This Jesus God Did Raise From The Dead

“And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat on it” The angel said “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for He is risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. And go quickly and tell His disciples that He is risen from the dead, and indeed He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him. Behold, I have told you.” Matt 28:2-7

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,” 1 Pet 1:3 “God has gone up with a shout, The LORD with the sound of a trumpet.” Psalm 47:5

Oh, how wonderful this first Easter morning message by the angel of God, heralding for the first time the greatest Good News of all time and eternity - “He is not here; for He is risen from the dead, and you will see Him. Let us never even begin to imagine what this world would be like without Easter Morn! Without the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, what hope would we have? What joy and assurance could we possibly have? Or what savior from our sins? From where would come our victory over our archenemy Satan, or freedom from the awful woes of this fallen world? Without Easter morning, how could any man ever become righteous again, and obtain access into God's presence? Death would forever reign supreme, and all mankind would for eternity upon eternity remain chained to the prison house of the grave.

But thanks be to God! There was Easter morning! Jesus rose on the third day with the keys of death and hell in His hands. How boldly then does the angel invite these faithful women, who had come to the tomb to minister to the dead body of their Master, to come and see the place where the Lord lay – where death had held captive for three days the Christ. But now the only remains in Death’s cold cell are the empty grave clothes of the risen Son of God, for it was not possible for death to hold the Prince of Life. It was not possible for death to keep in chains He Who is Himself the Resurrection and the Life! Christ is risen from the dead, and only an empty tomb remains.

What does this mean for us today? What can we learn from Christ's grave robbed of its prisoner? What facts of are inescapably clear for all God's children? What is the testimony of Christ's empty tomb? Let's take a look at five facts produced by the resurrection of Jesus and, consequently, His empty tomb.

First, Christ's empty tomb proves that Death have been eternally defeated. Romans 6:9-10 says "knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God." As Jesus rose from the dead, He had in His hand the keys of death and hell, forever setting redeemed man free from the power of death! With Easter morning came the greatest day in the history of the world - the day Death died! No longer does death have the final word; God does! And that Word is Jesus the Resurrection and the Life! Therefore, we should never have sorrow as others who have no hope. Now with the rising SON of Easter, to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord! Death is defeated! “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 Corinthians 15:55,57)

Secondly, through he resurrection of Jesus Christ, the power of sin has been broken. 1Corinthians 15:17 says “And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins!” Oh the joy of forgiveness! To know that we are no longer dead in trespasses and sins, and that the power of sin is broken over our lives, should fill our hearts with great peace and joy. Our faith isn't futile or vain. Jesus, as our High Priest, has carried His holy Blood to the Father, and sprinkle It upon the Heavenly Mercy Seat. The Blood of Christ speaks this Easter Morning Debt paid in full! It is finished! Forgiven!

Thirdly, the empty tomb proves that the Prince of Death is defeated! When Jesus rose from the dead, Hebrews 2:14-15 says that Jesus through death, defeated him who had the power of death. Satan must have thought he had delivered the final and decisive blow in this age-long battle between the Son of God and Himself. By murdering Jesus, he had ruined God's plan for redemption! But what looked like the greatest defeat, was Heaven's and our greatest victory! The Cross was God's mysterious and miraculous plan for redeeming man from Satan's power. The Cross was, in reality, the execution of Satan himself! Just as Jesus has been raised from the dead, we too have been delivered from the kingdom of Darkness and translated into the kingdom of Jesus Christ! The Prince of Darkness is has been vanquished! Jesus has spoiled principalities and powers and made an open spectacle of them. (Colossians 2:14-15).

Fourthly, we have been born again into a living hope by the resurrection of Christ Jesus. A living hope is a hope that I possess now, day by day. No matter how dark the skies, no matter how seemingly certain the power of death, we have the hope of Christ's resurrecting power changing whatever is death doomed in my life, into something glorious and incorruptible! Christ will see to it that all my mortality will put on immortality; and all my corruption will put on incorruption, and then will be brought to pass in my life, and not just in the Bible, the saying, Death is swallowed up in victory! Oh, dear Saints of God, let us forever rejoice for the great things God has done! Let us, like Jesus did on Easter morning, go up with a shout, with an emotional shriek of joy and victory, and the sound of the trumpet, proclaiming with joy inexpressible it is finished Jubilee is here! "I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death." Rev 1:18

Fifthly, Christ's resurrection proves He is God's Son. Romans 1:4 says that Jesus is declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead.”

Sixthly, Jubilee is now possible.

Let us quickly run, as Peter and John did, to Christ's tomb, and examine for ourselves the blessed reality that Jesus is not there! He is risen from the dead.