“Death is swallowed up in victory”. O death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory? But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Cor. 15: 54b, 55, 57).
The Resurrection distinguishes Christianity from all other religions. In commemoration and celebration of this event, Christians gather on Sundays to worship the resurrected Lord. The grave-clothes were not unwound or disarrayed, but still retained the shape they had when they covered the body, the upper layer having fallen on the lower from the weight of the spices, and the head wrapping separated from the rest by the length of the neck. Apparently the body had simply passed through the burial shroud. A grave robber could not have stolen Christ’s body and left the grave-clothes as if they were still shaped around it. The disciples could not have also stolen His body because they were stunned to their marrow on hearing the news of His resurrection. Jesus actually told them about His resurrection in His teachings but they either forgot or did not believe Him.
God raised Jesus Christ from death to put an end to the era of Satan’s dominion over the entire humanity. The power of death was equally conquered by Jesus in the resurrection and Christians can now rejoice. With the resurrection of Christ, our hope is renewed and we are confident that even though we die physically just like Jesus, undoubtedly we shall be transformed to rise gloriously to reign with Him in God’s heavenly kingdom.
The resurrection of Jesus Christ has stripped Satan of all his power. He has no power or dominion over Christians again. This is why it is necessary to be firmly attached to Christ and also confess our victory over Satan daily. We must clothe ourselves with Christ and daily read God’s word and yield our lives to Him in total obedience. The divine power that brought Jesus back to life is now available to us to bring our spiritually dead selves back to life. Death should no longer be a source of dread or fear because Christ has overcome it for us.
The resurrection of Christ has also erased all the handwriting of Satan and every other ordinance that is against us. There is no more any condemnation to all of us who are in Christ Jesus – Rom. 8: 1. Our sins have been forgiven with the shedding of Christ’s blood.
We have the following benefits among others to enjoy from the death and resurrection of Christ.
- We are justified – Rom. 3: 24
- No condemnation awaits us – Rom. 8: 1
- We are set free from the law of sin and death – Rom. 8: 2
- We are sanctified and made acceptable to God – I Cor. 1: 2
- We are righteous and holy in Christ – I Cor. 1: 30
- We are a new creation – 2 Cor. 5: 17
- We receive God’s righteousness – 2 Cor. 5: 21
- We are blessed with every spiritual blessing – Eph. 1: 3
- Our sins are taken away, and we are forgiven – Eph. 1: 7
- We have been raised up to sit with Christ in glory – Eph. 2: 6
We pray that as we celebrate our victory in Christ, God will deliver us from every bondage and the power of sin in Jesus name.
Happy Easter celebration.