The cross is God’s gracious response to our own sinful and willful irresponsibility, choices and actions. We sin. We are perpetrators of evil – and this alienates us from the holy God who made us for fellowship with him. It is this aspect of sin that has been dealt with by the vicarious sacrifice of the atonement.
But we are also victims of sin. We have enemies who harm us. We are victims who have been sinned against in numerous ways. Because of sins committed against us, we are held captive – bound by powers external and greater than us, echoing Israel’s bondage in Egypt. Or we may be held in bondage to our own desires or fears, our self-centeredness or despair. Sometimes the Bible describes the human problem as suffering – being in bondage, slavery or captivity – each and all of which separates us from God.
What we need in this regard is for God to fight on our behalf, against our enemy, for our freedom from bondage. This is what God did in the Exodus for his people. The clearest and most powerful manifestation of God doing this for us is Christ’s victory over death in the resurrection (Eph. 1:19–20). In this victory over principalities, powers and death, the Son reclaims creation for the Father and freedom for you. “He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him” (Col. 2:15).
In answering the question, “How does Christ’s resurrection benefit us?” the Heidelberg Catechism answers: “First, by his resurrection he has overcome death, so that he might make us share in the righteousness he won for us by his death. Second, by his power we too are already now resurrected to a new life. Third, Christ’s resurrection is a guarantee of our glorious resurrection.”
God accomplished redemption in Christ’s victory over sin and death, but the effects of that victory have yet to be fully realized. So while the ultimate outcome has been assured (Rom. 8:18–21; 1 Cor. 15:51–57; Rev. 21), the struggle between life and death, good and evil, continues. However, the shalom (i.e., peace in its fullest sense), freedom and rest of redemption will one day be realized fully when Jesus returns.
Jesus was physically raised from death as “the firstborn from the dead” (Col. 1:18), inaugurating the new creation and securing a future resurrection like his own for all those who are united to him through faith. Through his triumphant resurrection, Jesus secured for us both justification and the firstfruits of our own resurrection.
Christ’s victory gives us back our identity and restores our meaning. We recognize, and may truly know for the first time, that we have a future that ends in peace as well as a past that can be healed and forgiven, and we now live in the hope of the gospel. Christ opens up for us a new identity because he himself remained always true to his identity, a share of which he offers to us.
In Christ’s victory, fear and shame are banished, to be replaced by profound joy that we are no longer strangers to God and to one another, that we are no longer so utterly isolated and alone.
In reading these gospel truths, some of you need a reminder: Go to Jesus. Rest. Believe what he said on the cross: “It is finished” (John 19:30). Believe what Peter said when he encouraged you to cast “all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you” (1 Pet. 5:7). The resurrection is your guarantee that God is good; that he loves you; that you can trust him with every sin, care, pain, grief and detail in your life.
Others of you are doubting. For you, the idea of the resurrection sounds unbelievable; you’re sure it’s impossible to come back from the dead, so death really is the last word. To you, I would echo J.R.R. Tolkien, who said of the gospel story, “There is no tale ever told that people would rather find true.” Deep down, maybe you wish it were true too.
Faith is not certainty, but a gift from God, a living trust in his grace and favor. Khalil Gibran puts it beautifully: “Doubt is a pain too lonely to know that faith is his twin brother.”
In other words, faith is not the absence of doubt – it is trust in the midst of struggle, a grace sustained by God’s promise. Faith does not depend on the strength of our grip on God, but on his grip on us. One of the most beloved prayers in the Bible comes from a desperate father who says to Jesus, “I believe. Help my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24). It is not a bold declaration, but a plea. And Jesus doesn’t rebuke him. He receives that conflicted cry as genuine faith. Could that be your prayer too?
Finally, some of those who read this article are ready to turn back to Christ – or turn to him in faith for the first time ever. You’re wondering: How do I come to Jesus? What action is required of me?
The answer is simple. Faith isn’t just believing that Jesus saves, but trusting him to save you – resting not in your own works, spirituality, righteousness or experiences, but in Christ’s finished work.
Faith is not our contribution to salvation. Faith is the means through which we receive Christ and all his benefits. It is simply the empty hand that receives the gift. Faith receives the promise that in Christ, God is freely granting you forgiveness of sins, eternal righteousness and salvation. Ask him to give you rest from your efforts to justify your own existence, accept that you are accepted and enjoy the guarantee of your future because of his glorious resurrection.
Alleluia. The Lord is risen!
This article was adapted from this blog post, which was adapted from the bishop’s book On the Grace of God, along with his Easter sermon at the Cathedral Church of St. Luke, Orlando, on March 31, 2024.