“I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead.” (Philippians 3:10 NLT)

Who is this man that we are talking about today? What sets the Christian faith apart from all other beliefs and religious systems out there in the world? It might come down to this. If you go to the tomb of Confucius, you will find that it is occupied. If you go to the tomb of Buddha, you will find that it, too, is occupied. If you go to the tomb of Muhammed, you will find that it is occupied. But if you go to the tomb of Jesus Christ, you will find that it is empty because He is alive. We serve a living Savior.

As Paul makes clear in the passage above, the resurrection we celebrate isn’t just a historical event; it also plays an important role in our daily lives. In the days to come, we’re going to look at the impact of Jesus’ resurrection on His disciples and earliest followers. Before we do that, however, let’s consider how it impacts us today. There are six practical truths we need to remember.

First, Jesus’ resurrection assures us that we’re accepted by God. Romans 4:25 says, “He was handed over to die because of our sins, and he was raised to life to make us right with God” (NLT). When you put your faith in Christ, you are made right with God. You’re forgiven for all your sins. As someone once said, God treated Jesus as if He had lived your life so that He could treat you as if you had lived Jesus’ life.

Second, Jesus’ resurrection assures us that we have the power to live the Christian life. Romans 8:11–12 says, “The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. . . . Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, you have no obligation to do what your sinful nature urges you to do” (NLT). No sin, habit, addiction, or vice can match the power of God.

Third, Jesus’ resurrection assures us that we will live forever in Heaven. Death is no longer the end of the road; it’s just a bend in the road. First Corinthians 15:54–55 says, “Then, when our dying bodies have been transformed into bodies that will never die, this Scripture will be fulfilled: ‘Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?’” (NLT). Jesus took the sting of death. He suffered it in our place.

Fourth, Jesus’ resurrection assures us that we will receive new bodies that are like His. God will resurrect the bodies of all believers, and we will be radically upgraded versions of ourselves. Philippians 3:21 says Jesus “will take our weak mortal bodies and change them into glorious bodies like his own” (NLT).

Fifth, Jesus’ resurrection assures us that we will have resurrected relationships with other believers. In 1 Thessalonians 4:13–14, the apostle Paul says, “And now, dear brothers and sisters, we want you to know what will happen to the believers who have died so you will not grieve like people who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and was raised to life again, we also believe that when Jesus returns, God will bring back with him the believers who have died” (NLT). Death can separate us only temporarily. We will be able to pick up where we left off with loved ones who preceded us to Heaven.

Sixth, Jesus’ resurrection compels us to tell others. Jesus says in Mark 16:15, “Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone” (NLT). The Good News is this: God loves you. You are separated from Him by your sin. Christ died for your sin and rose again from the dead. If you turn from your sin and believe in Him, you can know with certainty that you will go to Heaven when you die.

Sharing that message is not only a way to obey God, but also the most loving thing you can do for another person.

Reflection question: How does Jesus’ resurrection impact your life?

Discuss Today's Devo in Harvest Discipleship!

—

Listen to the Greg Laurie Podcast

Become a Harvest Partner

Support the show: https://harvest.org/support

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

“And if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is useless and you are still guilty of your sins.” (1 Corinthians 15:17 NLT)

The day between Good Friday and Easter Sunday is known as Silent Saturday. Silent because the Bible has little to say about it, aside from a passage in Matthew 27 in which the leading priests and Pharisees ask Pilate to post guards at Jesus’ tomb to keep His disciples from stealing His body and claiming that He rose from the dead.

Silent because Jesus’ lifeless corpse had been sealed in a tomb.

Silent because it seemed there was nothing left to say. Death, it appeared, had gotten the final word.

Think about where Jesus’ disciples were on Silent Saturday—not just physically, but emotionally and spiritually as well. Judas Iscariot was dead. After he learned that Jesus was going to be put to death, he tried to return the thirty pieces of silver he’d been paid to betray Him. And then, unable to live with his guilt, he hanged himself.

Peter was disgraced and demoralized. After all his bold talk, he had hidden in the shadows while Jesus faced His accusers. Three times people had recognized him as one of Jesus’ disciples. And three times had Peter denied knowing Him.

John was taking care of Mary, as per Jesus’ instructions on the cross. The other disciples were scattered, hiding out in their safe houses. They were dumbfounded, terrified, and wondering whether they had wasted the previous three years of their lives.

Think about where the rest of the world was on Silent Saturday. The religious leaders and Roman authorities were congratulating themselves for taking care of their Jesus problem once and for all. No doubt they were looking forward to a return to normalcy. The people of Israel were looking for the next would-be messiah they could celebrate and then abandon.

The world was a place with no hope. A place where sin and death still reigned supreme. A place where Jesus, His teachings, and His miracles would soon fade from memory and be lost to history.

The apostle Paul wrote, “And if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is useless and you are still guilty of your sins. In that case, all who have died believing in Christ are lost! And if our hope in Christ is only for this life, we are more to be pitied than anyone in the world” (1 Corinthians 15:17–19 NLT).

If the cross was the end for Jesus, we would have no hope for reconciling with God, no hope for eternal life, and nothing to look forward to beyond our brief time in this world. And the people to be pitied on Silent Saturday are the ones who understood those implications.

Silent Saturday was a dark day. And they say it’s always darkest before the dawn. Nowhere was it darker than inside Jesus’ tomb. But as the first lights appeared in the sky on Sunday morning, there was a stirring in that tomb, a rustling of grave clothes, as the promise of eternal life became a glorious reality.

Reflection question: In the silence of this Saturday before Easter, what is on your heart?

Support the show: https://harvest.org/support

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

“A jar of sour wine was sitting there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put it on a hyssop branch, and held it up to his lips. When Jesus had tasted it, he said, ‘It is finished!’ Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.” (John 19:29–30 NLT)

Ever since I was a little kid, I have always had a great admiration for the historical person known as Jesus. I had seen all His movies. I thought very highly of Him. I would thumb through my grandmother’s big family Bible and look at the illustrations of Jesus. She had a picture of Jesus on the wall. I would sit and stare at it and think, I wish I could have known that man Jesus.

The one thing I didn’t like about the life of Jesus was the way the story ended. I thought whoever wrote the story ought to rewrite it with a happier ending. The whole part of His being crucified wrecks everything. He is on this great roll. He is healing people. He is teaching people. Little children are flocking to Him. He is becoming more popular. This ending is ridiculous. Why do they have to put Him on a cross and kill Him?

It wasn’t until after I became a Christian that I realized the crucifixion of Jesus was the primary reason He came to earth in the first place.

He came to earth, fully God and fully human. He lived among us, as one of us. He experienced the things that are common to all of us, including the temptation to sin. Hebrews 4:14–15 says, “So then, since we have a great High Priest who has entered heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to what we believe. This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin” (NLT).

Jesus destroyed the power of sin. He lived a sinless life so that He could be the perfect sacrifice for the sins of everyone else.

He lived humbly, in perfect obedience to God. The apostle Paul put it this way: “When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross” (Philippians 2:7–8 NLT).

He did what no one else could do: pay God’s price for the sins of the world. Ephesians 1:7 says that God “is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins” (NLT). Jesus’ blood covers the sins of everyone who believes in Him. That means when God looks at us, He doesn’t see our sin; He sees His Son’s righteousness.

That’s why Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me” (John 14:6 NLT).

And “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16 NLT).

Jesus gives us hope, joy, fulfillment, and a sense of purpose. He gives us “a rich and satisfying life” (John 10:10 NLT).

That’s the work Jesus completed on the cross. That’s why He was able to say triumphantly, “It is finished.”

Reflection question: How can people see the finished work of Jesus in your life?

Discuss Today's Devo in Harvest Discipleship!

—

Listen to the Greg Laurie Podcast

Become a Harvest Partner

Support the show: https://harvest.org/support

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.