Celebrating Christ on Resurrection Sunday!

“And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which 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, behold, he goeth before you into Galilee; there shall ye see him: lo, I have told you.”—Matt. 28:5–7

Even though the resurrection was an amazing, absolutely unprecedented event, the disciples of Jesus should not have been so surprised. After all, He obviously is the Messiah promised of God throughout the Old Testament. They were well aware of His virgin-born status in Bethlehem. Many of them knew of His omniscient confounding of the temple scholars. They had seen Him do only what God can do in miraculous healings and the raising of the dead. They had heard His spellbinding teaching and preaching sessions. At His baptism, Jesus got a headline-making salute from Heaven when God, the Father, said, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Matt. 3:17).

No doubt, His disciples were enthralled with Him. For three years, He challenged all the norms and established Himself as Lord and Saviour. Then, it seems that everything fell apart and came crashing down on Him. In a scene that is horrific beyond description, he was hanged on the cross in a humiliating fashion. He was dead, so they borrowed a tomb and buried Him. As the adversaries of God applauded their apparent victory, they assumed they had reason to party.

The three days and three nights in the tomb confirmed and fully certified His death. But then came Sunday, and “up from the grace he arose!” (Christ Arose, Robert Lowry). The tomb was sealed and guarded, but the Lord’s omnipotence easily prevailed. He went about His business meeting with people and ministering to them for the next several weeks. Later, He would say to the Apostle John, “I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore…” (Rev. 1:18).

Now, as in many years past, we have a special Sunday to commemorate the resurrection.

The event of the resurrection is a major matter, a big deal, about which we should make much also. It is my contention that all of this should give us cause for a blessed time of “Celebrating Christ.” We should celebrate Him as:

I. God! “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth” (John 1:1, 14).

II. Revelation! “For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ” (John 1:17).

III. The Creator! “All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made” (John 1:3).

IV. Christ (Messiah)! “To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins” (Acts. 10:43).

V. Saviour! “The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). “And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins” (Matt. 1:21).

VI. Eternal! “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God” (John 1:1–2). “God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high; Being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they” (Heb. 1:1–4).

VII. King of Kings! “These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful” (Rev. 17:14).

When the Bible says, “…Christ is all, and in all” (Col. 3:11), that should speak volumes to us. Truly, we have a multiplicity of reasons for “Celebrating Christ.” Let’s don’t hold back, when Sunday comes, let’s do it up in grand style. Amen!