The Good News of Easter

The resurrection of Jesus is good news. It is the good news. And the reason that the resurrection of Jesus is good news is because it is the answer to every problem, the answer to every failure, the answer to every sin. But in order for it to be good news, you must be in a position to need it. In order for good news to be good news, you must know how desperately you want. But the declaration and reality that Jesus has conquered death, and that He is risen is wonderful and glorious news. It is wonderful and glorious news for drug addicts, for adulterers, for Mormons and Muslims, for atheists, for thieves, for rapists, for abusive parents, disobedient children, the violent, the angry, the bitter, the despairing, the lost, the sick, the dying, and every single evil in the world. The resurrection of Jesus is God’s oath, His solemn promise, and down payment that sin and death will not have the final word. Christ is risen means that evil has been and will be trampled down. Christ is risen means that God has begun to destroy every evil. Christ is risen means that God in Jesus went into the grave and then undid it. And if God has done that with death, the point is unmistakable. God intends to do the same thing with every sin and every evil. Because Jesus bore it all on the cross, suffering in our place, it’s all been paid for. It’s all be atoned. It is finished. There’s nothing left to hold Jesus in the grave. And therefore there is nothing, absolutely nothing that can hold you in the grave. There is nothing, absolutely nothing that can have you or separate you from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Idolatry cannot have you. Sexual sin cannot have you. Addiction cannot have you. Anger, bitterness, despair, depression; they cannot have you. You have been freed by the precious blood of Jesus, and when He burst out of that tomb two thousand years ago, He did it for you. You are free. Christ is risen, and death has no more dominion over you. Jesus took death captive, and with it all of your sin, all of your failures, all of your regrets, all of your fears, all of it. And that is good news. That is wonderful news. And that is what it means to say that He is risen indeed.