The Personal Impact of the Resurrection

When I was about six years old, my father would take me with him when he would study the Bible with people who wanted to know more about becoming a Christian. He frequently used Jule Miller’s Bible filmstrips for those studies. That series uses paintings of biblical events to describe what happened. One of the paintings that impressed me most as a child was one in which a triumphant Christ emerges from the tomb. The stone has been rolled aside and the guards are shielding their eyes from brilliant light that is coming from Jesus’ body. The painting vividly communicates Christ’s victory over death. While the painting is an artist’s concept of the impact of the resurrection event, John 20:15-17 describes how the resurrection affected one woman. A distressed Mary Magdalene finds the tomb empty and is convinced that the body of Jesus has been stolen. Then she turns and meets a very much alive Jesus, whose voice confirms his identity to her. Jesus says to her, Jesus said to her, "Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brothers and say to them, 'I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God. '" Verse 17 indicates one of the privileges that disciples of Jesus would gain through the resurrection. They could be adopted into the family of God and could call God “my Father.” They could now be sons or daughters of God. As their fellow disciples, Christians today share that privilege. The Apostle Paul wrote to the Galatians, “You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have been clothed with Christ” (Galatians 3:26-27). The resurrection of Jesus from the dead is more than a dusty historical fact that we must believe as Christians. It definitely is not an April Fool’s Day joke. Because of his resurrection, Christians may address the Creator of the universe as our Father. We have been adopted into what the Bible calls the family of God, the Body of Christ, the Church of Christ. Because of the resurrection, we have reason to hope, to believe, and love. We too can win the victory over death.