God often works in ways we wouldn’t expect to accomplish His perfect and eternal plans.

(1) Jesus’ death marked the death of a vision for Jesus’ original disciples. 

• Most of Jesus’ disciples simply fled the scene when Jesus was arrested (Matthew 26:56).  Then Luke tells us about two discouraged men on the Road to Emmaus who couldn’t understand what God was doing or why, “But we had hoped that he [Jesus] was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things happened” (Luke 24:21).

(2) God is often doing something different in all of life from what we might expect. 

• This is why we are told in Proverbs 3:5 to trust Him and not ourselves, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.”

(3) God is usually doing something greater and better than anything we could imagine. 

• God tells us in Romans 8:28, “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” 
• And again in 1 Corinthians 2:9-10, “But, as it is written, ‘What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him,’ these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit.  For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God.”  We can see part of His perfect plans here in this life and other parts only in eternity.

Christ’s Obedient Life

(4) Jesus had to live a perfect life both in order to be the sinless sacrifice who would pay the penalty for our sins and also so that we might be credited with Christ’s righteousness (1 Peter 3:18; 2 Corinthians 5:21).  There is a double exchange.  Our sins were placed on Christ and the blessings of His obedient life become ours as believers.  We need both forgiveness for our sins and then the gift of new hearts and Christ’s righteousness to allow us to live lives that please God.

Christ’s Death

(5) Jesus’ death demonstrates both the seriousness of our sin as offenses committed against a holy God as well as the costliness of God’s plan of redemption.  The forgiveness of our sins required all the sufferings Jesus experienced in both His earthly life and His death on the cross.

Christ’s Resurrection

(6) His resurrection shows us that God the Father has accepted the payment of Jesus’ death on the cross.  In other words, the fact that God the Father raised His Son from the dead means that we can be sure that the penalty for our sins has been fully paid and that our salvation is secure.

(7) Some people are troubled by the apparent impossibility of a bodily resurrection.  We can easily wonder how could this take place.  But the bigger miracle is that Jesus as the perfect God-man and second person of the Trinity was able to experience death in the first place—in terms of His human body at least.  But once He did die, there is no surprise that He came back to life, and that His death and resurrection have special power for us and our standing before a holy God.

(8) We now have a risen Savior who is alive and currently interceding for us. 

• Paul tells us in Romans. 8:34 “Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.”
• We see the same truth in Hebrews 7:25, “Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.”

(9) Jesus’ resurrection is the guarantee of our own future resurrection. 

• Paul explains it this way in 1 Corinthians 15:20-23, “But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.  For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead.  For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.  But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ”
• Paul goes on to tell us in Romans 8:11, “If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.”

(10) Jesus’ resurrection marks the beginning of the reversal of the curse given to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden that will finally be completed at the time of Christ’s return and the restoration of all things.  Jesus’ resurrection from the dead marks the turning of the tide from the curse in Genesis 3 to the wonder and glories of the new heavens and earth in the concluding chapters of Revelation.

(11) God created human beings with bodies in the first place and after the resurrection, we will once again have bodies, only this time new resurrection bodies that will last for all eternity. 

• Jesus clarifies this promise about how there will actually be two different resurrections in John 5:29, “those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment.”  So there are ultimately two different destinations for people.

Our response: Rejoice in God for what He has done for us in Christ!

(12) Jesus’ death that first Good Friday is a time of sober reflection on the seriousness of our sins against God, the costliness of our salvation, and the wonder of God’s love for us.  But at the same time, Jesus’ resurrection that first Easter is a time of celebration as we remind ourselves of His triumph over sin and death.  It is because of Easter that we can have new hope that transforms the rest of our earthy lives as well as making possible an eternity of new life with a God who loves us so deeply. 

God the Father loves us so deeply that He “gave His only Son” for us (John 3:16),

God the Son loves us so deeply that He “gave himself for [us]” (Galatians 2:20).

God the Holy Spirit loves us so deeply that He patiently continues His work of grace in our lives even when we grieve Him (Ephesians 4:30) and quench Him (1Thessalonians 5:19).

Let us rejoice in Him and His goodness!