The Christian church was founded upon the firm belief that Christ was raised from the dead. It is difficult to explain the vitality and the rapid expansion of the early church apart from the resurrection. With many miracles taking place in the world at that time, why did this event keep a group of followers so closely? Why was the faith of these disciples more convincing than that of other teachers? What was the appeal? Christ?s resurrection was representative of what God intended for all man.

God revealed His love in the death of Jesus Christ on the cross. How much more was that love revealed in the resurrection! Paul the apostle described the resurrected Christ as the ?first fruits of them that slept.? (1 Cor.15: 20.)

The first fruits refers to the beginning of the harvest, Christ is the first to be resurrected from the dead to enter into immortality of the body.

This is given with the confidence that there was more harvest to come. It was God?s way of telling those in Christ that what they are is too important to be eternally forgotten. The resurrection of Christ was an authentication of Christ?s victorious life. In His life and ministry Christ constantly battled the forces of evil. He struggled with temptations constantly but overcame them.

For once in this world?s history a man knew who he was, why he was here, and with his heavenly Father as his centering force he moved out in freedom and authority. He defeated sin and evil, but could he defeat death? The resurrection answers ?yes.? Christ struggled with death. But death could not contain him.

For the early Christians, death was overcome not by avoiding it but by being faithful to the Commander-in-Chief who would raise them to life in the end. Those who had not died would participate in this glorious time of celebration, for their bodies would be changed, enabling them to participate in the new order. Whether dead or alive, they were ?in Christ.?

I pray that this Easter day will be a difference in the lives of those who would come to know the resurrected Christ personally.