Resurrection Sunday means so much more than the hope of a coming spring! Here are 4 Gospel Truths that ought to capture our hearts this Easter!

My Story of Hope and Resurrection Sunday

2,000 years ago Jesus died on the Cross. He was in the grave three days. He rose from the dead, changing everything. He is alive today.

Typically, I celebrate this beautiful truth on Resurrection Sunday surrounded by the people of God at my local church, singing songs of praise, praying with a thankful heart, and responding to the Word as it is preached. A few years ago was vastly different.

Instead, I spent the day reading the resurrection story from that first “Easter” Sunday to my two-year-old on the way to a hospital 7 hours from home, sitting with family quietly watching my grandmother struggle for life, jumping to her side when she opened her eyes, and aching for more moments like this.

I am so thankful for the resurrection we celebrate at Easter.

The resurrection means that there is hope.

Something about staring death in the face on the day you are most consciously celebrating life and the Life-Giver changes everything. It’s a surreal experience, to be surrounded by people you love, looking into the face of someone so close to the end, knowing that the only hope for any of us is the resurrection.

When Christ died on the Cross He set about the reversal of the curse.

God promised in Genesis 3, right after Adam and Eve turned their backs on Him, that He would rescue them.

He promised to crush the head of the tempter.

He promised that a day was coming when everything they ruined would be restored.

It didn’t come right away. As people, we have continued to rebel and make a mess of life. We have pushed ourselves far from grace.

And yet, grace is there.

God, in His mercy, came down in the person of Jesus Christ. He lived a sinless life and died on the Cross with the weight of our sin placed upon Him. He was treated like He lived your life and my life and He died because of it.

Everything was as dark as possible.

Satan seemed to have the victory.

Death would be final and ultimate.

Life was hopeless.

But three days later Christ rose from the dead. He came forth in power, casting off the shackles of death which NEVER had the strength to hold Him anyway. That first “Easter” Sunday changed everything.

As I sat in that hospital room, saying my final goodbyes, I marveled at the grace of God to bring hope to this situation.

Scriptures were read, songs were sung, life was celebrated, death was imminent, but hope reigned.

There have been many Resurrection Sundays during our time in ministry that have felt incredibly dark and like death would get the final victory.

Set against the backdrop of some of the worst days of my life, the hope God offers through the resurrection of Christ has tasted so much sweeter!

On one especially difficult Resurrection Sunday I sat in music practice, playing the piano before our church service started, and weeping.

I had spent most of the night before in the hospital at the bedside of a man who had sustained severe and life-threatening injuries. My husband and I witnessed these injuries and I was the first to call 911.

In the wee hours of this Easter morning, my heart held the hollow feelings of exhaustion, fear, and sorrow as the words of the song I played jumped off the page,

“Because He lives, I can face tomorrow. Because He lives, all fear is gone. Because I know He holds the future, and life is worth the living JUST because He lives.”

External circumstances don’t determine if life is worth living.

External circumstances may be dark and challenging and deeply painful.

But life is worth living because Christ did not stay dead. 2,000 years ago He came out of a tomb and He never went back. He is alive today.

Not only is He alive today but He daily goes before God the Father on behalf of believers everywhere (Hebrews 7:25). There is hope because Easter changes EVERYTHING!

In light of this truth, how ought we to celebrate Resurrection Sunday? What should our hearts focus on? What truths should we draw our children’s hearts toward?

Truths to Capture Your Heart on Resurrection Sunday

1. Death is not final

Death does not have the final victory. Because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, believers can say, “oh death where is your sting?” (1 Corinthians 15:55).

We rejoice in Christ’s work because even in the midst of our darkest days, we know that the end of our temporary circumstances and those of the people we hold dear only ushers us into the eternal presence of the God we serve.

We feel, with deep pain – the sorrow that accompanies physical death – and yet we rejoice in the realization of resurrection into Christ’s presence. For the believer truly “to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.” (2 Corinthians 5:8)

We do not need to fear death because it can only kill the body.

The souls of those who have trusted in Christ are kept forever in His gracious hand.

Death is not final.

It cannot win.

2. Sin is not all-powerful

If you are a Christian, sin cannot conquer you.

Because of the resurrection of Christ, the battle with sin is a temporary one.

We fight hard our own desires that pull us from Christ, recognizing that the conviction of sin and the strength to fight it come from the gracious hand of God.

In the garden, Adam and Eve chose to sin. When they did, everything fell apart. Sin made its home in the hearts of every human that would follow and it has been plaguing our world and our souls ever since.

When we trust in Christ we also repent of (turn away from) our sin.

We look away from sin and self and look unto Christ.

We recognize how much more valuable He is than our desires and the passing pleasures of this world.

At that moment, we experience freedom from sin’s bondage. It is no longer our master.

We are able, by God’s grace, to choose the right path (Romans 6:22). However, because sin still lives within us, we spend our earthly Christian lives battling with a foe it often feels like we will never defeat.

The beauty of the resurrection is that Christ has already defeated sin on our behalf. He rose from the dead in an amazing display of His conquering strength over the power of sin.

Today, we experience the freedom that truth gives in many ways:

Our hearts are convicted of sin and God begins to uproot those tendencies in our hearts.

One day, we will realize the beauty of this truth in its fullness. For when we see Christ, we will be like Him (1 John 3:2).

3. Satan has been conquered

In the garden, Satan tried to usurp God’s authority.

He made false promises to the man and the woman and he lured their hearts.

He tempted the only ones in all creation made in the image of God.

Since that moment, God has been about the work of restoring His creation.

God promised in Genesis 3 that Satan would not win. One day Satan’s head will be fully crushed and people will no longer be tempted by him.

At the death and resurrection of Christ, God fulfills this promise. He crushed the head of the serpent.

Just when everything seemed to be the darkest, after Christ died, Satan could have felt he had won this battle but then Christ burst from the grave!

He has victory over Satan. Satan is crushed.

One day in final battle, Christ will do away with Satan entirely. Until that day comes, we await it with full knowledge that the attacks of Satan on the people of God are futile, like the last shots fired from a conquered kingdom.

4. Hope is sure

Our modern vernacular tends to use “hope” as synonymous with “wish” but the Scriptures do not do this. Our hope is sure and the original meaning of this word “hope” in Scripture carries with it the idea of confidence.

This hope is an anchor for our souls (Hebrews 6:19).

Because Christ rose from the dead, our hope of future blessing is a guarantee.

This is why God places the Holy Spirit in believers – He is a “guarantee” of our inheritance (Ephesians 1:14).

We do not throw a wish for our good out into the universe with no solid reason to believe it will happen. We have a sure hope.

We KNOW that God will fulfill His promises because He has already conquered sin and Satan. He has already made a way for us.

Dark days will come.

Many may even be in the days surrounding “Easter” Sunday but because of the resurrection, those dark days only make us long for our heavenly home all the more.

Darkness draws our hearts to long for the light.

When all is well it is easy to be complacent about the coming joys.

When all is dark, we see that truly our only hope for the future comes because 2,000 years ago Christ rose from the dead.

He is alive today.

He has the victory.

He is preparing His bride (the church).

And one day He will call us all to Himself so that we can enter into His Kingdom forever (Matthew 25:34).

Easter Changes Everything

Giant bunnies, coloring Easter eggs, egg hunts, and candy are all cute traditions but the lasting hope that you need as an anchor for your soul only comes through the resurrection of Christ.

Do not be distracted this Easter season.

Easter is the reason we have a Christian faith (1 Corinthians 15:12-19) and it is worth your meditation, reflection, and awe.

Related: Life In Community: The Importance of Relationships to the Christian Life