Ever wondered why God raised Christ?

After the fall in the garden of Eden, man could no longer have proper fellowship with God. Even though he was made in the very image and likeness of God (Genesis 1:26), he lost the confidence of facing Him due to guilt that engulfed him (Romans 3:23).

God promised that He would send us a Messiah whose name would be “Immanuel” (Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:23), meaning ‘God with us’. He broke all stereotypes of religion. He dined with sinners and had a following of tax collectors and prostitutes (Luke 15:1). He was popular in attending parties and in one particular occasion self invited himself to a sinner’s home (Luke 19:5). He was so radical in his methods that the religious leaders were mad at him. They wanted to kill him but failed. The religious leaders could not kill Jesus, He gave up His own life (John 10:18) to save us.

Romans 10:9
If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

Our Christian walk begins in Christ when we accept Him as our Lord and Saviour. Surrendering our lives to His Lordship and believing that He has completely saved us from our sins. It is through Christ’s death on the cross that our sins are forgiven (Ephesians 1:7, Romans 3:24-25), then why the resurrection is the key to our salvation?

Romans 4:25
He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.

It is true that He indeed died for our sins and His work has been finished. God raised him up so that you and I will have the proof of our sins been forgiven at the cross.

In the Old Testament, only the high priest could enter the most holy of holies to present the annual sacrifice. While the sacrifice was offered, the people would wait for the return of their high priest. Seeing him alive would confirm that their sacrifice had been accepted by God. If something went wrong, the high priest would not return alive (Exodus 28:43).

The sacrifice of Jesus Christ once for all, was the complete payment that obtained our sanctification (Hebrews 10:10). However, His resurrection from the dead is the receipt (proof) of payment for our sins. That is, He became our eternal High Priest (Hebrews 4:14; Hebrews 6:20). Jesus was raised for our sakes so that we could find the confidence in believing that our sins are completely forgiven in him. Resurrection is God’s approval of Christ’s finished work.

Jesus while on earth was true to his name “Immanuel – God is with us”. But the story does not end there. This was just the beginning because His Spirit lives in those who believe in Him.

Jesus changed our status from ‘God with us’ to ‘God in us’ (Colossians 1:27).

We are finally reconciled to God in Christ having the boldness and confidence to access Him (Hebrews 4:16). That’s why the resurrection.