Christ is risen, Alleluia!

Today the Christian world is jumping with joy. It is Easter Sunday. It is the celebration of that first Easter Sunday when Jesus Christ resurrected from the dead to claim his victory over the sin of man. A new life with God is born again just like Spring in the Western World where they have four distinct seasons. It is unfortunate that in the Philippines and other tropical countries we don’t experience spring. Spring is the season when plants start to grow leaves again after Fall and a long Winter. It is a time when life springs or manifests itself. It is no accident therefore that Christ chose the season of Spring for His Resurrection from the dead. By His resurrection Christ gave man his life again. More than Christmas, therefore, the Resurrection of Christ is the biggest feast in the Christian calendar. The Resurrection is the centerpiece of Christianity. Without it, Christ’s teaching of love, sacrifice and service – the last commandment he gave to his apostles and to all those who believe and follow Him- would have been without basis and therefore amounts to nothing.

The Dictatorship of Relativism that Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI warned the Cardinals about in his homily during a Mass he presided before the Conclave of 2005, can deny the certainty of this truth about Resurrection but we have enough proof beyond uncertainty that Jesus indeed rose from the dead. This is not an idea arrived at by reason. The event of Jesus’ resurrection is incontrovertible. Professor Thomas Arnold of Rugby, a world-renowned historian, once said that Christ’s resurrection from the dead is the “best-attested fact in human history” (1939, 2569). This being the case, what other truths does the resurrection of Jesus signify? Let me share with you Wayne Jackson’s thoughts on the significance of Jesus Christ’s resurrection:

First, the resurrection is one of the major evidences that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. Paul affirmed that Christ is “declared to be the Son of God with power . . . by the resurrection from the dead” (Romans 1:4).

Second, Jesus’ resurrection represents an assurance that we can have forgiveness from our sins. Paul contended: “If Christ has not been raised, our faith is vain; you are yet in your sins” (1 Corinthians 15:17). The reverse of the apostle’s affirmation would be this: if Jesus was raised, sins will be forgiven when we obey the gospel (Acts 2:38; 22:16).

Third, the resurrection tells the world that the kingdom of God is ruled by a living sovereign. The founders of other religions are dead and their bones lie dormant in the earth. But the founder of Christianity—sixty years after his death—appeared to John on the island of Patmos and said: “I am the first and the last, and the Living one; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forever and ever.” (Revelation 1:17-18).

Fourth, Jesus’ resurrection proves that physical death is not the termination of human existence. God, who is the giver of life (1 Timothy 6:13), has the power to reanimate the human body. Christ’s triumph over the grave is Heaven’s pledge to us that we too shall be raised. This is why Jesus is referred to as the “first fruits of them that are asleep” (1 Corinthians 15:20, 23).

Fifth, the Lord’s resurrection previewed the ultimate victory of Christianity over all its enemies. In the book of Revelation, Jesus is depicted as a lamb that had been slain, but was standing again (5:6). This same Lord was “the lion of the tribe of Judah” that had overcome his foes (5:5). Christians too will overcome as a result of the Lamb’s sacrifice and victory over death (cf. Revelation 12:11).

The resurrection of Jesus should be a constant reminder to us of these wonderful biblical truths. We can live these truths by celebrating Jesus Christ’s victory over death not just once a year, during Easter Sunday, but every day of our lives. Today we have been given the best guide to choosing the best candidates in the coming 2013 elections in May. Let us choose the candidate who has become more Christ-like.

NOTES: To all our readers, HAPPY EASTER. CHRIST IS RISEN ALLELUIA!!!!