Why does Christ's resurrection matter anyway?

For most people, Easter is primarily a day of egg hunting, nice clothes, and your grandmother's casseroles. For others--namely Christians--it is a day of joyful celebration as we look back to the resurrection of Jesus. However, I am convinced that the majority of churchgoers are like I was most of my life. Easter Sunday was just another day of wondering why what Jesus did mattered. I mean, my whole life I was told that Jesus' life, death, and resurrection was important, but this news didn't create a joyful celebration in my heart and soul. So, I did what most people do; I concentrated instead on my outfit and on getting presents from a scary bunny, hoping a good basketball game would be on after an over-proportioned lunch with my family.

I am thankful to say that this Easter I "get it." As Paul would say, what used to be foolish to me is now wisdom (2 Corinthians 2). So, I want to take just a small amount of time to tell any readers of this blog why this day is about something so much more exciting than baskets full of freaky chocolate bunnies. This day is about who Jesus Christ is and what He has done. The good news of Jesus' life, death, and resurrection is what is known as "the gospel." The gospel is the message that Christians are called to take to all of the world (Matthew 28:18-20). I believe the reason that most Christians don't share this "good news" is because they are not really all that sure what makes it "good news." So let's do it. Let's look at why Jesus matters.

1. Why does His life matter?

The life of Jesus Christ matters because He lived it without an ounce of sin, earning Him the right to die in the place of sinners like me...and you. Whether you want to admit it or not, you are a sinner. Yeah, I said it, a sinner. The Bible teaches that, ever since the Fall of man, (Genesis 3) sin has been passed down through the seed of Adam. This means that we all have a sinful nature. This isn't good news for us because the Bible also teaches that the penalty for our sin is death. If the penalty is death, God must give us death because He is a perfect and just God. He would cease to be perfect and just if He passed over our sins. So what does this have to do with Jesus?

The reason why Jesus' life matters is because He was not born with the same nature as we were. Remember, Jesus was born of a virgin...He was born of God, not of Adam. Jesus was born without sin, as Adam was created without sin. The difference is that, when tempted, Adam sinned and Jesus didn't. Don't you see, the Bible shows us that Jesus Christ was tempted in every way, yet He did not sin. Jesus lived a perfectly righteous life everyday on this earth. That means that He always perfectly loved God and mankind. This earned Him the right to become the perfect sacrifice and substitute for our sin. His life matters!

2. Why does His death matter?

Jesus' death matters because on the cross Jesus absorbed the full wrath of God that sinners like myself deserve. See, on the cross Jesus didn't just die, He was punished. He hadn't done anything wrong--He was willingly punished for the sins of all who will ever believe on Him. 2 Corinthians 5:21 says, "For our sake he made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that we might become the righteousness of God." What? How could that be? The Bible is saying that, at the cross, God the Father literally looked on Christ as if He were my sin and punished Him for it. The Bible also says that God now looks on me as if I lived Christ's perfect life. This exchange is only made possible through Christ's death on the cross. His death matters!

3. Why does His resurrection matter?

So, we are finally to the question of the day. Why does Jesus rising from the dead matter? It matters because at the moment of Christ's death all evil had began to celebrate and Satan thought he was victorious. The disciples mourned, Jesus' family was distraught, and all the people who had looked to Jesus for hope now sunk into despair as He was placed in a tomb. But three days later, just as Jesus had said, He rose from the dead! He is alive! Don't you get it? That means that everything that the Bible says about Jesus is true. The resurrection proves that Jesus really was and is God. It proves that He really has made the way to God for us! If Christ didn't raise from the dead, then his death was a failure and we are still stuck in our sin. But in fact, "Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father." (Romans 6:4) The success of his suffering and death was truly vindicated. If we put our trust in Christ, we are no longer under the penalty of sin. We are able, for the first time, to know the One who created us in His image. We can know that, as Christ raised, we will be raised to live forever with Him. Praise God for what He has done! Jesus' resurrection truly matters! That, my friends, is a brief and incomplete breakdown of why the gospel of Christ truly is "good news."