Seeing Through "Resurrection Colored" Glasses

by Rev. Tim Coppersmith Pastor
St. Paul Lutheran Church, Deer Park
Easter 2002

The bodily resurrection of Jesus is one of the single most important doctrines of the Christian Church!

Why is this one event so important? We can go to one of Paul's letters for an answer. Paul tells us the importance of the resurrection in 1 Corinthians 15, Paul writes, "If Christ has not been raised our preaching is useless and so is your faith." Without faith in the resurrection of Jesus, our faith is useless! Paul echoes this thought and tells us a few verses later, "If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins." Faith in the death and resurrection of Christ for justification is of the highest importance, because through it we receive the salvation that is given by Jesus our Savior. By grace, through faith in this resurrection, we have been given the gift of eternal life! It is rather important to have faith in the resurrection!

But faith in the resurrection is not only something that has an eternal effect on us after we leave this earth, it also has immediate, earthly ramifications in that faith in the FACT of the resurrection enables all that we do in our Christian walk.

Because of our faith in the resurrection, we can now view everything in a different way. We see that we are no longer slaves to sin. The old self has been put to death and the new self has arisen. Because of this, empowered by the Holy Spirit, we can live according to the way that God would have us live. In light of the resurrection, we see that there are no more "have to do's" when it comes to a relationship with God, only "can do's"; Jesus has lived the perfect life, died and rose again for us and gives us eternal life, this is a free gift.

Again, in light of the resurrection, we can now have a close relationship with God. We can trust that he will be there for us. We can have the confidence that we can go to Him in prayer at any time in any circumstance as children go to their father and know that He will hear and answer us according to His will. We can make a commitment to God to serve Him and do His work. Not only that, brothers and sisters in Christ can commit themselves to one another and to the church as a whole. In doing this they can encourage one another and share in the joy of spreading the Good News about Jesus. Through faith in the resurrection, we can take time for ourselves to keep ourselves spiritually fit (1 Tim. 4:7) by taking time with God in His Word, and in prayer.

Faith in the resurrection is very important! It is important because it allows us to live our lives in light of the resurrection. You might say it allows us to see things through "resurrection colored" glasses. Seeing life in this way can make all the difference in the world, for when we do this, our lives can take on a whole new meaning as we live dead to sin, but alive to Christ.