Please turn to 1 Corinthians 15. We will read from verse 1 through verse 9.
Now I make known unto you, brethren, the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye received, wherein also ye stand;
by which also ye are saved, if ye hold fast the word which I preached unto you, except ye believed in vain.
For I delivered unto you first of all that which also I received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures;
and that He was buried; and that He hath been raised on the third day according to the Scriptures;
and that He appeared to Cephas; then to the twelve;
then He appeared to above five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain until now, but some are fallen asleep;
then He appeared to James; then to all the apostles;
and last of all, as unto one born out of due time, He appeared to me also.
For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.
Please turn also to the Gospel according to Matthew, chapter 28. We will read from verse 1 through verse 10, and then from verse 16 through verse 20.
Now late on the Sabbath day, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre.
And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled away the stone, and sat upon it.
His appearance was as lightning, and his raiment white as snow.
And for fear of him the watchers did quake, and became as dead men.
And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye; for I know that ye seek Jesus, Who hath been crucified.
He is not here; for He is risen, even as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay.
And go quickly, and tell His disciples, He is risen from the dead; and lo, He goeth before you into Galilee; there shall ye see Him: lo, I have told you.
And they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to bring His disciples word.
And behold, Jesus met them, saying, All hail. And they came and took hold of His feet, and worshipped Him.
Then saith Jesus unto them, Fear not: go tell My brethren that they depart into Galilee, and there shall they see Me.
But the eleven disciples went into Galilee, unto the mountain where Jesus had appointed them.
And when they saw Him, they worshipped Him; but some doubted.
And Jesus came to them and spake unto them, saying, All authority hath been given unto Me in heaven and on earth.
Go ye therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit:
teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I commanded you: and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.
Dear heavenly Father, as we gather together in the name of Thy beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, we have the assurance that Thou art here with us. This is holy ground, and we do desire to remove our shoes and wait upon Thee.
Lord, what hast Thou to say to us? Speak, for Thy servants hear. In the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.
You remember the past few times when the Lord gave me opportunity to visit you, I shared with you on the various events in the life of our Lord Jesus.
If some of you still remember, last time when I was here, we shared together on the incarnation, the transfiguration, and the crucifixion of our Lord Jesus.
I feel that, as we are approaching the end, it is of utmost importance that we focus all our attention on our Lord Jesus. We know that the enemy is trying to divert our attention from our Lord Jesus.
He will tempt us to look at things and events other than the Lord Himself. As we are doing these things, you will find that the enemy has the upper hand. He is able to cause a lot of problems among God’s people, and he is able to hinder us from really growing in the Lord.
So it is my burden that, as we approach the coming of the Lord, we need to look off from everything and look unto Jesus. Then we are able to run the race that is before us, and we will be able to reach the end.
This time is no exception. I feel that we would like to use this opportunity to share together on two things. One is the resurrection of our Lord Jesus, and the other is the ascension of our Lord.
What does His resurrection mean to us? And what does His ascension mean to us? Tonight we will center our attention on His resurrection.
We know that the resurrection of our Lord Jesus is one of the main elements of our faith.
You remember in 1 Corinthians 15, the apostle Paul says, “I delivered to you that which I also received.” He delivered to them the faith, the gospel of the Lord Jesus.
There are three main elements in the gospel. First, Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures. That is the first pillar of our faith.
He Who is the Son of God came to this world to become a man. Though He is a perfect man, He Who knew no sin, yet He was made sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God. Christ died for our sins. How we thank the Lord Jesus for that.
But He not only died. The second element, or the second pillar of our faith, is that He was buried.
Now, to be buried means, on the one hand, that He was really dead. You do not bury somebody who is not really dead. You wait until you know that he is really, really dead before you bury him.
And burial means to be put out of sight. Now, dear brothers and sisters, our Lord Jesus was buried for us. Why? Because when He was buried, we were buried with Him.
You know what baptism means? Baptism is to be buried in Christ. Why should we be baptized? We have already believed in the Lord Jesus, and we know that He died for us and that His blood has washed us clean. Then why is it that we who believe in the Lord Jesus must be baptized?
It is because by baptism we are buried out of sight. We believe that when Christ died, we died with Him. We were crucified with Christ.
Now, if you really believe that your old man was crucified, then the next thing to do is to bury it out of sight. You do not want to see your old man again. You do not want to live your own life again.
So you step into the water, and you are immersed in the water. During that second, you are buried out of sight. But when you come out from the water, you are raised with Christ.
The burial of our Lord Jesus signifies the burying of our old man. It is no longer we; we were buried. Then the third element, or the third pillar of our faith, is that He was raised from the dead according to the Scriptures.
Because He is raised from the dead, we are raised together with Him, that we might walk in newness of life. We are now a new creation in Christ Jesus.
So the resurrection of our Lord Jesus is one of the three pillars of our faith. We believe in His death for our sins. We believe in His burial, that our old man was buried. We believe in His resurrection, and in His resurrection we are raised from the dead.
Now this is the gospel of Jesus Christ, and this is what we believe.
Resurrection is most important, because you find that when the early church preached the gospel, they emphasized very much the resurrection of our Lord Jesus.
You remember on the day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit came down upon the one hundred and twenty believers, they began to magnify the Lord. Many people gathered around them, and Peter stood up, with the eleven standing with him.
In Acts 2, you find the first message that the church delivered to the world. It was the first time that the church preached the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Now, when you read Acts 2, of course Peter mentioned the crucifixion of our Lord Jesus, but you will find that his main emphasis was on resurrection. He said, “The One Whom you have killed, God has raised Him from the dead.”
The emphasis is on resurrection. Our Lord Jesus was crucified fifty days before Pentecost, so everybody in Jerusalem knew about the crucifixion. But they did not know that the One Who was crucified was raised from the dead.
So you find that the emphasis of the preaching of the gospel is on resurrection.
When you go to Acts 3, Peter and John went into the temple to pray, and there was a lame man. In the name of the Lord Jesus, he was raised up.
People gathered around them, wondering what had happened. Peter again told them that it was in the name of the Lord Jesus that he was cured. He said, “The One Whom you have killed, God has raised Him from the dead.” He is not dead; He is living. In His name, God did a great miracle.
Then you come into Acts 4. You find the priests, the Pharisees, and the Sadducees laying hold of the apostles and asking them, “By what authority are you preaching? In what name are you doing this?”
Of course, they answered that it was in the name of the One Whom they had killed, but Whom God had raised from the dead. So the sound of the gospel, at the very beginning, was the message of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus.
They did not preach a dead Christ; they preached a living Christ, because He is risen.
Then you turn to Acts 10. Peter went into the house of Cornelius, and again he preached to them about the Lord Jesus.
Of course, he told them of the life of our Lord Jesus, and he told them about the death of the Lord Jesus. Then he came to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus.
While he was speaking to them about the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, the Holy Spirit came down upon those Gentiles, and they were baptized in the Holy Spirit. This happened when Peter mentioned the resurrection of our Lord Jesus.
As you go on into Acts, when you come to Acts 13, you find Paul and Barnabas preaching the gospel. When they came to Antioch, they presented Christ to the people.
Paul did the very same thing. He told them that one day God would judge the world by one Man, and the proof that this is the One is in His resurrection.
Later on, in Acts 17, when Paul was in Athens, they took him to Mars Hill. They wanted to know what was the strange story he was telling. Again, you find that he told them about the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. Some received it and some rejected it.
Throughout Acts, you find that the main emphasis of the gospel is the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. They preached a living Christ, not a dead Christ. Of course, He died for our sins, but He was raised from the dead. It is a living Christ that they preached.
The conflict between the church and Judaism was upon this one matter: the resurrection of our Lord Jesus.
Dear brothers and sisters, if you read the Bible very carefully, you will find that the Bible tells us that we must believe the resurrection of our Lord Jesus.
You remember Romans 10. What is the word of faith? The word of faith is near you; it is in your mouth and it is in your heart. If you confess Jesus as Lord and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you are saved.
How are we to be saved? You confess Jesus as Lord, and you believe in your heart. What do you believe in your heart? Do you believe He died? No. It says, “If you believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead.”
Now, of course, it includes His death. But you find that we are called to believe in His resurrection, more than just to believe in His death. Without His death, there can be no resurrection; but if you only believe in His death and not in His resurrection, you have not believed yet. What God requires us to believe is that God has raised Him from the dead.
We will explain why later on, but anyway, you find that in the early church the emphasis of the preaching of the gospel was on the resurrection of the Lord Jesus.
Their cry was, “He is risen!” It was a joyful, triumphant cry. How powerful was this gospel!
Now, when you look at us today, when we are preaching the gospel—if it is the true gospel; I am not speaking of a social gospel—you find that the preacher will always emphasize the death of the Lord Jesus: how Christ died for our sins. Thank God for that.
Then he tries to persuade you to believe in the death of our Lord. But somehow he never mentions the resurrection of the Lord Jesus.
So, dear brothers and sisters, we find many Christians who believe in the death of the Lord Jesus, but somehow they do not know about the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. The result is that these believers are very weak.
They may have their sins forgiven, and yet you find that they do not have the power to live a victorious Christian life. Why? They know only a Christ Who was crucified. They do not know that this One Who was crucified was raised from the dead.
They believe in a Christ Who died, but they do not know that this Christ is risen. He lives, and He lives in your heart.
So, brothers and sisters, we know that this matter of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus is of tremendous importance to us.
On the fourteenth day of the month of Nisan, that is the Passover day, a lamb would be killed to remember how God delivered the children of Israel out of Egypt.
On that day, the angel of destruction passed through Egypt. If he saw that there was no blood on the door, he would enter and kill the firstborn. For every Israelite family, on that day they killed the lamb and sprinkled the blood on the door.
They would be in the house, and the angel would pass over them. It was the blood of the lamb that saved them from death.
So every year, on the fourteenth day of the month of Nisan, they would kill the Paschal lamb. We know that this is a type of our Lord Jesus, because all the lambs that were killed at Passover were only a type, waiting for that day when the real Lamb of God came into this world.
He came, and our Lord Jesus, as the Lamb of God, was crucified on that very Passover day.
When you read 1 Corinthians 5, you find that Christ is our Passover. He is the Paschal Lamb.
Almost immediately following Passover, the next day begins seven days of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. But you find that in between there is another feast. It is called the Feast of Firstfruits.
That is the beginning of the harvest. It is the time when they harvest the barley. According to the Word of God, on the third day after Passover they were to present a sheaf of the barley to God as the firstfruits.
We are told—it is not in the Bible, but it is a Jewish custom—that on the very day that they had the Passover, they would pick out the field in which they would cut that sheaf. Usually it was in the fields of the Jordan Valley, across from Jericho.
People would go there, and they would bundle up the barley. The next day, even though it was a Sabbath, in the evening they were allowed to come and cut the barley.
Three persons would come, each with a sickle and a basket. They would cut down the bundle, thresh it, parch it, and it became flour.
Then, on the third day, in the morning, they would take some of the flour, mixed with oil and incense, and present it in the temple to God. It was the Feast of Firstfruits.
Now Passover is a type of Christ, our Paschal Lamb. What does the Feast of Firstfruits represent?
It is on the third day after Passover. So you find that the firstfruits represent our Lord Jesus; they represent His resurrection.
You find in 1 Corinthians 15, verse 23, that Paul is speaking about resurrection:
But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; then they that are Christ’s, at His coming.
So you find that our Lord Jesus was raised on the third day. He fulfilled the Feast of Firstfruits.
When you read the Bible, you find there are many types and many prophecies in the Old Testament concerning the resurrection of our Lord Jesus.
For instance, Abraham offering Isaac. I believe we are all familiar with the story in Genesis 22. Abraham offered Isaac to God, and God prepared a ram to substitute for Isaac.
But so far as Abraham was concerned, what was his faith? In Hebrews 11, we are told that he believed God was able to raise up his son. He received, as it were, in a figure, his son from the dead.
So that is also a type of the resurrection of our Lord Jesus.
Of course, there are many, many prophecies about the resurrection of our Lord Jesus. We are not able to go through all these prophecies, but I would just point one or two out to you.
For instance, in Psalm 16, David was a prophet, and he prophesied in verses 9 and 10:
Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth:
My flesh also shall dwell in safety.
For Thou wilt not leave my soul to Sheol;
Neither wilt Thou suffer Thy Holy One to see corruption.
You remember Peter, on the day of Pentecost, quoted this verse. The resurrection of our Lord Jesus was prophesied long ago.
Or you may turn to Isaiah 53. Isaiah 53, of course, tells us about the death of our Lord Jesus, but it also speaks of His resurrection:
Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him; He hath put Him to grief:
When Thou shalt make His soul an offering for sin,
He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days,
And the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand.
He shall see of the travail of His soul, and shall be satisfied:
By the knowledge of Himself shall My righteous Servant justify many;
And He shall bear their iniquities.
Therefore will I divide Him a portion with the great,
And He shall divide the spoil with the strong;
Because He poured out His soul unto death,
And was numbered with the transgressors:
Yet He bare the sin of many,
And made intercession for the transgressors.
The resurrection of our Lord Jesus is not only typified and prophesied in the Old Testament.
When our Lord Himself was on earth, you find that again and again He told His disciples about His resurrection. As a matter of fact, whenever He told them about His death, He always connected it with His resurrection.
In Matthew 16, after Peter confessed Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the living God, and after Christ told them that He would build His church upon this rock and that the gates of Hades would not prevail against it, He began to tell His disciples that He would go to Jerusalem, be rejected, and be killed. But on the third day He would be raised from the dead.
Then in Matthew 17, as He came down from the Mount of Transfiguration, He again spoke of His resurrection. In Matthew 20, when He was going to Jerusalem, He again told His disciples that He would be killed, but on the third day He would be raised from the dead.
On the night of His betrayal, when He gathered together with His disciples to eat the Passover feast, He also told them, “I will go, but I will come back again. You will not see Me for a time, but you will see Me again.”
Then He led His disciples to the Mount of Olives. On the road He said, “The Shepherd will be smitten, and the sheep will be scattered. I will be killed, but on the third day I will be raised from the dead.”
Strangely, even after our Lord Jesus had told His disciples again and again of His resurrection, somehow it did not enter into their hearts. They did not believe in His resurrection.
Do you know who seemed to believe more than they did? After our Lord Jesus was put in the tomb, you remember that the priests and the Pharisees came to Pilate. They said, “We remember that this deceiver said that on the third day He would be raised.”
So they asked permission to seal the tomb, and they had soldiers guarding it. Is it not strange that these people seemed to believe in His resurrection, while His disciples did not?
On the first day of the week, early in the morning, suddenly there was an earthquake. An angel came down and removed the stone that was put over the door of the tomb.
The angel was shining, and the guards were frightened. This happened when some women were trying to go to the tomb to anoint our Lord Jesus.
We know that when Christ was taken down from the cross, it was already late and the Sabbath was coming. He had to be buried very quickly.
Even though Nicodemus came with one hundred pounds of ointment, they had to embalm Him very quickly. They had no time to bury Him far away, so they buried Him near Golgotha.
There was a tomb that belonged to Joseph of Arimathea. It had never been used. Because it was close by Calvary, they hurriedly buried Him there, because the Sabbath was coming on.
But after the Sabbath, early in the morning, some sisters wanted to go to the tomb and re-embalm our Lord Jesus, because they loved the Lord.
Now, in the four Gospels, you find various records. Some record one event, and some record another. Let us try to reconcile them.
Evidently, the women did not go in one group. They arrived in different groups. Mary Magdalene evidently was the first one who came to the tomb.
When she came to the tomb, she saw that the tomb was open. Immediately she ran to tell Peter and John, because she knew something must have happened.
While she was away, the other women arrived. They were still talking about who would remove the great stone. Then they saw that the stone was already rolled away.
Being a few women, they encouraged one another to enter into the tomb. They saw that the tomb was empty. The Lord was not there.
While they were there, suddenly two angels appeared. The angels told them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here; He is risen, as He told you. He will go before you into Galilee.”
They were full of joy, yet full of fear too. They did not dare talk to anybody, and they began to go back.
While they were away, Peter and John ran to the tomb. John, being younger, ran faster, but he was timid. He came to the tomb, looked in, but did not dare to enter.
But you know Peter. He kept rushing to the tomb, and he saw something. They saw that the cloths in which our Lord Jesus had been wrapped were still lying there. The head wrapping was in another place.
All these wrappings were still there, but the body was not there. The body had come out of the wrappings. That is what they saw.
The Bible says that John saw and believed. But then they left.
Mary loved the Lord so much, so she was weeping. While she was weeping, an angel appeared and said, “Why are you weeping?”
She said, “Somebody took the Lord away.” Then she heard a voice behind her, and she thought it must be the gardener. She said, “If you have taken Him away, tell me, and I will go and get Him.”
Immediately, she knew it was the voice of the Lord. She turned back, and the Lord said, “Touch Me not; for I am not yet ascended unto the Father. Go and tell My brethren.”
So she left. The other women, while they were on their way, the Lord appeared to them and allowed them to touch His feet. Evidently, the Lord must have secretly ascended to the Father already. His official ascension came later.
These women went and told the disciples, but they did not believe.
That same afternoon, two disciples left Jerusalem and went to Emmaus. The Lord appeared to them and walked with them. You know the story.
When it was dark, they urged the Lord to stay with them. When they were having their food, the Lord broke the bread and blessed it, and suddenly their eyes were opened.
The Lord disappeared. When they arrived back in Jerusalem, the disciples said, “The Lord has appeared to Peter.” While they were talking, the Lord appeared to them.
During forty days, our Lord Jesus appeared to many of them, and He talked to them about the kingdom of God.
Now this is the story of the resurrection of our Lord Jesus.
Now, brothers and sisters, how do we know that our Lord Jesus is resurrected? There are physical evidences.
What is the evidence of the resurrection of our Lord Jesus? The empty tomb is a proof.
There are all kinds of religions, and every religion has a founder and teachings. But what they left behind was their teaching. They were dead, and they were buried.
But, dear brothers and sisters, only in Christianity do you find an empty tomb, because our Lord Jesus is risen from the dead. It is not just a teaching that is left behind; it is a Person with Whom we are to be related.
This is the difference between Christianity and all religion. The empty tomb is a proof of the resurrection of our Lord Jesus.
Secondly, you find that after His resurrection He appeared to many people. At one time He appeared to five hundred brethren. It must have been the time when He gathered them in Galilee, and there in Matthew 28 He gave them the Great Commission.
You must remember that these people did not believe in His resurrection. When they were told by the women, they did not believe them. Yet because they had seen the Lord with their eyes, they knew that He was risen. They were His witnesses.
So this is the physical evidence. But there is another evidence even greater than these physical evidences, and it is spiritual.
Remember, these disciples were common people. When Christ was crucified, they were scattered. They were so full of fear.
Yet you find that on the day of Pentecost, when they stood up to witness for the Lord, there was such boldness and such assurance. They became different people. They were not afraid of the threats of the government or the threats of the religious hierarchy.
Their whole life was transformed. Now, if Christ was dead and He was not risen, how could you explain that change?
Furthermore, it is not only these people in the days of Christ. Throughout two thousand years, you find lives changed. Brothers and sisters, we all are the proof of the resurrection of our Lord Jesus.
If He is not risen from the dead, how can we be transformed? This is the spiritual evidence of the resurrection of our Lord Jesus.
He is the Son of God; He is the Originator of life. He went into death in order to destroy the power of death, and then He came out of death in resurrection.
He must suffer, and then He would be glorified. Doctrinally, it is something that must happen.
Brothers and sisters, we believe in the resurrection of our Lord Jesus. Now, what does His resurrection do to us?
Let us look at it first negatively. If Christ is not raised from the dead, then what will happen to us?
In 1 Corinthians 15:14, the apostle Paul says:
And if Christ hath not been raised, then is our preaching vain, your faith also is vain.
Now, if Christ is not raised from the dead, then our preaching is false, because we preach that Christ is risen from the dead. Then your faith is false.
If Christ is not raised from the dead, then you are still in your sins. How do we know that our sins are forgiven?
We say Christ died on the cross. He was delivered for our offenses, but He was raised for our justification.
When our Lord Jesus was crucified, He took our sins upon Himself. He became our sacrifice, and He died for us. But how do we know that God accepted His offering? He offered Himself to God, but how do we know that God accepted His offering?
If He did not rise from the dead, we have no proof.
The high priest went into the holiest of all to make atonement for the people. He would go behind the veil and sprinkle the blood for the atonement of the nation.
If he should go in and never come out, how would the people know that their sins were atoned for?
We know that on the hem of the garment of the high priest there were golden bells. When he entered into the sanctuary, he would be alone there, because the people would all be outside listening.
When the high priest was walking, the bells would ring, and they knew he was still living. God is a holy God. Who can enter into the presence of God?
Now, in doing this work of atoning, whether God accepted it depended on whether the high priest would come out alive.
If he went in and never came out, and the bells were no longer heard, the people would wonder whether God had accepted the sacrifice.
But the high priest would come out again, and he would bless them.
So, dear brothers and sisters, if Christ is not raised from the dead, we do not know whether our sins are forgiven.
He is raised for our justification. It proves that His atoning death was accepted by God.
Again, negatively, if Christ is not raised from the dead, if in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.
Now suppose Christ is not raised from the dead, but He lived on this earth thirty-three years and left with us a tremendous example: a holy life. He left us good teaching, and He wanted us to follow Him.
All right, we Christians try to be like Christ. But, brothers and sisters, if Christ is not raised from the dead and He only left us with an example, and if we try to follow His teaching and live as He lived, do you know what would happen?
We would be the most miserable of all men. People may enjoy the pleasures of sin, but we cannot. Yet we find that, to live a holy life, we do not have the strength to do it.
How can we live a holy life with this unholy old Adam? It is impossible. Therefore, if our hope is only in this life, then we are the most miserable of all men.
We thank God that Christ is risen from the dead. Because He is risen from the dead, number one, we are justified.
We know that before God we are justified. Our sins are forgiven, and not only forgiven but forgotten by God. We are clothed with Christ as our righteousness. We are accepted before God in the beloved Son.
Why? Because He is risen. Therefore, we know that we are justified. Now we are at peace with God, because Christ is our peace.
Number two: we are not only justified, but because He is risen from the dead, we are sanctified.
In Romans 5:10:
For if, while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, being reconciled, shall we be saved by His life.
Here you find that when we were enemies of God, through the death of our Lord Jesus we were reconciled to God. Much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved in the power of His life.
In other words, because He is risen, He is alive. He lives in us. He gave His life to us. His life is now in us. Christ is our life.
Why does He live in us? He lives in us that we may be able to live as He lived.
Brothers and sisters, there is a hymn that says, “You ask me how I know He lives? He lives within my heart.” Brothers and sisters, because He is raised from the dead, therefore in His Spirit He is able to live in us.
Today we live on this earth not by our old strength. We live by the power of His resurrection life. We can live a holy life because this holy Christ lives in us.
“It is no longer I who live, but Christ Who lives in me.” “For to me to live is Christ.” How can it be? Because Christ has risen from the dead.
So you find that our sanctification is based upon His resurrection.
Furthermore, there is our glorification. We are not only justified by His resurrection and sanctified by His living in us, but we will be glorified.
In Philippians 3, the day is coming when even this mortal body will be transformed. We will be transformed into a glorious body like the resurrection body of our Lord Jesus.
This is the day of our adoption. This is the day to which we are looking forward.
So, brothers and sisters, the resurrection of our Lord Jesus means everything to us.
Finally, because we serve a living Christ, we do not serve a dead Christ. We do not serve a set of teachings. We serve a living Christ.
He daily guides us. He daily gives us power to serve Him. He reveals His mind to us, that we may serve Him in the newness of life.
Our service can be spiritual because He lives.
So, brothers and sisters, let us remember: the resurrection of our Lord Jesus is foundational to our faith. Upon that faith, we are able to run the race. Shall we pray?