He will separate the sheep from the goats and those who know him will put on the imperishable because flesh and sin cannot inherit the kingdom of God. For us, as believers, the resurrection of Jesus is the proof of the final resurrection for us. The Bible teaches that Heaven will actually be a physical place in the end; it is a restoring of the Garden of Eden. Revelation calls it the New Heavens and the New Earth in which we will be in a new resurrected body with no more crying, no more mourning, and no more pain! (Rev. 21)How do we know this to be true? The Resurrection of Jesus proves it to be true as the scripture says in Colossians 1:18 “And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent.”

Let’s stop making Easter a one Sunday a year celebration. Pastor’s let’s start teaching the completeness of the resurrection and people lets start reading our Bibles to understand what God says about the resurrection. After all, this is the foundation on which the Apostles preached. The book of Acts they are to put it plainly preaching Christ crucified and Christ Resurrected! When we begin to fully understand the resurrection we will have more hope, more joy and a better understanding of how our God is making ALL THINGS NEW!