Still Dead? No! Jesus is Risen!

Maybe you’ve seen those freaky horror movies with little demon dolls. They’re evil and foreboding. No matter what their victims do, they keep reappearing. Finally, the movie ends; it’s over. Or is it? There seems to always be a sequel.
That’s cinema. But real life brings demons of terror, which are not products of imagination. This real horror doesn’t disappear with the words, “The End.” In fact, those only add another facet of horror—life’s termination. Death!
Maybe people watch movies to escape from fear. Perhaps themes of blood and terror appeal to some people because they leave these themes behind when they exit the theater. However, we can’t avoid death. It will creep up on all of us, no matter what diets or secrets to longevity we may follow. It is only delaying the inevitable. The Grim Reaper will eventually cut us down. It sends shivers up and down our spines!
Death would never be haunting us if it were not for another culprit—sin. Everyone has sinned, done evil, thought the lurid, hateful, greedy thoughts. The list of our sins is endless, as is the punishment from our God that we deserve! Just when we think we’ve overcome one sin, there’s a sequel. Nor should we forget the guilt of our sins for breaking God’s Law!
Jesus Christ, true God, came to our cemetery-packed world for us. He never gave in to temptation. Sinless, He should not have died, but He did die on the cross. Those spotless thirty-three years were lived for us to fulfill the Law; six hours of hellish death were suffered for us to complete our ransom. But that was not “The End.”
Jesus rose from the dead, alive, just three days later. What good news for us, who are so “creeped” out by our sin, guilt, and death! With Jesus’ holiness credited to us and with His death paying our sentence in full, we are forgiven! The Bible tells us why: “And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins” (1 Corinthians 15:17). Jesus’ resurrection declares that we are not still in our sins.
Why? Because if there is no need for a grave, that means there is no death anymore. And if there is no death anymore, that means there is no sin—the cause of death. Jesus rescued us from the victimizing, terrorizing power of our sin, guilt, and mortality! Forgiveness ends the fear. This we believe. God’s Word declares it.
We are not still in our sins. Jesus is risen! We are not still mortified by death and its source, sin. Jesus is risen! Should we be bothered by the guilt sequels? No, Jesus is risen! Can we be comforted and secure in forgiveness and certain of eternal life in heaven? Yes, Jesus has risen!
Bradley J. Kerkow is a home missionary in Austin, Texas.