Why does the resurrection teach us?
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1. It throws light on the cross of Calvary. It is the cross of Calvary that determines who will go to hell, and who will go to heaven. For whom did Christ die? The authority of the cross of Calvary, as well as its accomplishment. But all these things have light thrown on them as soon as Christ is risen from the dead.
2. Adam’s sin had a spiritual element to it, but it also had a physical element. When Adam died, he died spiritually immediately, but his physical body also began to age and to decay and eventually to die. Man is not just a spirit; he is now, and always will be, body and soul, and his redemption involves both parts of his being. He sinned in the body, and he died; it is vital that Christ should rise again and prove that his atoning death paid for both spiritual and bodily sin.
3. It allows the divine intention to be fulfilled. God intended that there would be an eternal place, which was physical and yet glorious too – a glorified, physical earth. Occupying that glorious place would be people whom God had made, with souls and with bodies, and they would live for ever with him. But the plan of God seemed to have been shattered and broken. The physical creation itself was placed under the curse. Could God be defeated by Satan? Could Satan succeed in bringing down the human race and thwarting God’s plan? No, the atoning death of Christ must redeem the whole of creation. Man must be saved in his body, and given a glorified body, fit to inhabit the eternal place which God has made for us. The earth which has been destroyed, must be reconstituted, made glorious. So God comes himself, in the person of Jesus Christ, and takes the punishment of human sin, in order that we can be forgiven; that the world, the earth can be recreated, and we can have resurrection bodies.
4. The resurrection proves that Christ’s atonement had been successful. We cannot see into the mysteries of what Christ suffered, and all that he had to bear. How do we know that he suffered enough, that our sins were fully atoned for? Because the Father accepted his sacrifice, otherwise he would never have raised Christ from the dead. The Son raised himself, but all three members of the Godhead cooperated together in the resurrection.
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We are accustomed to reading, ‘There are many accounts of resurrection taking place.’ Really? People say these things, but where has this happened, and to whom? ‘Oh,’ they say – grasping at straws – ‘for example, Romulus was raised from the dead.’ Romulus never existed. Romulus is a legend. Most historians think there is no question of it. He is always presented as a legend, the long-past founder of Rome. Other people are named and they all turn out to be pagan gods, mythical characters. Nobody ever shook their hand. Nobody ever met them, talked with them. They are inventions and have always been seen as such. But the resurrection of Christ is unique: that one should be raised from the dead and ascend into heaven. Centuries before, many, many times with great precision and detail, all these things were the subjects of prophecy and prediction. Where else has that occurred? Only one in the whole course of human history has ever been predicted and fulfilled those predictions to the letter. Everything about the gospel is unique, and therefore it is so astonishing that we all by nature reject it, and pretend it is something vague and unclear, unestablished and unprovable. Why? Because of our prejudice against God. The resurrection probably took place in AD 33. This letter was written in AD 55, so that is 22 years later, and therefore the majority of the 500 who are mentioned here, were still alive. The Book of Acts was written only 27 years after the resurrection. If you think 22 or 27 years back, you don't regard the things that happened then as ancient history. The witnesses are still alive; it is all easily attested, and yet time and time again you will read vague statements like this: ‘Oh Christianity was written and invented and concocted centuries after the events.’ What ignorance of the facts! Again, this was something that was prophesied and predicted, and the apostle is able to say that twice – ‘according to the scriptures.’ There were witnesses; it was attested. These things were written while the witnesses were still alive. It was also attested, not just the gospel records, the epistles, and the Book of Acts, but by Jewish and pagan historians. Most, if not all, of the apostles died, crucified, or at the stake by burning, or by stoning, because they were willing to say: ‘I saw the risen Lord.’ These men were not just witnesses, they were witnesses who would give their lives rather than deny that they had seen the risen Lord.