4 Glorious Things the Resurrection of Jesus Means

1. The Resurrection Means Jesus is Alive

This may sound like I’m stating the obvious but think deeply about this for a moment. Paul said that if the resurrection didn’t happen, we are most to be pitied. Everything we’ve believed and built our lives upon is a horrendous trick, a lie of demonic proportions.

But the resurrection of Jesus IS true, which means that Jesus is alive, which means that everything he promised will happen. It’s not a myth, fairy tale, or children’s tale. Christ is risen from the dead and is achieving EVERYTHING he said he would.

Yes, things may be falling to pieces. Yes, life may be full of struggle and toil and darkness and despair. But there is good news: Jesus is alive.

If Jesus is alive, then we are never without hope.

2. The Resurrection Means Jesus is Reigning

Our risen Lord is just that – Lord. He sits on the throne of heaven, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Our lives and the world may seem insanely chaotic but there is nothing outside of the sovereign rule of King Jesus.

Satan, every demon, and every nation may plot against us and the Lord, and yet Jesus responds like this:

He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision (Ps 2:4).

Nothing can stop our Lord from accomplishing his good plans.

How many times has someone said, “God is dead,” only to be proven wrong again and again?

Politics can’t stop Jesus. Our sin and weakness can’t stop him. Satan can’t stop him. Everything and everyone must bow before the risen and ruling Christ.

There is no better news than that.

3. The Resurrection Tomb Means a Man Sits Upon the Throne

This is utterly mind boggling. The incarnation, death, and resurrection of Christ mean that a man, a human, bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh, is seated on the throne of heaven.

God is not distant, unfeeling, and unable to sympathize. We have a king who became like us. He knows hardship, grief, sadness, and rejection. Jesus the King is high and exalted, Jesus the man draws near to the brokenhearted.

Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered (Heb 5:8).

Christ knows the struggle and striving and suffering that come with trying to follow God in a fallen, broken world. Yes, he is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

But he’s also a man who still has scars on his hands, feet, and side.

4. The Resurrection Means the Penalty for Sin Has Been Paid

The wages of sin is death. Those who love wickedness must face the just consequences of their choice. Our rightly deserved punishment is both spiritual and physical death.

When Jesus rose from the dead, it demonstrated that the penalty for sin – death – had been satisfied. Nothing else was needed, the price was paid, all had been accomplished.

Death no longer had a claim on Jesus. It could no longer demand that wages be paid to it.

D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones wrote:

The Resurrection is the great announcement of the momentous fact that Christ has finished the work He came to do. He is no longer “under the law.” He is back in glory. Why? Because He has done everything that the Law could demand. Now the Law has exhausted itself upon Him, and He will die “no more.”

When Jesus cried, “It is finished,” he was not exaggerating or adding theatrics. It was a beautiful statement of objective truth.

John Piper puts it this way:

The Bible says he was raised not just after the blood-shedding, but by it. This means that what the death of Christ accomplished was so full and so prefect that the resurrection was the reward and vindication of Christ’s achievement in death.