The resurrection is God’s exclamation point that at the end of his Son’s death sentence. It says, “Enough.”
On the cross, as Jesus breathed his last, he uttered, “It is finished.” So too, the resurrection was the Heavenly Father looking upon his Son’s suffering to bear the guilt of sinners and saying, “It is finished.” Divine justice had been satisfied.
If Jesus were still in the grave, we might claim he’d died in our place, but we could never be sure that our guilt had been fully cleared—that the punishment had matched the crime and was sufficient to meet the right and holy demands of the All-Glorious Lord.
In fact, if Jesus were still in the grave, we’d have to conclude that his entire salvation project was a flop, because a dead Jesus is a Jesus who goes on suffering the punishment for our sin. And until that punishment is fully meted out, our guilt is not resolved: the damning burden remains on our desperate shoulders. But…
“[Jesus] was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification” (Romans 4:25). In other words, while Jesus died as our substitute—as a sin-bearing sacrifice for us—it’s only with his resurrection that our “justification” is fully achieved. The resurrection is pivotal!
“If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins” (1 Cor 15:17): no resurrection means no rescue from the catastrophic consequences of unforgiven sin.
Further, God would be unjust to declare us “not guilty” if his Son were still in the tomb. But the Bible is emphatic to say God certainly is both just and the justifier of all who have faith in Jesus (Rom 3:26).
Easter is God’s remedy for our sin and its guilt. By nature our hearts and habits are spring-loaded to honor ourselves; we’re prone to make much of “me” and then connive ways to enlist God in the service of our own self-exaltation. The mercy of Easter is that the Lord didn’t just leave us to wallow in our shame. Instead, he sent a Savior to pay sin’s penalty for us—for all who place their trust in Jesus.
So the big question on Easter is about faith: are you trusting Jesus to clear your guilt, rule your heart, and love you forever? If you’re still worshipping the god of self, I urge you: run to the Risen Lord today!
.
