My dear readers,

He is Risen!

“He is Risen!” are the three most victorious words in the history of humanity. Words have meaning and power. They reveal what is in the heart and mind. They define boundaries and control behaviours. They can destroy and save. Words have myriads of function.

Some may disagree that “He is risen!” are the three most victorious words in the history of humanity. However, there is an objective way to measure whether this claim is valid.

The speaker – The angel spoke those three words to Mary Magdalene, Mary, the mother of James, and Salome (cf. Mark 16:1). God the Father who raised Jesus from the dead did not say those words. God the Son also did not say those words about Himself. The angel was the third-party objective witness of this world-changing, victorious event. The angel was testifying to both inhabitants on earth and heaven the reality of Christ’s resurrection! Fallen angels will lie to deceive as they serve the god of this world, the father of lies, the devil. But angels in heaven do not and cannot lie. They will always tell the truth. They are heavenly spirits ministering before God’s throne of grace and mercy. God sent them on a mission to declare that Christ has risen from the dead! Indeed, Christ has risen!

The context – God has revealed the context of this resounding declaration in the three gospels: Matthew 28:5-10, Mark 16:1-8, and Luke 24:1-10. Jesus Christ had prophesied His own death and resurrection. Matthew 17:22-23: “And while they abode in Galilee, Jesus said unto them, The Son of man shall be betrayed into the hands of men: 23 And they shall kill him, and the third day he shall be raised again. And they were exceeding sorry.” Jesus did not run away. He was led as a Lamb to the slaughter. Why would the Son of God and Son of Man, with all the omnipotent power of God almighty, allow Himself to be spat on, slapped, punched, whipped, mocked with a crown of thorns forced upon His head and crucified when He could have freed Himself and walked away from it all. He was without sin and did not deserve such pain, humiliation and death.

Yet, He bore them all unto death! He came to obey and fulfil the will of God the Father, who summarised Christ’s calling in these words of John the Baptist in John 1:29-31: “The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. 30 This is he of whom I said, After me cometh a man which is preferred before me: for he was before me. 31 And I knew him not: but that he should be made manifest to Israel, therefore am I come baptizing with water.” [Emphasis added] When a lamb is killed, it makes no sound. The Lamb of God willingly gave His life for the sins of the world!

Jesus Christ means Saviour anointed. Christ Jesus means Anointed Saviour. God anointed Jesus Christ to be the Saviour of the world! He died without complaint. He came to die, and He did. God the Father called the Son of God to be the greatest Substitute by becoming sin on behalf of the world, though He was sinlessly perfect! His death was of infinite value, being the God-Man who suffered and died! If Christ Jesus had remained dead and God did not raise Him from the dead, it would mean that Christ failed; that He became a sinner and death conquered Him as it did all humanity! All humanity would die in their sins and be justly cast into hell by the Holy God. Heaven would be empty of all humanity.

Thanks be to God, Christ did not sin but passed the omniscient evaluation of God’s perfect and holy justice as man’s Substitute! God’s reply to the world about Christ’s great victory was by raising Jesus Christ from the dead on the third day after He died. Matthew 17:22-23: “And while they abode in Galilee, Jesus said unto them, The Son of man shall be betrayed into the hands of men: 23 And they shall kill him, and the third day he shall be raised again. And they were exceeding sorry.”

The tomb was empty! Christ conquered death. Jesus Christ obtained victory over death in man for man’s sake. What Jesus Christ prophesied concerning His death and resurrection came to pass for man’s deliverance and victory over death, man’s last enemy!

The impact – Man has been delivered from hopelessness. He has hope to conquer death because Christ conquered death on his behalf at Calvary. Man is conceived and born in sin. He is born with a sinful nature characterised by the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life. These characteristics are seen in toddlers who are too young to know the difference between their right and left hands. Their sinful behaviour is manifested when they throw tantrums and stubbornly refuse to obey their parents. The moment they cross the age of accountability, they will wilfully sin. As they grow older, they will sin more, and the sin will worsen in severity. If they do not believe in Christ Jesus who alone can save them, they will sin all their lives till death.

There would have been no hope for man who was doomed to die and be cast into hell if not for Christ’s death and resurrection!

The impact of Christ’s death and resurrection on man is to save him from hell and usher him into heaven! No impact in man’s life can be compared with Christ’s resurrection! The sinner can become a child of God instantaneously. He can approach God, whom he can call Abba, Father. He can pray to God anytime and anywhere. He prays without ceasing. He experiences joy all the time under all circumstances. He learns to thank God for everything because he knows that all things work together for good in his life, and God is the One who permits these experiences to draw him closer. He has God’s love as his new motive that protects him from all disappointments and bitterness. He forgives all offenders and all transgressions committed against him because God has forgiven him through Jesus Christ’s blood. His life is abundant, for he no longer measures his life by the abundance of what he possesses. He has hope to be with his Heavenly Father in heaven one blessed day.

The impact on the devil is his destruction. Hebrews 2:14-15: “Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; 15 And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.” The devil deceived Eve, which led to Adam sinning against God, and it plunged humanity into sin, death and hell. Jesus Christ had to become man’s Substitutionary Atonement to undo what the devil did to humankind by his deception of Eve which led to Adam’s sin. Satan’s evil upon humanity can only be undone and thoroughly defeated by Christ’s death, and His resurrection is the resounding impact of God.

All born-again believers are holy witnesses to this truth, for they have all experienced the resurrection power within their souls as new creatures in Christ, having died with Christ, and risen with Him upon their salvation. The life they now live is in and for Christ! Galatians 2:20: “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.”

Have you risen with Christ?