The Message of the Resurrection

“The message of the resurrection,” wrote N. T. Wright “is that this world matters!”

He further offers this insight in his book, For All God’s Worth: True Worship and the Calling of the Church.

That the injustices and pains of this present world must now be addressed with the news that healing, justice, and love have won…If {the resurrection} means Jesus Christ is only raised in a spiritual sense—[then] it is only about me, and finding a new dimension in my personal spiritual life. But if Jesus Christ is truly risen from the dead, Christianity becomes good news for the whole world—news which warms our hearts precisely because it isn’t just about warming hearts.

{The resurrection} means that in a world where injustice, violence and degradation are endemic, God is not prepared to tolerate such things—and that we will work and plan, with all the energy of God, to implement victory of Jesus over them all.

Take away {the resurrection} and Karl Marx was probably right to accuse Christianity of ignoring problems of the material world. Take it away and Freud was probably right to say Christianity is wish-fulfillment. Take it away and Nietzsche probably was right to say it was for wimps.

In short, the message of the resurrection is one of hope. Encouragement. Purpose. Vision. Deliverance. Victory. And a future filled with eternal, Divine association.

The message of the resurrection will be celebrated today in song, prayer, praise, communion, and preaching the gospel of Christ, as it is every Sunday by first century Christians.

The message of the resurrection will fundamentally be the basis of my sermon topic today, as it was last Sunday and will be next Sunday regardless of the actual topic.

The message of the resurrection means that we must accept all that Jesus said, including this powerful affirmation. “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me (Jn. 14:6).

John MacArthur was right when he wrote, “The truth of the resurrection gives life to every other area of gospel truth. The resurrection is the pivot on which all of Christianity turns and without which none of the other truths would much matter.”

The message of the resurrection calls us to a deeper commitment and more fulfilling spiritual relationship with the Lord.

The message of the resurrection assures us of a forgiven past, a purposeful present, and a brighter future.

Thank God, for the message of the resurrection summarized in three angelic words, “He is risen!”

–Ken Weliever, The Preacherman