Easter morning is the central event in human history, because it was for this purpose that Christ came: to die, to be buried, and to rise again. The resurrection confronts us with the curse of sin, the certainty of judgment, the reality of death, and individual eternal destiny. It forces us to take seriously all the prophecies of Scripture.
With this in mind, we can think of Easter in three tenses, each of which is rooted in the historical resurrection of Jesus:
. . . is our peace with God that was accomplished for us in the moment of Christ’s resurrection.
God’s power toward us who believe is according to the working of his mighty strength which he exerted in Christ, when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms. (Ephesians 1:19–20)
. . . is the power of God at work in us to shape us in our new identity in Christ.
For the love of Christ compels us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died; and he died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for him who died and rose again on their behalf. (2 Corinthians 5:14–15)
. . . is the promise of God, the hope of glory, that just as Christ was raised in his glorified body so we will be raised at his second coming, and that we—spirit, soul, and body—will then be perfectly conformed to the person of Christ.
I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies, and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. (John 11:25)
Read the full John Updike poem (“Seven Stanzas at Easter”) quoted in this sermon. [vector_icon icon=”arrow-circle-o-right”]
Read some Bible verses about Easter past, present, and future. [vector_icon icon=”arrow-circle-o-right”]
These are the last recorded statements of Jesus Christ before His death on the cross. Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing. (Luke 23:34) When they came to the place called the Skull, there they crucified Him and the criminals, one on the right and
Mortality and the purpose of life are prominent themes in Thomas Cole’s paintings. Through his paintings, he vividly brings out the human dilemma of mortality, a dilemma we ourselves must wrestle with. Given the inevitability of death, what are we to do with our days? We can try to stave
In the article below, Dr. Boa synthesizes material from several teaching sessions from his series Biblical Principles for Marriage and from portions of his spiritual formation text Conformed to His Image (primarily from chapter 18, “Holistic Spirituality”). Dr. Boa focuses on agape love as one of the five forms of loves (based on the different Greek words). After reviewing all forms, he gives reasons for why agape is the greatest.
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