Well . . . virtually no one!

I gave my life to Christ in a graveyard! That’s why “resurrection” has always been on my mind since the day I was born again.

Backstory: I was at college when I first met truly committed Christians. Their witness of the gospel culminated for me late one November afternoon while sitting on a tombstone in a 200-year-old cemetery adjacent to our campus. There—on that day, in that place, at that grave—I gave my life to the Lord Jesus Christ.

I like to say, “At that moment, I came alive among the dead!”

That was decades ago. Since then, I’ve read a lot and prayed a lot about the impact of Jesus’ resurrection that transfers us from the dominion of darkness into the Kingdom of God’s dear Son (Colossians 1:13). For example, I’ve dug into how being in union with the risen, reigning Savior allows me to live each day as if I had already entered into the final “Day of Resurrection” that awaits all who belong to him. 

Most Christians rarely hear or talk about many of these glorious truths surrounding Jesus’ exit from the tomb, except on Easter Sunday. As a result, our walk with God’s Son remains unnecessarily impoverished and regularly defeated. I’ve written extensively about this in my book Christ Is NOW! 

Good news! Now you can download it as a free ebook and read it right on the website at ChristNow.com. Go to THIS WEBPAGE, click on Chapter 2, then scroll down to page 136 to discover dozens of the wonders of the Resurrection ready to revolutionize your heart and life as we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ—now AND throughout the year!

But to get you started right here: Below, I’ve summed up in this blog post TEN of those powerful truths that could prove to be stirring and challenging for many Jesus followers today—maybe even you. Read and rejoice!

1. The total number of New Testament passages concerning Christ’s resurrection is overwhelming! It nearly equals the combined total of passages that are specifically focused on his incarnation, crucifixion, and ascension. This does not mean his resurrection is more important; all four dimensions of who Christ is for us remain forever inseparable. But clearly, in the preaching of Acts and the teachings of the epistles — even in Jesus’ earthly ministry — the Resurrection forms the dominant theme. It is pervasive!
2. His resurrection provided the turning point in his saving ministry to the world. He stepped forth from the grave no longer regarded as a Son and Savior of weakness, humility, lowliness, and agony. Today he is the revered Son and Savior of power and sovereignty, of majesty and victory. The servant of all became the greatest of all. Going down, he took our degradation with him; then he rose up, bringing all who will ever be redeemed with him.
3. Further, Jesus’ resurrection prepared the way for his ascension and his current reign. It set the stage for his ultimate vindication and validation when forty days later, he was enthroned at the Father’s right hand. His resurrection was the prelude to his coronation — that impending moment when the Lamb who was slain would take his place at the center of the Throne (Revelation 5).
4. This kind of resurrection life was totally nonexistent before Christ’s triumph. We might call his resurrection a RE-creation. It was the unveiling of a wholly unprecedented expression of life never before witnessed in the universe, the first installment of the thoroughly renovated heaven and earth promised us in the age to come. Even Lazarus, temporarily brought back from the grave (John 11), finally had to die again. However, Jesus didn’t come back to life like that. Rather, he died and three days later entered into a wholly unprecedented expression of life never before witnessed in the universe — a creation to be sure, but also not of this creation. 
5. Jesus’ victory already encompasses “the new order of the ages.” He embodies the promised new order, the anticipated new beginning. He is the prophesied “inbreaking” of the age to come. We can catch a glimpse of it right now as we grow to know more about our risen Lord. The old order of things — corrupted and depraved, filled with evil, sin, suffering, and death’s doom — has now been replaced by a new creation. It is a brand-new beginning able to produce the fruits of health, wholeness, holiness, righteousness, godliness, truth, and unfailing love. 
6. He is the “first installment” of the renovated heaven and earth that lies just ahead. Jesus alive forevermore is the prototype of what we shall become. On the day we see him, we shall be like him when we see him as he is (1 John 3). When he comes, he will transform our mortal bodies into copies of his glorious body (Philippians 3).
7. Jesus’ resurrection triumph has vanquished our deadliest foes: sin, evil, Satan, and death. At the same time, he has delivered his people from the judgment to come. By overcoming death, he showed us how, through himself, we also will ultimately overcome all the misery, pain, futility, decay, division, disruption, and disaster that poisons this old creation. Thus, all the deadly desperations of our existence have proven to be far less potent than Christ’s unsurpassed victory on our behalf.
8. Because Christ arose, we have been born again to a living hope (1 Peter 1). No longer do any of us need to look for the living among the dead (Luke 24). For Christ, death is past; it lies behind him, never to be faced again. Even so, his resurrection encourages anticipation of — even more, direct participation in — his indestructible kind of life (Hebrews 9), ordained by God to bring about, in the end, the renewal and recapitulation of the entire universe.
9. As a pioneer of the new creation, Jesus calls us into his life, which is wild and exhilarating and unpredictable. Russell Moore writes about this in an article in Christianity Today (February 27, 2012, titled “A Purpose-Driven Cosmos: Why Jesus Doesn’t Promise Us an ‘Afterlife’”):
   

   There’s a cemetery plot, somewhere out there, waiting for your corpse. Regardless of who and where you are, you will one day be quite dead. . . The universe rolls around us frenetically, and in every single case, it eventually kills us. . . . [But] Jesus doesn’t promise us an ‘afterlife.’ He promises us life — and that everlasting. In his resurrection, Jesus has gone before us as a pioneer of the new creation. Jesus calls us into his life, which is wild and exhilarating and unpredictable.

10. Therefore, the Resurrection is the supreme truth the Church must claim and proclaim for all to hear. Salvation stands or falls with this. Paul says this clearly in Romans 10 (NLT, emphasis added):
    

    If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved . . . But how can they call on him to save them unless they believe in him? And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them? 

Well, those are a few truths most Christians rarely focus on throughout the rest of the year apart from Eastertime. But the fact is this: “Jesus lives, and so shall I.” That ought to fill our hearts with praises to the Father, in the power of the Spirit, every day we breathe.

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About the Author

Over the past 45 years, David Bryant has been defined by many as a “messenger of hope” and a “Christ proclaimer” to the Church throughout the world. Formerly a minister-at-large with the InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, president of Concerts of Prayer International (COPI), and chairman of America’s National Prayer Committee, David now provides leadership to ChristNow.com and Proclaim Hope!, whose mission is to foster and serve Christ Awakening movements. Order his widely read books at DavidBryantBooks.com. Enjoy his regular Daily CHRIST TODAY Podcast.