This is the month of April and the time of the year for celebrating Easter Sunday, the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is such a vital part of our faith so I decided to spend a little time discussing it in my letter this month.

What exactly can we expect as a result of His resurrection? How does His rising from the dead affect my everyday life? What is the meaning of our Easter celebration? These are all very good questions that we need to answer for ourselves and for others. Sometimes we are guilty of doing things without really knowing why, we just go through the motions but it doesn’t hold any real significance for us and we are weak in our attempts to explain it to anyone else. This is what I hope to remedy by this month’s letter.

First of all, let’s look at 1 Corinthians 15:17, And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. Our salvation from sin is only complete with the resurrection of Christ. Certainly He paid for our guilt with His blood but if He did not conquer death as well then we would still be destined for eternal destruction. But the good news is that Jesus rose on the third day and secured our deliverance from sin and death. Jesus said in John 14:19, Because I live, you will live also. We serve a living God. Job said in Job 19:25, I know that my Redeemer lives. We are redeemed because He lives. That is the reason to celebrate.

Another benefit of the resurrection that we can enjoy is the health of our bodies. Romans 8:11 reads, But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you. I believe this verse of Scripture has a double reference. Naturally it refers to a believer’s resurrection from the dead at the appearing of Jesus but notice that it specifically mentions life coming to our mortal bodies. Our mortal bodies are the ones we are living in now, not the ones we will inherit after death. We can trust God for health and wholeness to come to our bodies in time of need because of Jesus’ resurrection. Resurrection life isn’t just for heaven it’s for earth, too. When sickness or pain or weariness tries to afflict your body remind it that the same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead lives in you and that He is bringing life to your mortal body right now!

Another reason for us to celebrate is that the resurrection of Jesus has provided us with spiritual authority over all the power of the devil. Ephesians 2:6 tells us that God has “raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus”. Jesus was not only raised from the dead but He was also seated at the right hand of God (Ephesians 1:20). We are raised with Him and we are privileged to share in His authority over the forces of darkness. The enemy is under our feet because we are seated in heavenly places in Christ. You can’t get any higher, you can’t do any better, we can enforce the victory of Christ against the devil and his works because of Jesus’ resurrection. His victory is our victory. He didn’t need it but we did. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ (Ephesians 1:3). Jesus is alive and we have the victory! Let’s celebrate the great goodness of God in giving us a resurrection life through Jesus.

For His Name,

John Merola