By Paul Winningham
In the early centuries of the Christian Church, the followers of Jesus would greet one another with the words, “Christ is risen!” The one(s) being greeted would reply, “He is risen indeed, Alleluia!”
This is no small fact of history. Each of the four New Testament gospels reports eyewitness testimony claiming that Jesus Christ had risen from death after having been crucified on a cross and his dead body laid in a tomb. Dr. Luke says he was reporting eyewitness testimony, and the Gospel according to St. John asserts that the author himself was an eyewitness to the events he recorded. St. Paul even said that in his day there were still nearly 500 living witnesses who had seen the resurrected Christ! So what difference does it make that Jesus Christ has been raised from death?
It makes all the difference in the world, for this life, and the life to come! St. Paul wrote, in the Great Resurrection Chapter (I Corinthians 15), “And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile, and you are still in your sins.” Did you get that? If Jesus Christ did not rise from death, then there is NO such thing as the forgiveness of sins. Sin is what separates human beings from God. Sin leaves us defiled, in fact, alienated from God. And every one of us human beings is a sinner. Furthermore, the consequences of sin is death. Both physically AND eternally. To live forever with God, we all need the forgiveness of sins!
But the forgiveness of sins is not wishful thinking: it is God’s reality! This forgiveness was gained in one way and one way ONLY: By Jesus Christ, the Son of God, undergoing the torment of the cross, shedding His very blood to the point of death, having become a curse for us. What an incredible display of Love!
Cyril of Jerusalem, who lived from 313 to 386 A.D. wrote: “Do you know why this Friend of Man did not shun death? It was so the whole world would not perish in its sins.” The tree of shame has become Christ’s cross of glory.
So, is the Forgiveness of sins really the heart of the Good News that we Christians call ‘the Gospel’? One great way to determine that is to follow the things Jesus said after His resurrection. In St. Luke, chapter 24, after proving Himself alive to His disciples, Jesus told them, as a first order of business, that “repentance and the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning at Jerusalem” (verse 47). And in St. John’s Gospel, chapter 20, Jesus gave His disciples the enormous power to forgive sins in His name, as well as the frightening power to withhold forgiveness from the unrepentant as long as they do not repent.
This forgiveness of sins is total and complete for the sinner. So trust that Christ’s work is for you! You cannot earn it, merit it by any suffering, or gain it by any deeds of merit. You cannot buy it at any price! Simply trust Christ’s promise, thank Him, and begin living in this truth. Then seek out a faithful congregation of Christians who can help you grow in this reality. Christ is Risen! He is risen indeed, Alleluia!
