It's not over yet...

With Easter 2013 now a memory, and our Access Easter Series complete,  it would be easy for us to get back into our normal routines with little consideration for the continued effect of the resurrection. In fact, this was exactly the point of a conversation I had with one of my sons on Easter Sunday evening. He walked up to me and proclaimed, “So Resurrection Day is officially over.”  I responded almost without thinking, “Well it actually isn’t over yet.” It wouldn’t be exaggerating if I said that my response shocked him.

You see this is the way many of us view the resurrection…as a one-time past event. Yes it’s true…Jesus’ resurrection was the pinnacle miracle of His life on earth. He triumphantly rose from the dead, just as He had promised. He overwhelmingly demonstrated His rightful place as God over all while showing that the curse of sin and death had been successfully paid. But wait there’s more…and this is a BIG DEAL with immense ACCESS.

Christ’s resurrection paves the way for all believers to look forward to a resurrection. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 15:20-21, “But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead.” This is a beautiful statement about Christ being our “firstfruits.” The Biblical idea of firstfruits communicates the pattern of the first crops in a field. If the field produces crops when first seeded then there is great confidence that the field will produce crops in the future. Christ was the first and basis of resurrections to come. For Christians, because Jesus rose from the grave, we have the hope and expectation that the grave…death, is not the end for us. We can look forward with great anticipation to the day that we can be raised like Jesus, to a glory we can only dream of…Easter isn’t over yet…it’s only begun.