The angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay." Matt 28:5-7

The Easter message is all about resurrection. Yet, in some ways, that is a misleading thought. It makes us think that Christ¹s life was terminated, that after His crucifixion, there were three days when he did not exist, then He was brought back into existence. The idea of resurrection as many people understand it, has some basic misconceptions.

The problem begins with our understanding of the relationship between life and death. We see them as intricately tied together, but Christ saw them as having nothing to do with each other. This simple distinction becomes the basis for much of Christ¹s teaching. His ideas were radically different, because His basic understanding of life and death was radically different.

We often view life as something fragile and weak because of the frailty of our human bodies. Christ taught that life is something powerful and strong. It is a gift from God, that cannot be snuffed out by anyone except the one who created it in the first place. God created us to live for eternity.

Death, on the other hand, is a weak and purely worldly experience. Each of us must go through that experience, but it has no bearing on our lives. It affects only our mortal bodies, but has no power over eternal spiritual lives.

The Easter message celebrates Christ¹s bodily resurrection. His death on the cross had no effect on His life in the Spirit. I Peter 3:19 says that though He was "put to death in the body," He was "alive in the Spirit." While His dead body was in the tomb, Peter tells us that His eternal Spirit was alive and "preaching to the spirits in prison," proclaiming His power and His victory over sin. On the third day, His body was resurrected. His life did not need to be resurrected because it was never terminated.

The resurrection story should help us to understand this truth. We view death as the ultimate power. Christ views life as the ultimate power. Death is nothing more than a plaything, a toy, a tool He uses to illustrate the realities of eternal life. If God can resurrect Christ physically from the dead, then why should we not believe Him, when He tells us of eternal life.

We should not fear death, for Christ has proven His victory over it. We need not be concerned about whether we will live forever, but about where we will live forever. All life is eternal, however, through Christ¹s work on the cross we are given the opportunity, by faith, to spend that eternity in God¹s kingdom.

When we think of the empty tomb and the resurrected Christ, we should thank Him and praise Him not just for His victory over death, but for opening the gates of heaven. The gift of eternal life which God bestowed on us would prove to be a prison of anguish, had not Christ made it possible for us to escape and live that life in God¹s kingdom.

On Easter morning, get out of bed and thank God for the power of life that gives you the strength to face each day with confidence and victory. Then come to church and celebrate with all God¹s people the wondrous joy of the day.

Hallelujah! Christ is Risen! He is risen indeed!