Jesus is Lord.

Jesus is King.

Jesus is my savior.

Jesus talks to me and leads me everyday.

Jesus hears and answers my prayers.

Jesus comforted me at my parent’s death.

Jesus protected me when I totaled my car today!

Jesus saved my wife during childbirth!

Jesus convicted me of my sins so that I would confess them and find forgiveness from my mother.

Jesus watched over us on our last family vacation.

Etc., Etc., Etc.,

But what do all these above, and the myriad of pronouncements and spinoffs we could construe about how Jesus interacts with us every day, necessitate?

They all necessitate that Jesus is alive. That he rose from the dead. That the resurrection of his body occurred on the Sunday morning after his death. That he was telling the truth when he told the Apostle John to “fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore…” (Rev. 2.17-18). That Stephen was telling the truth when he gazed into heaven and said “I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God,” and while being stoned called out, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit” (Acts 7).

Your whole life is subsumed with the resurrection of Jesus. Could it be any other way? Hallelujah!

At Easter Sunday lunch, the guests sat around the table discussing the importance and benefits of the Resurrection.

“Jesus overcame death, giving us assurance we will overcome death in him.”

“He was raised that we might be justified with God.”

“He crushed the serpent’s head in his death (Gen 3.15), but in his resurrection he plundered his kingdom.”

“No resurrection, no hope for eternal life, says Paul in 1 Corinthians 15.” “Our sins were covered by his death, but in his resurrection, we are glorified with life in the Father.”

All great answers of course, leading to much discussion as well about other tangential resurrection doctrines.

But the discussion sounded like a summary of Question 62 in the “I Belong to God” catechism: “What did the death and resurrection of Jesus do for you?”

Answer: “Because I trust in the crucified and risen Jesus, I am now regenerated (which means I am born from above and share in Jesus’ resurrection life), I am justified (which means I am right with God and forgiven by him), I am adopted (which means I am God’s child and heir), I am reconciled (which means I am at peace with God and he calls me his friend), I am sanctified (which means I am a priest to God, and he promises to make me grow in holiness and obedience), and I am glorified (which means I have the Holy Spirit living in me and will be conformed to Christ’s image).

No wonder the New Testament authors talked about the Resurrection so much! Maybe you should, too!

“He is Risen!” “He is Risen, Indeed!”

This is the welcome greeting that we all exchange on Easter morning. At least, you should; we all should.

Why? Because words change us; speech changes us. Speech reforms us. Not only did speech create the world out of nothing, but Speech is the very being of God, the Word of God, Jesus, the second member of the Trinity. When he spoke, he changed the world: the water into wine, the dead into life, the storm into whispers, the sinner into forgiven.

Which means that when you speak, being the image of God, you change things. And the most important thing to use your speech for is to change your brothers and sisters with the most important event in the salvation of mankind: He is Risen!

When you speak that, they are changed. They are confronted. They are pigeon-holed. They are made to face the gauntlet: “will I agree that Jesus is risen and alive, by saying, ‘He is Risen, Indeed!,’ or will I remain silent and not affirm the truth that the universe rests upon?”

Speak it to your brother and sister that they may affirm this truth, and be changed. That they may be encouraged, that they may find rest and life and peace and eternal salvation in the Personal One who overcame death.

But don’t stop saying it when you reach the church doors. Speak it to your family and friends and neighbors. They all need to hear the truth too, so that they may be changed.

“He is Risen!” “He is Risen, Indeed!”