John 20:1-10
Christ Has Risen, And We Are Free!
Christ has risen! He has risen, indeed! Alleluia! Our Savior who was once dead is now alive. What joy and comfort these words give to us.
Shortly before Jesus died on the cross, he said, “It is finished.” (John 19:30).
What does this mean? It is finished means the battle is over!
Wawie, Egbena, Ɛwɔ vɔ, Yaakari, Denaaya!
Jesus has finished the work that brought forgiveness of sins to every man, woman, and child in all places and times.
- It is finished means that the war that God declared in the Garden of Eden when He cursed the serpent has ended in His victory.
- It is finished means that Jesus has taken our place and suffered the anger of God against the sin of the world.
- Declaring It is finished means God and man are now reconciled.
- It is finished means we have new life, eternal life in God’s presence.
- It is finished means that Jesus has overcome both death and sin through his resurrection.
So, the words of Jesus from the cross, “It is finished,” (John 19:30) are a tremendous proclamation of Good News of hope. Today, Jesus Christ is risen, and He is risen indeed. Alleluia.
My brothers and sisters, if Christ had not been raised, our faith would have been useless, and we would still be carrying our sins. If Christ had not been raised, then all those believers who have died would have perished just like animals. We would have been like daydreamers deserving sympathy and pity.
But thank God. Jesus rose, and we now have hope, peace and rest with God (1 Corinthians 15:17–20).
What God said many years ago about redeeming us has come true. Over five thousand years ago, God promised to Abraham that the Christ would die and rise, and it has happened. God later revealed this message of resurrection in scriptures, through teachers and prophets, through songs, and even through the festivals that God himself established for the Israelites.
We cannot mention all the names of the prophets that God revealed this message to them.
Now let’s talk about two festivals that talk about the fact that Christ would die and rise today:
Number 1. The feast of Passover. Passover is the first feast of the Israelites, and even though it reminds the Israelites about their deliverance from Egypt, it also reminds them about a future time God Himself will offer for them a better sacrifice for sins and, a permanent deliverance from sin. This future sacrifice would not be the usual lamb they used for the Passover sacrifice, but it would be a better sacrifice – namely, Jesus, the true Lamb of God.
Let us remember that the Israelites had been celebrating the Passover for hundreds of years, but unfortunately, they couldn’t connect the festival with Jesus. But it happened that on one particular Passover, about 2000 years ago, on the 14th day of their first month called Nissan, while all the Israelites were busy celebrating their own Passover, on that very day, Jesus, the True Lamb of God, was being crucified for their sins, and they didn’t know about it. They did not know about it, because they were no longer walking with God. They had gone astray, so they couldn’t see God in action, nor hear his voice.
God’s Lamb that takes away the sins of the world was sacrificed during that particular Passover, at the very time the Passover animals were being slaughtered. Brothers and sisters, we serve a God who does what he says. He has the whole world in his hands!
The second feast I would like to talk about is the Feast of First Fruits, which pictures the RESURRECTION of the Messiah. This is a feast that takes place after Passover.
Let’s look at this feast of “First Fruits.”
Leviticus 23:10-11
“Give the following instructions to the people of Israel. When you enter the land that I am giving you and you harvest its first crops, bring the priest a bundle of grain from the first cutting of your grain harvest. On the day after the Sabbath, the priest will lift it (sacrifice) up before the LORD, so it may be acceptable on your behalf.
So, First Fruits is ALWAYS on a SUNDAY – Which is the day that Christ rose from death.
The Festival of First Fruits, without doubt, represents Christ’s resurrection.
And so, Christ was raised from death, as the first fruits of those who have died. For as death came through one man, Adam, so in the same way, the resurrection of the human race would come through one man – Jesus Christ.
Just as Adam brought us death, so in the same way, all of us would be resurrected and given life through Jesus Christ. But there is an order to this resurrection: Christ was raised as the firstfruits; then afterwards, all of us who belong to Christ will be raised when he comes back. (1 Corinthians 15:20-23 ESV)
So, hundreds of years before Christ was ever born, God was teaching His people that their Messiah would come, and He would die for them during Passover and would be raised during the Feast of First Fruits.
Jesus is the True and Perfect Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. God had been teaching His people that for three days Jesus would be in the tomb and that He would arise from death on the first day of the week, the very day that Israel celebrated the Feast of First Fruit.
Brothers and Sisters. The God we serve is a faithful God. Let us, therefore, walk with him, so that we will be familiar with his Word, and know his ways.
Christ has risen to prove to us and to the whole world that he has taken away our sin. We now have freedom and liberty and have been delivered from the Kingdom of Satan.
Soon, Christ will be coming back again, and he will take all of us to our permanent home – Mount Zion, the City of God, where there is no death, no sin, and no suffering.
And so I encourage you, brothers and sisters, to continue walking steadfastly with God, and keep watch so that you don’t fall back, so that Christ’s work of redemption will be completed in you on the day he comes back.
Christ is risen! Rejoice! And proclaim this Good News to everyone.
In His name, Amen.
May the peace of the Lord be with you all.
Benediction
May the Lord bless you and keep you.
May the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you.
And may the Lord look upon you with favour, and give you peace.
Amen.