No event has had a greater impact on the history of mankind than the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Consider:

1. Proves Jesus is the Christ. The resurrection of Jesus from the dead was the crowning piece of evidence that Jesus was who He claimed to be. Paul says Jesus was “declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead” (Rom. 1:4). 

Moses told the children of Israel how to tell if a prophet was indeed from God. “When a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD, if the thing does not happen or come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him” (Deut. 18:22). Jesus said He would rise from the dead (Matt. 16:21, 17:22-23, 20:19). If He hadn’t, He would have failed this test and there would be no reason to listen to anything else He said. However, since what He said about His resurrection did come true, we must accept everything He has said, including His claim to be the Son of God.

2. Gained Victory Over Sin and Death. When Jesus died on the cross it appeared that Satan had won. Death came into the world because of sin. It was the greatest power that the devil had, but it was not powerful enough. Peter said God raised Jesus up, “having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that He should be held by it” (Acts 2:24). When Jesus rose from the dead, He gained victory over the devil and all his power, including sin and death.

We can share in this victory as well. Paul said Jesus “was delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised because of our justification… For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life” (Rom. 4:25, 5:10).

3. Validates Our Faith. The whole of Christianity rests on the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. In First Corinthians chapter fifteen, Paul spoke about the reality of our future resurrection from the dead. He said the assurance of this promise is found in our Lord’s own resurrection. Notice how much our faith depends upon the resurrection of Jesus from the dead: “And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty… And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins! Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable” (vs. 14, 17-19). If Christ did not rise from the dead, then everything about Christianity is a lie, because all of Christianity is based on His resurrection.

4. Assures Us of Judgment. Paul told the people of Athens, “Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead” (Acts 17:30-31). If we believe Jesus rose from the dead, we must also accept the fact that we will be judged. Assurance of this fact should move “all men everywhere to repent.”

It has been observed that more people attend worship services on Easter Sunday than on any other Sunday of the year. People obviously think there is something special about Easter Sunday. The resurrection of Jesus from the dead should motivate people to do more than just attend one church service a year. It should move people to repent of their sins, change their life, and faithfully serve the Lord every day until He returns.