Does the resurrection of Jesus matter to you? I’m not asking for the Sunday school answer, or the theological systems answer.
I mean, day to day, as you parent your kids, as you talk to your wife, as you go to work, as you walk through trials, as you handle disappointment, do you ever think about any of those things in light of the resurrection of Jesus?
Or to put it another way, would you live your life any different, day to day, if Jesus had not been raised on that first Easter Morning?
I invite you to turn in your copies of God’s word to 1 Corinthians chapter 15. 1 Corinthians chapter 15.
Today I want to think about a hugely important chapter near the end of 1 Corinthians.
Before the Apostle Paul concludes his letter written to the troubled church in the ancient Greek city of Corinth, he has a final correction to give, an important correction, in fact, we might say THE most important correction.
Thus far in the letter, Paul had been answering questions and problems found within the struggling Corinthians church. In chapter 7 he transitions to addressing specific problems by saying, “now, concerning the matters about which you wrote.” Then he addresses principles for marriage. Then later in chapter 7, “now, concerning the betrothed,” or those who were engaged to be married.
Then in chapter 8, “Now concerning food offered to idols,” and he answers that issue. Chapter 11 then begins, “Now” and he goes on to address head coverings in the gathered worship, and the proper roles for men and women. Chapter 12 then begins, “now concerning spiritual gifts,” and he goes on to correct the Corinthian abuse of certain spiritual gifts.
And here in our text, he transitions with a similar “NOW” and begins to address the final problem, which was that there were some people denying the fact of Christ’s resurrection from the dead.
And as we will see, this was not a matter of trivial importance. It is the heart of the Christian gospel, the heart of the Christian life, indeed, THE CENTRAL matter of first importance.
Paul has, as it were, saved the best, or most important, for last. This denial of Christ’s resurrection can’t be classified as an issue that we can ignore, or a matter of indifference. We can’t just agree to disagree, and this doctrine isn’t an issue that we can either take it or leave it. This is a non-negotiable. The resurrection of Christ is the heart of the gospel, and to misplace it or disbelieve it, is to lose everything.
Let’s begin by reading in Chapter 15, verses 1-11:
Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, 2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.
3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 6 Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles.
8 Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. 9 For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.11 Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.
We’ll work our way through this text under these headings: first, we’ll the resurrection is essential, then we’ll see that the resurrection is central, then we will see that the resurrection is factual, then we will see that the resurrection is fruitful. Essential, central, factual, and fruitful.
Let’s look at verse 1 and see that the resurrection is Essential. It is essential to salvation. Verse 1:
Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, 2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.
Paul starts this new chapter by reminding them of the gospel, the good news. And the content of that news, that message of the gospel, he explains in verse three, which we will get to in a minute, but that content includes both the death AND the resurrection of Jesus Christ. This is the simple message of the Christian faith, of the gospel.
This gospel of both Christ’s death and Resurrection is the sine qua non of salvation, the thing that, if you lose it, you’ve lost the entire faith.
If you’ve got it, then you can have the true message of salvation. That’s what he says, this gospel, verse 1, that I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved.
There is no salvation without it. But let’s not gloss over what is assumed by this gospel message of salvation.
However elementary it may seem to some of you who have been in the church for a while, the gospel message of salvation assumes that you first needed to be saved. A message of saving is meaningless unless you aren’t first convinced that you need saving.
Perhaps you’re here today and you’re not sure of all this Christianity stuff. Language of a cross, and blood, and resurrection from the dead. Or maybe you’ve heard it all before and you still aren’t convinced. I’d have you to hear what the bible says to us about our condition outside of faith in Jesus Christ.
The bible says very plainly that we’re not merely a little off. That we’ve slightly missed the mark. It paints a much more realistic picture of who we are.
You see, even though we all were made in the image of a holy God, each of us has chosen to tarnish that image through sin. You might say, “well, I’ve never killed anybody, I’m not that bad. I’m not a thief, and I work hard, so God will cut me some slack, he’ll look favorably on me, and let me in the pearly gates one day.
I’m not near as bad as other people around me.”
But the bible would actually argue otherwise. The scriptures reveal to us that we are actually far worse off that we think.
We may not have murdered someone with our hands, but we certainly have gotten sinfully angry in our hearts. We’ve spouted off in anger at our kids, or said a hurtful words to our spouse. And if you’re like me, you’ve yelled in anger at total strangers in traffic.
All of these things are violations of God’s law against murder, as Jesus said in the sermon on the mount.
Every sharp word toward our family members, every time we act selfishly and seek our own interests, instead of seeking the good of someone else, we’re violating the law that we shouldn’t murder. We’re saying, “I want my life and my freedom the way I want it, and I want it at the cost of yours.”
Likewise, we may not have stolen anything with our hands, but every time we covet or sinfully desire what has not given to us by God, we’re sinning against God by saying he hasn’t given us what we deserve. We’re slandering the character of God by saying that he’s not been good or fair to us, and he is withholding something that we ought to have.
One more example. Every time we have the slightest fleeting thought of lust, or even feel the smallest hint of discontentment with the spouse that God has given us, we stand just as condemned before God’s holy law as the worst serial adulterer on the planet.
You see, God’s law is the perfect standard of holiness, and when we stand alone in front of that standard, scripture says that we are all condemned. And God’s holiness will not permit any fluctuation in that standard; nor does God grade on a curve. None of us are excused from the law’s demand for perfect righteousness at every single moment of our lives.
Have you felt that standard, in your soul, in your conscience? I bet you have.
Maybe when you can’t sleep at night, or when you’re alone in your thoughts, when you think back to that shameful thing you did back then, and your conscience is pricked with guilt and shame and regret over something you’ve done or something that you should have done. Have you felt that? That’s the Holy Spirit’s work of pressing the law upon your heart.
In our more sober moments, each of us knows we are not what we should be. And the news gets even worse, because the perfection of the law of God requires satisfaction. God would not remain just if he were to permit sin to remain unpunished. There must be payment, there must be retribution, there must be justice satisfied.
And the just sentence of the law means that apart from Christ, each of us is condemned, consigned to punishment. And that eternal justice of God’s holy character will not be satisfied through some good deeds on our part.
Nor will that justice be satisfied by a few years in purgatory, after which we get out for good behavior. Don’t listen to that unbiblical and Satanic lie taught by the catholic church. You won’t have a chance to make up for your sin after you die.
it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, the bible says in Hebrews chapter 9. No second chances, no temporary state of purgatory and then after that comes heaven.
No, the bible teaches eternal, conscious punishment in hell is the destination of every soul who has ever lived. We need to be saved from that. We need salvation.
That’s where the good news of the gospel comes in. Our destiny doesn’t have to remain the same as it was.
No, the good news is that God has provided a savior. He has provided a way of escape. His justice has been satisfied in the death and resurrection of Jesus. He is the sacrificial lamb, the substitute, the scapegoat, the offering, sent by God to provide atonement for the sins of all that would believe in him.
His righteousness can be counted to you, and his punishment on the cross can be taken as yours, so that you can be free from the sentence of death, and likewise share in His resurrection one day.
That’s the simple message of the gospel. Every hateful or unkind word or though can be taken care of. Every lustful intention of your heart can be atoned for. You can be saved from All of your worst, darkest, deepest, most shameful sins, because of the gospel.
That’s Paul’s reminder, and it is a reminder to us this morning. Do you believe that message? Do you embrace it as your own? I’m not asking if you simply embrace the message of the gospel as the truth, that fact that Jesus did die and was, in fact, raised.
Satan knows that message to be true, and he hates it.
I’m asking, have you embraced the gospel message as your own? Do you believe on it for your salvation?
Can you say with Paul that Christ died for MY sins? That MY debt was paid on the cross? That Christ rose again for MY Life? That I am being saved, even now, through the power of the gospel?
If you haven’t taken hold of that savior, then be warned that you are still in need of saving. Know that if nothing changes, you are destined for an awful and eternal punishment under the full wrath of a holy God in hell.
No amount of atonement on your part will suffice to assuage the sentence of justice to which you are heading.
Trust in this Jesus, in this savior, the savior proclaimed in the scriptures, who indeed is the lamb of God sent to atone for the sins of his people. Don’t wait one more day, don’t keep your soul in eternal jeopardy. Trust in Christ, and you too can have the security and peace of everlasting fellowship with our holy and righteous father.
That’s what at stake in this essential message of good news, your soul’s everlasting sentence, either to eternal life or eternal death.
Next, we saw that the resurrection is essential. Now let’s move onto verse 3 and see that the Resurrection is Central. It is Central. Verse 3:
3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures
Take note in our text of how Paul describes his message: of first importance.
When I was pastoring in Alabama, our habit there, as is the pattern here, is for the pastors to interview prospective members of the church. We’d ask prospective members coming into our church is this simple question: what is the gospel? What is the good news?
Perhaps some of you here remember what you said when asked that same question. The answers to that question were very interesting to me, not because I was looking for any one particular answer, but because I do want to see what someone believes to be the most important parts of the message of the Bible.
Our answer to the question often reveals what is most important to us about the bible’s message.
And isn’t it interesting how Paul describes the death and resurrection of Jesus: of First importance. There are, in the bible, many truths, many different ethical instructions, many doctrines explained, many teachings given.
But they are not all of the same importance, Paul would say. Otherwise, his statement “of first importance,” makes no sense. There must be levels of importance.
His framework assumes there are more important components, and less important. I didn’t say un-important, but less important.
So, for example, Paul addressed the issues related to Christian liberty earlier in his letter. These aren’t unimportant, whether you can exercise this liberty or that liberty, whether you can eat meat that had been sacrificed to pagan idols or not. Those are important questions, but they aren’t THE MOST important.
This discernment of the relative importance of particular doctrines is important for a healthy understanding of the Christian life, and for the maintenance of unity among believers. Christ’s atoning death and resurrection are the most important. Without them, you’ve lost the faith. You’ve lost the gospel entirely.
But we have many other areas of doctrine that we might disagree with people on, without coming to the conclusion that they have lost the faith.
For example, we agree with our Presbyterian brothers and sisters on the heart of the gospel message, but we disagree with them on how baptism should be done, and who should receive it. That’s important, but it is not of first importance.
Similarly, we might disagree with someone on exactly what the bible teaches concerning the return of Jesus and the timeline of events, but that doesn’t mean that either of us has lost the centrality of the message, that Jesus died for sin and was raised.
To lose that central message, is to lose it all.
So, what does Paul’s understanding of the relative importance of certain truths mean for us as a church?
It means there should be a level of discernment within our body of the relative importance of certain doctrines, as it relates to fellowship. If one of you comes up to me and tells me that you believe the book of Revelation ought to be read in a certain way that I don’t agree with, I’m not going to seek your excommunication and have you kicked out of the church, and I hope you don’t seek the same for me.
We can disagree, trusting that we have the central part of the message the same.
However, if you come up to me after this sermon and try to convince me that Jesus hasn’t actually been raised from the dead, then we are having a different conversation. You’ve compromised the heart of the faith so much so that I’m no longer convinced you’re saved. You’ve abandoned the center of the gospel message, abandoned what it means to be a believer.
So, this doctrinal discernment, being able to understand the relative importance of truths, is important for us as a congregation, to maintain our unity by guarding the matters of first importance. Conviction on the central matters, and charity on everything else. That’s how we maintain unity in the faith.
But this understanding of discerning levels of importance is also relevant to us individually as well. Let me apply it by asking you a question. Parents, what would your children say about what you believe is the most important part of the bible’s message?
How would our children answer if they were asked about what their parents believe is the most important message of the bible?
This one might humble us a little bit. If we examined the last 100 times that you instructed your children in biblical truth, how many of those instructional moments included the gospel that Jesus died for sin and rose for our life?
You see, it is entirely possible for us to mentally affirm the importance of the gospel message of Christ’s death and resurrection, while practically undermining that importance in how we speak, in how we parent.
If I talk to my children 100 times, and 99 of those talks are all about obedience and holiness and necessity of how they behave, and only 1 of those 100 times do I explicitly apply the centrality of Christ’s death for sin and resurrection for life, what does that ratio imply about my understanding of the message? About how I rank the doctrines that are the most important?
It shows that I probably have things out of balance.
Everything I said might have been true, but the balance of the instruction is so weighted toward law and so neglecting of explicit gospel that my children might be given the impression that the bible’s central message is to act right in order to be loved.
I’ve unintentionally implied to my children that God will love you as long as you behave.
And the danger there is that is actually the opposite of the gospel. Preachers even do this all the time.
They so pound the law, and pound the need for holiness, and pound the necessity of living rightly, and so neglect the explicit teaching that Jesus died and was raised so that you might be saved, that congregations are trained to emphasize the law, to the neglect of forgiving grace.
Reflect for a moment on yourself. How central is the substitutionary death and resurrection of Jesus to your life? To your marriage? To your parenting?
Paul would correct us by reminding us the very message that I explained in the first point. That if you believe, Jesus died in your place. He died for sinful people, for sinful parents, for sinful spouses.
Remember the gospel, that your failing to act right, your failing to parent right, that your failings toward your spouse, those are all atoned for, if you believe his message.
Don’t unintentionally fall back into law-keeping as the center of your message. We’re all bent toward law-keeping, toward thinking that our good behavior is the basis of our standing before God.
We’re bent toward thinking that we are doing pretty good, we haven’t murdered anyone, haven’t stolen, haven’t been unfaithful, and so God must be pleased with us.
But to the extent that I believe God accepts me because of my good behavior, that is the extent to which I haven’t fully understood the message of the gospel.
That’s important, so I’ll say it again. The extent to which I believe God accepts me because of my good behavior, is the extent to which I haven’t fully understood the message of the gospel.
Don’t lose the centrality of the message: that you needed saving, and that Christ alone has done the saving, through his death and resurrection, all done in accordance with the scriptures.
That’s the center of the message, and if we’re not careful, we can easily lose it by becoming imbalanced and emphasizing what is not of prime importance.
Third, we’ve seen the resurrection is essential, and it is central to the faith. Now let’s move onto verse 5 and see that the resurrection is factual. It is factual.
We might also say it is historical. There is an irreducible, undeniable historical and factual foundation for the entirety of the Christian Faith. We see that starting in verse 5:
that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 6 Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles.
8 Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. 9 For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.
The heart of the gospel message, especially the resurrection of Jesus, is the point at which most people reject the faith.
You see, many pagans will affirm certain teachings from the bible. They may even endorse some of Jesus’s own teachings: “Well, I like the golden rule, do unto others as you would have them do unto you, I learned that one in kindergarten and it seems to work out OK. and I perhaps even admire his instruction to turn the other cheek. That seems noble.” Many unbelievers will affirm the virtue found in biblical truth.
But when you start talking about previously dead people coming back to life, that’s they change their tune.
To consider that 2000 years ago in the middle east, a Jewish corpse was laying in the grave, containing a cold, un-beating heart, and then three days after death that heart began to beat, and warm blood began to circulate through the body, that’s all just myth and fairytale.
Dead people don’t come back to life. Scientifically it doesn’t make sense. It’s unheard of, and I’ve never seen anything like that, so I won’t believe that. I’ll take the parts of the bible I like, and reject the other parts as either mystical well-wishing, or a fabrication made up by Jesus’s disciples after their leader failed to produce the political revolution that they were looking for.
You hear that kind of message all the time from atheists, from philosophers, and people writing for the New York Times.
Paul instead corrects such logic by reminding the Corinthian believers, and those resurrection-deniers, of the Factual nature of the resurrection. Jesus not only rose from the grave, but then confirmed that resurrection by appearing to many people.
First Peter and the rest of the disciples, then to 500 other people, many of whom were still alive at the time, Paul says.
It’s like Paul’s saying, go talk to these people, listen to their testimony, and see for yourselves. This isn’t just one or two crack pots who thought they saw a ghost. Hundreds of people saw this. It’s not like the bigfoot videos you see where there was a shadowy figure’s leg, and only one person was there to see it. No, Hundreds of people witnessed Jesus’s resurrected body.
This is not some hoax. This is a verified historical event that happened.
Christianity is built upon an historical fact. Not the opinions of men. Our faith is not built on a hunch or a feeling. Christianity’s validity isn’t based upon if it is popular or not, or if it is fashionable among the elites of society. Nor is it valid because of who’s in political power.
The entirety of the Christian religion is tied to an event which is, humanly speaking, unbelievable, namely, that on Easter morning 2000 years ago, a previously deceased Jewish man made his way out of his own tomb.
And Paul saw Him. Paul goes on to say that he himself was a witness. Jesus appeared to Paul, verse 8. Jesus’s post-resurrection appearance to Paul is the only explanation of Paul’s own testimony and conversion.
Paul describes himself as the least of the apostles, and unworthy of being called one, because he persecuted the church of God.
Paul was involved in the hunting down, incarceration, and extermination of early Christians. He was an enemy of gospel message, and a zealous one at that. But all that changed for Paul.
How could Paul swing so wildly from being a persecutor of Christians to perhaps the most effective apostolic proponent of the Christian faith? Because of the resurrection.
He was an eye-witness. That radical transformation was only possible because Jesus was raised from the dead. That’s the only explanation. That’s the only way for an anti-Christian zealot to become someone willing to give up everything for the very same Church that he previously sought to destroy.
And that conversion testimony from Paul ought to give hope to you too: if you have been someone opposed to the gospel, someone hardened in your rejection of the message of Christ, maybe even someone who has mocked Christians and Christianity in the past, then know that you are not too far gone for salvation.
Christ came into the world to save sinners, of which Paul believed he was the worst, and if Paul can be transformed by that message, so can you.
Paul was involved in the murder Christians, and that means that you are not too far gone. Come to Jesus, believe in this message, take it as your own, and you can be in the company of saints, right along with Paul and the eye witnesses of the resurrection.
And for those of us who believe, we need to remember that the resurrection ought to instill in us a readiness to proclaim this good news. If Jesus has been raised from the dead, then the worst of sinners is not out of reach of God’s transforming grace.
Jesus walking out of the tomb on Easter morning demonstrates the power of God over death and the curse, and therefore no other sinner, no matter how forgone they may look, none of them are un-savable to the Lord who has conquered death and the grave.
Be bold in your speaking of the resurrection, despising the shame you might feel, ignoring the mocking that could come, knowing that Christ has endured the worst shame in our place, and has promised us the same fruit of atonement: our own resurrection from the grave.
Christ’s resurrection means that we will experience the same resurrection from the grave, and that means any shame and suffering for the gospel in this life pale in comparison to what awaits us in the end.
But lets move on to the final major point. We’ve seen that the resurrection is essential, that it is central, that it is factual, and now, let’s note that it is fruitful. The Resurrection of Jesus is Fruitful. Look with me at verse 10.
10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.11 Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.
I’ve talked about this fruit in Paul’s life a bit already, but in these verses, we see Paul make explicit one of the fruits of the resurrection: belief. Belief.
Verse 11: Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.
Whether it was Paul preaching the message of the resurrection, or someone else preaching, somebody preached, and they believed the message. Salvation came to the Corinthians through the proclamation of Christ’s death and resurrection.
That’s the beginning and the end of the Christian life. If you have believed, it is because someone told you a message. If you’ve trusted, it is because Christ has been raised, and you’ve heard about it and believed..
It can be easy for us to forget that fact, that we believe ONLY because the resurrection is true, and the proclamation of it’s truth.
We don’t believe because you were cleverer than those other unbelievers. You don’t believe because you were a pretty good guy or a pretty good girl. Nor are you a believer because you’re pretty smart, and you objectively evaluated the facts of the faith and rationally submitted to them.
No, if you have faith at all, it is because Christ has defeated death and earned that faith for you.
He took the initiative to come down and be born under the law, fulfilling all righteousness in your place, bearing the punishment that you had earned, going to death and the grave, and conquering over death itself, the very image of the curse, thereby making way for you to be made right with God.
He opened your previously-blind eyes, and gave you the ability to see the beauty and the glory of the gospel.
You are a fruit of his resurrection. Your faith is a fruit of Christ’s atoning work and especially His resurrection.
Linger on that truth, let it press its way deep into your heart so as to drive out remaining pride within you.
There ought to be no boasting among believers, no pride, because it was Christ’s cross and empty tomb that saved us, not we ourselves. We believe, because Christ’s resurrection was fruitful.
Now, in the remaining few minutes I want to offer a couple of applications. I’ve made some along the way, but I’ve got a couple more, and they’re not too long.
First, I want you to think about the doctrine of the resurrection as it relates to the Lord’s Supper. Lord willing, we will be having the Lord’s supper tonight, so this might prime the pump for that a little bit.
The Lord’s Supper is a meal, instituted by Christ himself, and it proclaims to us that which is of first importance, to use Paul’s language from above. It proclaims Christ’s death, because the body and blood are separated, symbolized by the bread and the cup.
He died, in accordance with the scriptures, and that death was atoning, it was sacrificial, it was necessary for us to have our debt of unrighteousness repaid.
But we also see at the table the hope of Christ’s resurrection, because as you look at the table with the elements there, what do you not see?
You don’t see Christ’s ACTUAL body and blood, do you?
Where is Christ’s actual body and blood? The bible teaches us that Christ is right now at the right hand of the father. He has ascended into heaven.
And he’s preparing a place for us, setting the table, waiting for us to join him at the final meal, the marriage supper of the lamb, a glorious banquet celebration that awaits all to trust in him.
There is a real sense in which we can say with the angel who was at the grave on Easter morning, “He is not here, for he has been raised.”
The table proclaims Christ’s death, but it also proclaims to us the resurrection of Christ. And it does so in another way too.
Do you know why the table proclaims the resurrection? Because Paul has already said in chapter 11: every time we eat the bread and partake of the cup we proclaim the Lord’s death, until he comes. Until he comes.
You know who can’t come? A dead man. The dead. People who are dead cannot come to visit. But Christ isn’t dead. He is risen. He is alive. And because he has been raised, his death has meaning, and his future coming brings us hope.
Think about the resurrection of Christ, not merely his death, when you approach the table of our Lord.
Another final application, and I will close with this, is that Christ’s resurrection gives great hope to the grieving. Great hope to the grieving. We know that believers are united to Christ in his death, as pictured in our baptism, and we will likewise be united with him in his resurrection.
Romans 6:5, “For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.”
That means that all who believe will be raised from the grave, just as Christ was raised in glory. That doctrine is spelled out by Paul later in this passage, which maybe I’ll be able to preach another time, but for now, let’s apply the doctrine of bodily resurrection for our comfort here and now.
It means that when our brothers and sisters pass on into glory before us, we grieve, for sure. We miss them. We’re saddened to be bereft of them. But we can know that our separation from them is only temporary. We will see them again.
Just like Christ walked out of the grave, so too will every brother and sister that went on before us into glory, and so will each one of us who have believed. We will all be raised in glory, to walk with no more sin, no more death, no more sadness, no more failing bodies, no more separation from our beloved.
Doesn’t that sound wonderful? That’s the hope that awaits each and every one of us who believe. And it’s all possible, because Christ is risen.
Trust in that Christ, and let His resurrection and His empty tomb remind you that we all will soon experience the same. If the Lord delays in his return, we will all die, but each of us who believe will also leave an empty tomb of our own, just like our savior did.
We can truly say with the hymn writer,
Up from the grave he Arose, with a mighty triumph over his foes.
He arose a victor from the dark domain,
and he lives forever, with his saints to reign.
That is our resurrection hope, and our present comfort. That Christ reigns, and that we shall reign with him, re-united with all the saints, including our departed brothers and sisters.
