May God bless you and your family this Easter. I pray you would experience the Risen Lord as those first believers did. This couLd be the biggest day of your life.

Easter is a really big deal.

Here’s why.

First, without the resurrection of Christ, the Christian faith is simply another empty religion.

Sure, Christianity has distinct teachings which are different from any other religion. Think about grace and forgiveness. These are amazing doctrines not found in other religions–but without the resurrection, they ring hollow.

It is the resurrection that makes these strong doctrines which change people’s lives. The resurrection shows us that God really is part of our world.

Amazingly, the unbelieving world has adopted doctrines such as grace and forgiveness. In fact, the world seems to crave these unique teachings of Jesus. For Jesus grace and forgiveness were life experiences–not just teachings for others to follow.

But Paul made it clear. The resurrection matters. It is essential. Without the resurrection, our faith is in vain. “If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins,” and those “who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all men most to be pitied” (1 Corinthians 15:17-19).

Paul felt so strongly about all this because he became a believer because he saw the resurrected Christ. The resurrection was not a nice story to Paul; it was the reason for his salvation and allegiance to Christ.

Second, the resurrection matters because it is the source of our transformation. We are different because of the resurrection.

The resurrection is about power–the power to change your life.

The born again believer has the same power within that raised Jesus from the dead (Romans 8:11). It is obviously time we lived according to that power both within the church and within our own lives.

May God bless you and your family.

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