The Resurrection of Our Lord, Easter Sunrise (2023)

1 Corinthians 15:12-25

Christ is Risen! He Is Risen Indeed Alleluia! What joyful news this morning that our Lord and Savior who was laid in the tomb on Friday, rested on the Sabbath, has risen again on Easter morning triumphant just as the Scriptures foretold. For His Resurrection is a joyful confirmation of His victory and an assurance of the hope that we have in Him.

We understand how impossible this sounds, for if a person dies, they tend to remain dead. We have all struggled with the power of death and how it steals away from us friends, parents, brothers, and sisters. The whole world knows this pain and this loss, and we have tried to beg, and bargain and try to find some means to keep alive those who are precious too us that we might not have to say goodbye.

So we can see understand in the Church in Corinth why there are some saying there is no resurrection of the dead, for indeed how many of us have received a loved one back from the grave? We can see why it might be hard for to believe or understand. So some people downplayed the resurrection thinking that Christianity is just about your spirit floating in the heaven and that is the “resurrection” that we proclaim, just a restoration of our spirits.

But if this was the case, then we have nothing to preach, nothing to proclaim, and our entire religion is built on nothing worthwhile. For there would be nothing historical, nothing verifiable, and we would be like all the other religions of the world which build themselves up on a shaky foundation of personal internal experiences that cannot be proven. For if Christ has not been raised from the dead, then your faith is futile, that means hopeless, and you are still in your sins, which means you most atone for the wrath of God.

If God’s wrath was great enough to condemn and banish His Son to the grave forever, then what will become of you when you must stand before God’s judgment seat? So that is why if Christ has not been raised, then we of all people are most to be pitied for we have relied solely upon Jesus’ work for our salvation, and it wasn’t enough.

The Resurrection of Jesus shows us that He had made satisfaction for our sins, that means He suffered enough, he paid enough, for our sins to be forgiven. For there was something left that had to be paid after He had taken upon himself the sins of the world, then Jesus wouldn’t be freed from the grave, He wouldn’t be able to leave Hell, but He would have remained in the grave. The Resurrection of Jesus is the heart of the Christian faith and it is what we proclaim. That He has not only paid for our sins on the Cross and to show that he paid in full, death could not hold him, because the debt was satisfied.

That is why Paul says joyfully in our text, but in fact Christ has been raised from the dead. That’s why we joyfully shout Christ is Risen, He is Risen Indeed Alleluia! For the powers of sin, death, and the devil have no claim, they cannot hold him in the grave any longer. He has been raised as Paul says as a firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.

Now when I was young I heard that and I said, well what about Lazarus, what about the widow’s son, what about Jairus’ daughter, didn’t Christ raise them from the dead, so how can Paul say this is a firstfruit? All of those were raised from their graves and restored to life, but they died again. But Jesus, He rose and lives forever death no longer has any claim on those who belong to His kingdom they are freed from the second death and have eternal life.

He is the firstfruit the first one of that crop of mankind that shall not perish but live in His Kingdom. So even though we are the children of Adam in whom we all die, all of those who are in Christ shall be made alive. Jesus on Easter morning, and then all of those who belong to Jesus on the day that He returns in all power and glory and might, when he cries with the voice of an archangel, and brings us forth from our graves like He did for Lazarus.

He will bring to an end every rule, authority and power for He is King of Kings and Lord of Lords, and He will put all enemies under his feet, the last enemy to be destroyed is death.

This news is so good and blessed that it is hard to believe, that Jesus would really do this for us, that He would suffer for us, that He would rise again, but it is the heart of our faith. It is what we want to share with our neighbors for Jesus did this not just for a few, but He died for the entire world, and He paid the cost for all of their sins.

No matter how awful those sins might be, no matter how far you may have fallen, he has paid for them. What are your sins? Are you a drunk, an addict, an adulterer, do you abuse by words or actions, does hate fill your heart, are you a slanderer, Liar, thief, cheat, lazy, good for nothing, worthless or do waste all that God has given you? All of which deserve God’s condemnation and banishment to hell. That is what all of us would get if Christ was still in the grave, but Christ is Risen, He is risen Indeed Alleluia!

That means our sins have been paid for, our guilt atoned for, our shame has been taken on by Him who loved us and gave His life for us. This sounds too good to be true, but that is why Jesus confirmed this great promise by His resurrection. So that way we did not have to look into our hearts to know whether this was true, but on the fact that He rose again.

For His resurrection is outside of us, it is historic and it is the foundation for our faith. For the body of Jesus was raised so that no one may doubt but all may believe that Jesus is the Christ the Son of the Living God and that He has accomplished what He promised, not only your forgiveness, but that in Him you have eternal life.

This is why we can be bold in the face of death, and indeed can be comforted by the fact that when death comes, we know our Lord has gone there ahead of us. So when the shadows of that valley close in on us from every side, we know our Shepherd has already walked this path, and He will lead us through safely to the other side. For Christ is Risen, He is Risen Indeed Alleluia!

So my brothers and sisters in Christ, let us rejoice this day, for in Adam we all died, but in Christ we shall all be made alive, and we will go to that holy mountain and feast there with God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, for He has swallowed up death forever. For Christ is Risen!, He is Risen Indeed Alleluia! In Jesus name. Amen.