Discerning the Resurrection

Whatever their distinctions and doctrinal differences, Christians around the world unanimously celebrate Easter as the most important of Christian holy days. The reason is that Christ's resurrection is the ground and centerpiece of the Christian faith. All Christians recognize that without the resurrection there is no Christianity, but many have little understanding of its full significance in salvation history. For multitudes, the resurrection speaks to satisfaction for sin resulting in the forgiveness of sinners. While this is not untrue, it is grossly inadequate to the biblical significance of the resurrection. The negative effects in the Church of this minimalist understanding are numerous, one of which is that perhaps the majority of Christians have no idea why it is necessary and crucially important that Christ was raised bodily rather than in some sort of spiritual form. Even among those who hold Christ's bodily resurrection to be a matter of Christian orthodoxy, few have any real sense of why it's important. The reason is that, in themselves, atonement and forgiveness don't directly address the issue of the bodily resurrection. This sermon attempts to do so by examining the biblical purpose for it and the comprehensive, transformational outcomes associated with it. The goal is that, by correctly discerning the resurrection, Christ's people will be better able to discern and live out their Christian identity in the Church and in the world.