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“But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?  If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised…  And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins…. But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.” (1 Corinthians 15: 12,13,17,20)

The resurrection of Jesus is not just one more detail about his life; it is the central conviction that changes everything.

a) The resurrection reveals God as Trinity, as the Father who raises (Gal 1:1), the Son who is raised  (Rom 1:40) and the Spirit who is the power of resurrection (Rom 8:11). 

b) The resurrection changes the meaning of salvation: ‘if we died with Christ, we believe we shall also live with him, knowing that Christ raised from the dead is never to die again’ (Rom 6: 8,9)

What then is this resurrection life that is promised to us? Death is not just an experience at the end of life. Every moment in time also experiences a ‘death’ as it moves from the present (when we can choose what to do) into the past (where what we did stays fixed and unalterable).  This fixed nature of the past is the sting in sin: something once done, and regretted, cannot be undone. Yet because of the resurrection, the power of the cross reaches to every moment of our lives. Jesus is the Lord of time who can forgive and transform us from the cradle to the grave.  Through the resurrection of Jesus, God can raise us whole into his loving embrace in eternity!