Pastor Scott Andrews | April 20, 2025
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“How Important is the Resurrection of Jesus Christ?”
Easter – April 20, 2025
What is the most examined archeological artifact in history? It is undoubtedly the Shroud of Turin. What is the Shroud of Turin? Well, it is purported to be the burial shroud of Jesus. But, is it? That is, is it a mangy rag, a magnificent piece of art, an amazing fraud, or a miraculous relic? For those of you unfamiliar with the debate, a shroud was discovered in the 13th Century which was claimed to be the burial cloth of Christ – you know, the one Jesus left behind in the tomb on that first Easter Sunday after His resurrection. It’s interesting, John says the face-cloth wrapped around His head was folded neatly nearby – clearly, Jesus didn’t need it anymore.
The Shroud of Turin is about 14 feet long and 3½ feet wide. If you examine the cloth closely, you can see the faint image of a man who was apparently beaten, blood flowing from his head, right side pierced, and bearing the marks of crucifixion. The Shroud traveled from place to place until it ended up in Turin, Italy, in 1578, where it still resides today in the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist – in the Chapel of the Holy Shroud. By the way, I looked it up – the last time it was available for public viewing was in 2015. You can’t even see it this year in the so-called Year of Jubilee, where many holy sites are visited by those of the Roman Catholic faith.
Interest in the Shroud escalated when it was first photographed in 1898 by Secondo Pia. You see, by taking a picture of the Shroud and looking at the negative, the figure of the man almost jumps off the cloth – his wounds clearly visible. Again, as a result no artifact in history has been more examined, and perhaps debated, than the Shroud of Turin.
And the debate rages on. Why? Because people desperately want some physical evidence supporting the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus. If only I could put my finger in the nail prints in His hands, or my hand in His side. There are those on both sides of the debate who want to credit or discredit the Shroud to support their respective positions. Jesus was real – crucified and risen, leaving behind His burial cloth as physical evidence. Or, He wasn’t, and deceived followers are simply perpetuating a myth, the physical evidence proves it. You decide.
My questions are really more fundamental this Easter Sunday morning. As we celebrate the resurrection today on this high point of the Christian calendar – how important is the reality of the resurrection of Jesus anyway? Really, what does it matter? If both the shroud and the resurrection were proven to be fake, myth, the stuff of legend – if the real tomb of Jesus and the real shroud were uncovered outside Jerusalem with the body of Jesus still in both, what difference would it make? Isn’t it enough to point people to the cross – do we have to point them to an empty tomb?
Of course, if you’re at all familiar with the Bible and the Christian faith, you’re already answering those questions with some emotion. You know the resurrection is absolutely essential to the Christian faith. This idea proclaimed by liberal theologians that it doesn’t really matter if Jesus is risen, as long as He’s risen in your hearts is utter nonsense. But why? Because, you say, if Jesus wasn’t raised from the dead, we won’t be either, we would have no hope – and you’d be right. After all, Jesus Himself said in John 11, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies.” We know the truth of II Corinthians 4:14, “knowing that He who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus…” So, if Jesus is still dead, how can we have any hope of living after these physical bodies expire?
Well, those verses are all very true, of course. Because Jesus has been raised, one day we, too, will be raised. His resurrection is the guarantee of our future resurrection. He’s the first fruits of many whose bodies will also be raised from the dead. But…I want to show you today that it goes well beyond all that. The reason Easter is the high point of the Christian calendar, the most special of all days for believers is because the resurrection of Jesus is central to the entire Christian faith. It is the truth upon which all others hang. It is everything. It was the central truth of the gospel preached throughout the book of Acts – almost every sermon of the early church in that book ends with resurrection. Understand, without the resurrection, we might as well go home, because we are hopelessly and helplessly lost.
It is everything. So let me outline the thoughts I want to celebrate with you on this Easter morning – they all come from the book of Romans:
I. First, The Resurrection Produces our Past Justification – Romans 4:25
II. Second, The Resurrection Produces our Present Sanctification – Romans 6:4
III. And third, The Resurrection Produces our Future Glorification – Romans 8:11
Now, those are big words – theological terms – but they are incredibly important, so let me summarize them. Justification is that action in time past, when we were saved, when we were declared righteous. Although sinners, not righteous, Jesus’ work on the cross and His resurrection produced for us salvation from our sin. It has been removed – it’s a done deal.
But, that’s not all. Having been saved, sins removed, declared righteous, now, through the Holy Spirit, we are being made righteous – that is, we are being made more like Jesus. I could say it this way – justification makes us positionally righteous before God, sanctification is the ongoing work where we are made practically righteous before God. To be clear, if you have repented of your sin and confessed Jesus as Lord, you are saved, children of God right now – but the ongoing work of sanctification proves that you have been saved. Oh, and by the way – Jesus’ work on the cross and His resurrection is the power by which we are sanctified.
Not only that, having been justified, now being sanctified, we will also be glorified. Glorification is the future action of God when we will be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, when we put away this body of death and corruption to sin, and put on new bodies of life and righteousness, never to sin again. Oh, and by the way, Jesus’ work on the cross and His resurrection is the power by which we will be glorified. Do you understand what I’m saying – our entire salvation, past, present and future is dependent on the cross and the resurrection.
Romans 8 says it this way, “For those whom He [that is, God] foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, so that we would be the firstborn among many brethren; and these whom He predestined, He also called; and those whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.” So certain is our future glorification that Paul speaks of it as having already happened.
Listen, I could say all that this way – we have been saved, we are being saved, and we will be saved. We have been justified, we are being sanctified, and we will be glorified. All because of our union with Christ through His work on His cross and His resurrection. Do you see how important the resurrection is? It’s not just for future resurrection – it is everything. And I’m going to prove it.
Let’s begin with the Resurrection as the basis for our Justification. It’s found in Romans 4. Turn there, or you can follow along on the screen.
Now, in the first three chapters of Romans, Paul proves that all are sinners. Everyone who has ever lived, everyone in this room – sinner. We’ve all done things that have broken God’s law. But, the good news is, even though we have sinned, through the work of Christ, we have been justified as a free gift of His grace. So, in chapter 4, Paul is arguing for the necessity of faith to produce this righteousness. Not works, faith. He appeals to Abraham, the father of faith. Paul points out it wasn’t his circumcision, in fact, it wasn’t anything Abraham did that caused God to declare him righteous. Very simply, Abraham believed God, and his belief, his faith, was credited to him as righteousness. Paul then ends the argument this way:
22 Therefore IT [that is, Abraham’s faith] WAS also CREDITED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS.
23 Now not for his sake only was it written that it was credited to him,
24 but [notice] for our sake also, to whom it will be credited, as those who believe [what?] in Him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead,
25 He [Jesus] who was delivered over because of our transgressions, and was raised because of [or for the sake of] our justification.
Do you see? Jesus was delivered over – that’s speaking of the cross – He was delivered over, He was crucified for our transgressions. We understand that – Isaiah 53 tells us, “5But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed. 6 All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him.”
Hopefully, you know that. You know Jesus died for our sins on that first Good Friday. You know He bore our sins in His body on the tree. But I have to tell you – I’ve read those verses in Romans 4 before, but I never really noticed the wording of the last part of the verse – that He was delivered over for our transgressions, and notice, He was raised for our justification. In other words, the resurrection produces our justification. Let me say it this way – without the resurrection, there would be no justification – you would still be in your sin.
Again, what is justification? Some of you have no doubt heard the word before. It’s a legal term, and speaks of being declared righteous. By this action, God declares us righteous – maybe you’ve heard it said this way, “To be justified means it’s just as if I’d never sinned.” And that’s true – we are declared righteous before God by Christ’s work on the cross. But that’s only half right. Not only does justification mean our sins have been removed, just as if I’d never sinned, but as the great reformer Martin Luther said, there has been a great exchange. Here’s the trade: Jesus took our sin, we receive His righteousness. Remember when I said everyone who has ever lived sinned – that’s not exactly right. There is one who never sinned, and His name is Jesus. II Corinthians 5:21 says, “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”
All that to say, we have been declared righteous, our sin removed, and we have received the righteousness of Christ. How? Through the resurrection of Jesus. So, why is the resurrection an indispensable truth of the Christian life? Because without it, there would be no justification. Paul said it this way in I Corinthians 15:17, “if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless [might as well go home]; you are still in your sins.” They have not been removed. In other words, there is no forgiveness, no great exchange, no removal of guilt, no justification.
Okay, you’ve made your point – the resurrection was necessary for my justification. Let’s move on to our second point – how is the resurrection necessary for my sanctification – that is, being made righteous in practice? Good question, let’s again define sanctification. Justification is that past event when we were saved, born again – when we became Christians – we were declared righteous, our sins were removed.
Now, I don’t know about you, but when I was saved, I wasn’t suddenly all that God wanted me to be – were you? Rather, God just began the work. While I had been declared guiltless – positionally righteous in Christ – there was still a lot of growing toward maturity to take place. I needed, and frankly, still need to grow in Christ-likeness – to become more and more like Jesus. We call that sanctification – being more and more set apart to holiness. It is the work of the Spirit of God in our lives whereby we become more holy in practice. In other words, our practice in sanctification grows more so as to match our position in justification.
Now, if justification is a past event, sanctification is a present and ongoing process. And the good news is God promised to finish the work He began. Philippians 1:6 says, “For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.” This is an incredible part of the good news. But now, let me ask you a question – from whence does the power to grow in sanctification come? Does it come from you? Are you able in yourself to be a really good person? To be like Jesus? I don’t think so. Romans 6:4 tells us:
4 Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.
Notice that last part – “as Christ was raised from the dead…, so we too might walk in newness of life.” It is through the resurrection of Jesus we have the power to walk a new life. I don’t have time to look at it, but Philippians 3 says the same thing – that through the power of the resurrection, we are able to pursue Christ-likeness. You say, well what does that new life look like? Paul goes on to tell us in the verses that follow in Romans 6:
5 For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection,
6 knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin;
7 for he who has died is freed from sin.
8 Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him,
9 knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, is never to die again; death no longer is master over Him.
10 For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God.
11 Even so [as a result of His being alive, His resurrection] consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.
Verse 11 makes all that a present reality – we call it resurrection power. The new life in Christ is a life which seeks mastery over sin – and there is power in the resurrection of Jesus to do just that. We are no longer slaves to sin. Rather, he goes on to tell us that we are slaves to righteousness. Paul is not talking about some future reality when we shed this earthly body – he’s talking about the power of the crucified life now. The ability, by the presence and power of the Spirit, the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead, to live holy lives.
Which is to say, without the resurrection of Jesus, you would have no power to live a holy life – a life set apart for God and His purposes – a life seeking to please God. You couldn’t do it on your own. So, we see the resurrection of Jesus is necessary for our justification and our sanctification. Which brings us to the third point – the point we normally think of when we think of Easter, and that is, The Resurrection Provides our Future Glorification. Look at Romans 8:11 with me:
11 But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.
It is true that because Jesus was raised from the dead, as His followers, we too will one day be raised. Now, those of you familiar with the context of this verse know that Paul is talking, again, about sanctification. But, he goes on in the context to say, “and if children, heirs also of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.” Further, Jesus did say, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in me will live even if he dies.” While justification speaks of a past action, and sanctification speaks of a present and ongoing action, glorification speaks of a future action when we will be raised from the dead to receive glorified bodies. I Corinthians 15, the great resurrection chapter, says it this way:
20 But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep.
21 For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead.
22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.
And not just made alive, but we will receive new, glorified bodies.
51 Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed,
52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.
53 For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality.
54 But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, “DEATH IS SWALLOWED UP in victory.”
55 “O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR VICTORY? O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR STING?”
56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law;
57 but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
We will receive glorified bodies which never again have to struggle with sin or pain or disease or death. Now, I’ve been arguing the necessity of the resurrection of Jesus Christ to the Christian faith – saying that it is the very centerpiece of our faith. We saw Paul said, if Jesus wasn’t raised from the dead, we would still be in our sins. And if we were still in our sins, slaves to sin, we would have no power by which we could live holy, sanctified lives.
Paul also stresses the necessity of Christ’s resurrection for our own future resurrection in I Corinthians 15:18, where he says, if Christ is not raised, “Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.” Without the resurrection, we perish. The sum of the matter is this – there is a reason Easter is the high point of the Christian calendar. Without it, we are hopeless in every respect.
If the tomb of Jesus can be found, if the shroud of Jesus can be found with Jesus in it, we are still in our sin, we have no hope for living holy lives, and we will perish. The resurrection of Christ has past, present and future promise and power in our lives – it has justified us, it is sanctifying us, and it will glorify us. Everything we have in Christ was brought about when God raised His Son from the dead. The resurrection is everything.
Which brings us to our conclusion. We’ve looked at the resurrection of Christ in Romans chapters 4, 6 and 8. To keep the trend going, it seems appropriate we finish with a verse in Romans 10. You see, it’s not enough that Jesus was delivered over for our transgressions and raised again for our justification. If that fact alone was enough, then every person who has ever lived would have sins forgiven, they would be justified, growing in holiness, and awaiting future glorification. A simple look at society shows that’s not true. Besides, the Bible makes it clear there is something you must do. Not a work to earn salvation – Jesus has done all that is necessary – but what we do to receive salvation.
Remember the context of Romans 4? Paul was speaking of the justification of Abraham – that he believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness. The first verse of chapter 5 says, “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” What is it we that must believe? What is it we must have faith in? Romans 10 tells us:
9 that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved;
10 for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.
If you believe Jesus is Lord as the Son of God and God the Son, and as such, Lord of your life – if you believe God raised Him from the dead, then you will be saved. Do you see? There’s the resurrection again – it is the central truth of the Christian faith.
And, if you believe that with your heart, you will experience the great exchange – God will take your sin and give you Christ’s righteousness – resulting in righteousness. And if you confess with your mouth, the result is salvation.
You say, well, I believe that. Wonderful. It’s interesting to note the majority of Americans believe Jesus rose from the dead; a majority say that He was sent to earth to absolve humankind of sins; and a majority say they are Christians. But there is a difference between believing it with your head – a mental assent – and believing in your heart, with everything you are – where a transformation takes place.
Listen, there are lots of verses in the Bible say there must come a point in your life when you confess your sin, and receive Jesus Christ as your Savior. Meaning, there’s never been a person who has been a Christian all their lives. Nope – you must be saved from your sin. And you believe, not just that the facts are true, but that they are true for you – you believe with your heart – your whole being, and you fly to Christ and His cross and His resurrection and embrace Him. The Bible calls it being born again – being redeemed. And I would love to talk to you about the importance of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ in your life, today. What better day than today, Easter Sunday, to believe, trust Jesus and His work and be saved.