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Edward Fudge

HE IS RISEN INDEED!
For centuries Christians in many parts of the world have greeted each other on Easter morning with the joyful declaration "He is risen!" To which the person greeted has responded "He is risen indeed!" What does it mean, I ask myself, that Jesus is risen from the dead? Far more than I can state in these few paragraphs, but at least this much for starters.

Jesus' resurrection from among the dead tells me that he is who he claimed to be -- the unique Son of God sent down from heaven to rescue us from sin and to set right this world that had gone astray. Men accused and executed Jesus for civil treason and religious blasphemy, but God vindicated him by raising him to life again. Because God raised Jesus, we know that that Jesus' self-sacrifice removed the hostility between God and sinful humans. God has accepted us, forgiven our wrongs and now invites us to accept our acceptance. Through the life of the risen Jesus, we are empowered to quit the sins from which we have been acquitted and to live a life pleasing to God.

Because Jesus arose from the dead, death is no longer the end of our story, no longer the end of the human story. Jesus was faithful to God throughout his life and God was faithful to Jesus even in death. Light has pierced darkness, life has vanquished death, acquital has reversed condemnation. Because Jesus lives, so do we -- already in a new quality of life that we call "eternal," one day in new bodies created to live forever. Because Jesus arose, the graveyard has a new name. No longer is it the "necropolis" (city of the dead); now it is the "cemetery" (sleeping place).

Because Jesus rose from the dead, the end of the old world has begun and a new creation has started to emerge, One day Jesus will return, the New Jerusalem will come down from heaven and God will join us in new heavens and new earth. Although we will be transformed, we will still be ourselves. Similarly, God will redeem this universe. He will make "all things new," not all new things.

Because Jesus is risen, it is already the time for God's name to be hallowed, his kingdom to become apparent, his will to be done -- all of this on earth just as it is already in heaven. Our calling is clear, our hope is secure, our destiny is certain. "Therefore be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord."

For more on Jesus Christ, click here.
For more on God's saving grace, click here.