The Resurrection of Jesus: What Did it Accomplish and How Should We Celebrate it?

Through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, God saves us from sin and death. The apostle Paul says that “if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins” (1 Cor 15:17).[1] Likewise, he elsewhere explains that Christians put their trust in Christ’s death and resurrection:

if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (Rom 10:9).

In this post, I consider what God accomplishes in Jesus’ resurrection and how we should celebrate the resurrection together as a church.

What Did Jesus’ Resurrection Accomplish?

The resurrection is a work of the Triune God. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit always act together. They act together because they share one will and operate from their shared essence. Therefore, each divine person is involved in raising Christ’s body (e.g. 1 Pet 1:21; John 10:17–18; Rom 8:11). Yet, this shared triune work terminates on Christ’s human nature and is appropriated most frequently to the Father (Acts 2:32; Rom 10:9; Gal 1:1; 1 Cor 6:14; Col 2:12). The Father, Son and Spirit raised Jesus for the following six reasons:

1. To prove that Christ has paid for our sin. Romans 4:25 says that Jesus was “delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.” God raised Jesus so that all would know that Christ’s death and suffering had fully paid for the penalty our sins deserved.
2. To defeat death for us. 1 Cor 15:21–22 says that “For as by a man came death, by a man has also come the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.” God raised Jesus to break death’s power over human creatures.
3. To perfect our bodies. 1 Cor 15:53 says that at Christ’s return “this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality.” God raised Jesus so that the heavenly bodies of believers will be perfect, glorious, and no longer subject to decay.
4. To bring us spiritual life. Col 2:13 says that “you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him [Christ].” God raised Jesus so that the Holy Spirit might regenerate our hearts through Christ’s resurrection power.
5. To sanctify our souls. Rom 6:4 says that “we were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.” God raised Jesus so that we would live sanctified lives.
6. To bring God’s rest to us. In Matt 11:28 Christ says, “come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” The rest that Christ offers is a product of his work. God raised Jesus so that Jesus could enjoy the rest of heaven and invite us to share in his rest.

How Should We Celebrate the Resurrection of Christ?

The resurrection is an enormously important doctrine for our lives. Here are six ways we should celebrate the resurrection together as a church that correspond to the six reasons for the resurrection given above:

1. Believe that Christ has paid for your sins. We should use the resurrection as a mental reminder that God has fully paid for our sin. Rom 8:34 says “who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who is interceding for us.”
2. Have confidence in the face of death. Because Jesus has defeated death, we should not be afraid of dying as death is not the end for the Christian. Hebrews 2:15 says Christ “deliver[s] all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.”
3. Endure suffering so that we might be exalted. We should embrace bodily suffering for the cause of Christ so that we might experience a greater glory when we are resurrected. 2 Cor 4:16 says, “we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison.”
4. Celebrate Baptism as a church and rejoice in salvation. In Baptism, we celebrate the miracle of each believer’s new spiritual life. Col 2:11–12 says that baptism parallels Christ’s death and resurrection: “having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead.”
5. Live a new life by the power of God. We should put sin to death and vivify the fruit of the Spirit by Christ’s resurrection power. 2 Cor 5:15 says that Christ “died for all so that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.”
6. Gather with God’s people on the Lord’s Day. We should gather with God’s people on Sunday because Christ rose from the dead on Sunday. Every time that we hear Sunday mentioned in the New Testament after the resurrection, we see Christians gathering to celebrate Christ’s resurrection and worship God. Acts 20:17 says, “on the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul talked with them, intending to depart on the next day, and he prolonged his speech until midnight.”

[1] In studying for this pastor’s post, I benefitted from the reflections of Wilhelmus à Brakel (1635–1711) and Petrus van Mastricht (1630–1706) on the resurrection. See Wilhelmus à Brakel, The Christian’s Reasonable Service (Grand Rapids, MI: Reformation Heritage Books, 1992–2012), 1:625–35; Petrus van Mastricht, Theoretical-Practical Theology (Grand Rapids, MI: Reformation Heritage Books, 2018), 1.5.15.