“Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel … by which also ye are saved … how that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the Scriptures” (I Corinthians 15:1-4)
One early spring day a teacher gave each of her students a container to take home and bring back with a small object to represent spring and the new life it brings. The teacher opened the returned containers and found items such as a flower, blades of grass and a piece of a tree branch with buds forming. From one of the containers, a butterfly flew out when she opened it. The teacher opened another container and with a frown began to set it aside. A boy approached the teacher and said, “That one is mine, how did you like it?” She said, “Whatever you had in there must have gotten lost because it is empty.” “No,” said the boy, “It’s supposed to be empty because the tomb of Jesus was empty and that means new life for everyone.”
This Sunday is Easter commemorating the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The fact that Jesus died and rose again is at the very heart of the Gospel, “If Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain.” (I Corinthians 15:14).
That Christ did rise from the dead means that He has power over death.
“Jesus said … I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live.” (John 11:25).
That Jesus did rise from the dead means that He is who He claims to be.
“Then certain of the scribes and of the Pharisees answered, saying, ‘Master, we would see a sign from thee.’ But he answered and said unto them, ‘An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonah: For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.’” (Matthew 12:38-40)
“Then answered the Jews and said unto him, ‘What sign shewest thou unto us, seeing that thou doest these things?’ Jesus answered and said unto them, ‘Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.’ Then said the Jews, ‘Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days?’ But he spake of the temple of his body.” (John 2:18-21)
Jesus Christ — God’s Son — died on the cross for your sins to bring you the forgiveness of God. He arose from the dead to give you eternal life. By faith in His death, burial and resurrection you can receive this gift of life beyond the grave. You are welcome to celebrate Easter with us this Sunday at Castlegar Baptist Church at 10:30 a.m.