What the Resurrection Says to the World

He is risen!
He is risen indeed!

While Jesus Christ's resurrection has special significance for those who believe in him - those who are united to the resurrected Christ through faith - the resurrection also sends a message about Jesus Christ to everyone, believer and unbeliever alike.

The resurrection is evidence that Jesus is the long awaited Promised One.

David prophesied that the Messiah would not see corruption, which the apostle Peter identifies at Pentecost as a prophesy fulfilled by the resurrection of Jesus:

Brothers, I may say to you with confidence about the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. Being therefore a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants on his throne, he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption. This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses. Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing. For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he himself says,

The Lord said to my Lord, "Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool."

Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified. (Acts 2: 29-36 ESV)

It is because Jesus was raised that we can "know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ." His resurrection confirms his fulfillment of Messianic prophesy, showing that he is for certain the long awaited Promised One.

The resurrection declares that Jesus is the Son of God in power.

Jesus was born in weakness, and during his earthly ministry and perfect obedience unto death, we see his human frailty, but with the resurrection, a new phase of Jesus' human existence dawned. In his resurrection, Jesus is shown to the world to be the Son of God in power. Paul tells us that he was

...descended from David according to the flesh and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord... (Romans 1:3,4 ESV)

The resurrection announces to the world that Jesus Christ has been appointed to a position of power and authority.

The resurrection is proof that Jesus has been appointed by God as the Judge of All.

The apostle Paul told the people of Athens that Jesus' resurrection gives assurance to all people everywhere that he is the one whom God has appointed to judge the world:

The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead. (Acts 17:30, 31 ESV)

We know Jesus Christ is the Judge of All because he has been raised, and the only reasonable response to the surety of this promise of judgment by Christ is repentance.

The Jesus who stands before us is not just another prophet or teacher, and not just a humble servant, but the one whom God has shown to be the Lord of All - the Son of God in power - by his resurrection from the dead. He can stand in judgment over every single person because he has a right to judge, having been appointed to this role by the Father, who has proved once and for all to everyone the certainty of Christ's coming judgment by raising him from the dead.

The resurrection calls all people to respond by turning from rebellion against Christ to confession of the truth of the resurrection: that He has been made Ruler of All and is declared before all as worthy of worship. It is confirmation to all people that

God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:9-11 ESV)

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This is a re-editted piece first posted a couple of years ago.