Jesus Is Risen!

When the women went to the tomb on that Sunday morning to look at where Jesus had been laid, they encountered an angel. The angel gave them the greatest news that has ever been communicated: “He is not here; he has risen.”

Jesus died on the cross that Friday. There is overwhelming evidence verifying that Jesus died.

If I had a friend that died and I went to his funeral and looked in the coffin and saw his corpse, and then watched them put the coffin in the ground and cover it, and then three days later saw and talked to my friend at the grocery store, I would have to conclude either that I was crazy and had imagined his death, or that I was seeing things, or that he was supernatural.

Jesus was seen by at least 500 people at one time according to 1 Corinthians 15:6. Jesus was not only seen by the disciples but also ate and interacted with them. We have words Jesus spoke after He resurrected recorded in the Bible.

The evidence of the changed lives of the disciples testifies that they believed Jesus had risen from the dead. They all gave their lives based on their total belief that Jesus died and rose from the dead. People don’t willingly die for something they know is a lie.

The evidence strongly points to the truth that Jesus rose from the dead and is indeed supernatural.

Jesus claimed to be the Son of God, God in the flesh. The resurrection proclaims that Jesus is God in the flesh.

We really only have three choices about who Jesus is.

Jesus is a liar. He made it all up. He orchestrated the events of his life to match the prophecies about the Messiah, but he was a fraud.

Jesus is a lunatic. He really thought He was God. He was mentally deranged and thus has mislead millions of people.

Jesus is Lord. He is exactly who He claimed to be – God.

Now, if Jesus is a liar or a lunatic, then reject and ignore Him.

But if Jesus is Lord, then we have only one option – submit our lives to Jesus as the sole authority of our lives.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is believing that Jesus is Lord and living a life based on that belief.

I could give you many theological aspects of what the resurrection of Jesus does and what it means. But I want to share six things that Jesus’ resurrection means to me personally.

1. It means I don’t have to live in fear.

I have a tendency to be fearful. It is one of the ways that my fallenness is manifested.

I have faced many fears in my life. The one that seems to be the greatest is the fear of failure. I hate not to succeed and I fear people not seeing me as good at what I do. This fear has done two big things. It has kept me from being willing to risk things for Jesus and hindered me from trusting God to work through my life to impact others.

1 John 4:4 tells us that greater is He (Jesus) that is in us than he (Satan) that is in the world.

2. It means that I have eternal life.

Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 15 that, because Jesus rose, we will also be resurrected.

I will have eternal life in a perfect, eternal body with Jesus.

3. It means that I have a real, living hope.

1 Peter 1:3 says that by God’s mercy I have been given a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Jesus overcame death through His resurrection; that gives me hope.

Jesus overcame sin through His resurrection; that gives me hope.

Jesus overcame Satan through His resurrection; that gives me hope.

4. It means that I am not alone and never will be alone.

We are given the promise in Hebrews 13:5 that Jesus will never leave or abandon us. If Jesus died and didn’t resurrect, then I am alone and have only myself to depend on. But because Jesus did rise from the grave, I am not alone and will never have to be alone.

In the sixth hour, which would have been twelve noon, it became pitch dark. In the ninth hour, which would have been three o’clock, Jesus cried out, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”

Jesus hung on the cross for three hours separated from the Father for the first time in all eternity. Jesus died alone and then rose so we would never have to experience that kind of aloneness.

5. It means I serve a living Savior, not a dead martyr.

Jesus died but He did not stay dead.

Jesus is alive.

His resurrection means that I can relate to Jesus. You can’t relate to a dead person. I can talk to Him and know He is listening and hears me. I can hear from Him because, as a living Savior, He can communicate with me.

6. It means that I have victory.

I have victory over fear.

I have victory over sin.

I have victory over death.

I have victory over doubt and confusion.

Paul says in Galatians 2:20 that because he has been crucified with Jesus, that Jesus lives His life through him. If Jesus lives His life through us, that means He is alive, and by living His life through us, He has given us His victory.   

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is celebrating the resurrection of Jesus every day.

The truth is that, aside from the death and resurrection of Jesus, I have no hope. But because of the death and resurrection of Jesus, I have hope and the assurance of God’s love, presence, and power in my life every day.

Through Jesus’ Resurrection Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls

                                                     Joe