The Gospel & Salvation: Resurrection Day 2026

Resurrection Day 2026

 Let’s turn to 1 Cor. 15 to begin this morning. Please stand with me as we read verses 1-11.

I’m thankful you are here today for our celebration of Resurrection Day. If we were to rank the importance of the special celebrations of the church we would have to put the celebration of the resurrection of our Lord at the top. The world would not rank importance in this order. Obviously, the celebration of the Lord’s birth is the celebration that garners the most attention, and the greatest participation. When it comes to spiritual matters, we cannot expect the world to get things right. But the church should get it right, and there is no special celebration more important than our celebration of our Lord’s victory over death. 

There is no salvation without the birth of our Savior, but there is no salvation in the birth of Jesus. His birth is unique. He is the only man ever born of a virgin. But if all Jesus did was be born, we would not have hope of salvation. There is no salvation accomplished through His birth.

The same is true regarding the death of Jesus. There is no salvation without His death, but there is no salvation in His death if there was no resurrection from the dead. Last week we looked at the truth regarding His death. We looked at the prophecy of Christ’s death from the Old Testament prophet Isaiah. Isaiah reveals to us what happened at the Cross from God’s perspective. The Lord God was causing the iniquity of us all to fall on Jesus. Jesus was being pierced through for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. He was chastened for our well-being.

God was doing this because He was pleased to offer His only begotten Son as an innocent, sinless substitute. Jesus was God’s perfect Lamb. Jesus bore the penalty we rightly owed to holy God because of our sin. Jesus died in my place and in your place. He endured the infinite wrath of God as an innocent substitute. In this current series on the gospel and the work of salvation we saw this innocent substitute promised in Genesis 3:15. The seed of the woman would come and bruise the head of Satan. Jesus crushed Satan’s head at Calvary. He destroyed the works of the devil. We also saw this innocent substitute pictured in the animals that God killed in order to provide the covering for the first couple. Their fig leaf solution was inadequate, as are all man-made solutions to the sin problem. Only God’s provided solution was adequate to cover man’s sin.

So an innocent substitute died in our place. Is the work of salvation complete because of this death? It is not. If the innocent substitute died in our place, and remained dead, then He died in vain. We would not have the assurance of eternal life unless the innocent sin bearer was able to not only die in our place, but also to defeat sin and death.

Several of my children and grandchildren are here today. Have I told you how much I love my children and grandchildren? If any one of my children, including my sons-in-law, was in need of a heart transplant to live, and my heart would save them, I would, without a moment’s hesitation, offer my heart, and sacrifice my life so they could live. I love them that much. There would not even need to be a discussion regarding the decision. I would do it for any of them. I believe you also love your children and grandchildren that much.

If that were to happen, I would be dying as a substitute in their place. I would die so they could live. While my death might solve their physical problem, it would be only a temporary solution. They would eventually die from something. We all do. Nor would my sacrifice solve their greatest problem. After months of looking at the Scriptures to understand the problem of sin I am sure you understand that man’s greatest problem is the problem only God could die to solve. Man’s greatest problem is his sin problem. Even if our physical problems are solved, or our money problems, or our relational problems, or our addiction problems, or our emotional problems, or any other problem we face in life gets resolved, if our sin problem is not resolved, we die, we face judgment for our sins before an infinitely holy and righteous Judge of all mankind, and we are doomed as sinners to hell.

In order that we might know, and have a confident assurance that our sin problem has been truly solved, God’s eternal plan of salvation included more than the death of an innocent substitute who would die in the place of the sinner. God’s plan included the resurrection from the dead of that same innocent substitute. My friends, God’s plan worked. God’s plan worked because God is absolutely sovereign over all His plans. What He ordains will come to pass. Jesus was crucified according to the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God. He died. He declared, “It is finished!” The payment for the redemption of sinners had been made. The blood of the innocent Lamb of God had been poured out. Jesus said, “Into Your hands I commit My spirit.” He breathed His last. Then His side was pierced and the blood and water from the pericardium flowed from His side. The Romans were expert killers who had crucified so many. These experts confirmed His death.

A rich man named Joseph of Arimathea took his body and wrapped it linen cloths and laid it in a tomb which had been cut into the rock. A stone was rolled in front of the opening. A Roman guard was assigned to keep watch to ensure that His disciples did not steal the body and falsely claim a resurrection. On the first Resurrection morning there was an earthquake and some angels showed up and those brave Romans passed out with fear. The angels didn’t show up to roll the stone out of the way. They came to announce the good news. Jesus was alive. The angels asked the obvious question. “Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here. He is alive just as He said.”

The good news of the gospel is not good news without the resurrection. The work of salvation could not have been accomplished without the resurrection. The death of Christ alone could not assure our redemption. Paul states this very clearly in Romans 4:25, “He (Jesus) who was delivered over because of our transgressions, and was raised because of our justification.” The fact that we are justified means that we are no longer guilty before God. Our sins are no longer counted against us. It would be unjust for God to punish us after having punished Jesus in our place. The fact that Jesus was raised from the dead is proof that God accepted the sacrifice of Jesus on our behalf. Because the full penalty had been paid, and there was nothing else to pay because it was paid in full. Because the penalty had been paid in full, there was no reason for Jesus to remain in the grave. So He rose again to prove that the work of justification was complete. The work of salvation required the resurrection of Jesus.

We are devoting months of study to understanding the basics of the gospel and the work of salvation. We cannot understand the gospel and salvation without the resurrection. Just as the heart pumps life giving blood to every part of the human body, so the truth of the resurrection gives life to every aspect of gospel truth. The resurrection is the cornerstone upon which the foundation of faith is built. Without the resurrection no other truth really matters and they certainly don’t have the power to make any difference in the way we live. By the way, if you say you believe in Jesus, but your belief does not impact the way you live, you don’t really have a saving faith. The genuine work of salvation makes us new creatures, old things have passed away, all things become new when we become new creatures in Christ Jesus. Saving faith involves repentance and faith. The Scriptures call us to repent and believe.

Without the resurrection we have no hope of redemption. Without the resurrection, the life transforming power of the gospel is eliminated. If Christ did not conquer death and rise from the dead, then He was nothing more than a kind-hearted, benevolent, miracle working prophet. We do not have a Savior who can deliver us from sin and death. If this is the case, we have no salvation, and no eternal life. If the resurrection is a lie then we may as well close the doors of the church and throw our Bibles on a burn pile. If Christ’s life ended and He remains in the grave, what hope do we have of any other fate?

The good news of the gospel includes the truth of the resurrection. First Corinthians 15 is the starting place for our study today. Paul wrote this chapter in this letter because the Corinthians had doubts about the resurrection of Christ. Unfortunately, the Corinthians had been influenced by the Greeks. The Greek philosophers embraced an unbiblical concept called dualism. This unbiblical concept taught that everything physical was evil and that the only things good were spiritual. So, to the Greeks, and those strongly influenced by these philosophies, including the Corinthians, the idea of a resurrected physical body didn’t make sense. If the physical body is corrupt, why would God raise it to life after it had died? The Corinthians were strongly influenced by this and had come to question, and even disbelieve the resurrection. This is the longest chapter in the letters to the churches. It discusses the resurrection. If volume is any indication of importance, then clearly the resurrection is important.

To counter the influence of this falsehood, Paul writes this chapter to explain why the resurrection of Christ is important to believe. In the first five verses Paul outlines the historical facts of the gospel. Fact number one, Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures. This we have already come to understand. If you missed it go to the churches website and start listening. If you will just listen to last week’s message you will learn enough to understand the significance of this truth.

Fact number two, He was buried. There was no doubt concerning the certainty of His death. The soldiers knew He was dead. The men who wrapped Him in the grave cloth knew He was dead. The soldiers who guarded the tomb knew He was dead. One of the most ridiculous theories of skeptics is the swoon theory. Skeptics theorize that Jesus didn’t actually die on the cross, but only gave the appearance of having died. Then, when He was laid in the cool tomb He somehow revived and was able to escape the tomb and make a full recovery. Listen, only a fool would propose such a theory, but fools will be fools. Nobody ever survived a Roman crucifixion.

Fact number three, He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures. The resurrection of Christ from the dead is the ultimate proof of the gospel. If we don’t have a resurrection we don’t have a gospel message. There was certainly no good news in the death of Christ unless it is accompanied by the resurrection of Christ. 

The certainty of the resurrection is confirmed in fact number four, He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve, and to more than five hundred. The resurrection proved Jesus to be the Son of God. Romans 1:4 says, “He was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead.” The resurrection became the basis for the unshakable faith of the Apostles. All but one of them died as a martyr. John died in exile because he would not deny Christ. This courageous faith resulted from the fact that they knew Jesus was God in human flesh because He was dead, and then He was alive again. This was what He had told them would happen and this is what came to pass.

This is what the resurrection did for them. But what about us? What has the resurrection done for us? As fellow believers in Christ with them, and partakers of the glorious gospel and the work of salvation, we share in the benefits of the resurrection. I want to show you a couple of places in God’s word where we gain some insight regarding the results of the resurrection which mean something for us. If we are truly the beneficiaries of the work of salvation, the resurrection has produced some really important results for us.

The first place to turn is First Peter 1:3.

It was God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who “according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” The work of salvation we have received because God, “according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope…” Peter describes the mercy of God as “great.” This reminds me of what Paul says in Ephesians 2:4-5 where he tell us that God, “being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He has loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ.” Great mercy, from a God who is rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He has loved us, has caused us to be born again.

Just how great is God’s mercy? The answer is found in understanding just how miserable our condition is as sinners. In our sinful condition we are blind, naked, helpless, hopelessly separated from God because of our sin, wretched, miserable, corrupt, sinful, even enslaved to sin. We were in darkness. We were spiritually bankrupt. We were dead in our trespasses and sins. We were lost. And we were headed for a just punishment in hell. My friend, we were in deep trouble.

But God, according to His great mercy… But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us… has caused us to be born again. He produced the spiritual birth Jesus described to Nicodemus. God made us alive together with Christ. He caused us to be born again to a living hope. How great is God’s mercy? It was His mercy, motivated by His great love, that lifted us out of the depths of despair and death and eternal damnation and caused us to be born again to a living hope. God’s mercy takes us from deepest misery and lifts us to the highest glory. Understand the difference between grace and mercy. God’s mercy and grace take us from guilty sinners to righteous sons. God’s mercy lifts us from the misery of our wretched sinfulness and His grace bestows upon us glorious treasures for eternity.

We see clearly here that God has caused us to be born again. This introduces us to the doctrine of regeneration. To be “born again” is to be regenerated. Regeneration is the sovereign act of God in which He imparts new spiritual life to us. We were spiritually dead before God performed this miracle in us. John 1:12-13 tells us, “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.” Jesus told Nicodemus in John 3:3 that unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.

With this regeneration bringing us new spiritual life, we are born again to a “living hope,” according to 1 Peter 1:3. And we are born again to this living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. That was Paul’s point in 1 Cor. 15. Christ was raised as the first fruit of those who will be raised with Him. Paul said in 1 Cor. 15:19, “If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied.” We have a living hope because the One upon whom our hope is built is alive evermore. Because He lives, we will live again also.

Our regeneration is pictured in some ways by the death and resurrection of Christ. He died and was made alive again through the resurrection. We were dead in our sins and trespasses and God raised us up and seated us with Christ. We are united with Him in His death and in His resurrection according to Romans 6. Because Jesus was raised from the dead, we too might walk in newness of life. Romans 6:5 says, “For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection.”

Regeneration produces spiritual life. There is always evidence of life. Spiritual life, which is the result of the true work of salvation, produces evidence as well. It is called spiritual fruit. You can always tell a tree by its fruit. Spiritual life will always produce the spiritual fruit of obedience to the Lord. Jesus said, “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.” Spiritual life thrives on spiritual nourishment. It feeds on the word of God and fellowship with God in prayer. It is nourished by fellowship with God’s people in the church. Spiritual life is like natural life. If it isn’t nourished it will atrophy.

We will come back to the doctrine of regeneration as we work our way through our series on the work of salvation, but for now I want to move on to another product or benefit of the resurrection. For this one we need to turn to Romans 4:25. I already mentioned this verse but we need to examine it more closely. This verse explains the implications of the resurrection regarding our justification. This is another important doctrine of salvation we will come back to later in our study of the work of salvation. Because of the resurrection we know the work of Christ to provide our salvation is complete. Not only did He accomplish our new birth, God having caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, but Paul tells us in Romans 4:25, “He who was delivered over because of our transgressions, and was raised because of our justification.”

God raised Jesus from the dead because of our justification. Regeneration imparts new spiritual life to us. This produces our conversion. We repent and believe in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of our sins. The call of the gospel is a call to trust in Christ for the forgiveness of sins. Regeneration gives us the spiritual life that enables us to respond to that call. The next thing in God’s work of salvation is the application of that forgiveness to us. When we are regenerated we are given new life, in justification God legally declares our sin to be forgiven. Justification is the legal act of God in which He (1) regards our sins as forgiven because the penalty has been paid for us, and (2) Christ’s righteousness becomes our righteousness, which (3) means He declares us to be righteous in His sight.

Romans is the New Testament treatise on justification by faith alone in Christ alone. Romans 3:26 tells us that God is “just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Christ.” God is the One who justifies us, declaring us to be righteous in His sight. Romans 5:1 says, “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” This is why Romans 8:1 says, “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” Romans 8:30 states, “and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.” The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the evidence of God’s promise that all these things are true.

I love the way Paul explains justification in 2 Cor. 5:21. He doesn’t use the word, but he explains how it happened. Paul writes, “He (God) made Him (Jesus) who knew no sin, to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” Jesus committed no sin of His own. He had no sin for which there was a penalty to pay. But God made Him who knew no sin to become sin for us. God laid on Him the iniquity of us all. God chastened Him for our well-being. This was so that we might become the righteousness of God through our union with Him in salvation.

Now when God looks upon us a guilty sinners, He does not see our sin. It has been removed. It has been cast into the depths of the sea. It has been removed as far as the east is from the west. He remembers our iniquities no more. And when He looks upon us He sees us as clothed in the righteousness of Christ. Jesus put on the filthy rags of my sin and God put on me the righteousness of His sinless Son. I am justified. Jesus was raised from the dead because of our justification. His resurrection gives the assurance of this transaction of God on our behalf.

There are more very important implications of the resurrection that we could include, but we are out of time. We have more than enough truth to facilitate a God-honoring celebration of our Lord’s resurrection. The resurrection of Christ provided for our new birth in Christ, or our regeneration. We were dead in our trespasses and sins, but we were made alive together with Christ. Just as He was dead and made alive again, so have we who are truly saved.

Jesus was delivered over because of our transgressions, and was raised again because of our justification. If we have been truly saved, we stand before God justified. We stand before an infinitely holy God clothed in a righteousness not our own. We stand before Him clothed in the righteousness of His sinless Son.

These things are true of you only if you have trusted in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Jesus said to Martha as He stood at the tomb of her brother Lazarus and He said, “I am the Resurrection and the Life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?” (John 11:25-26. The question Jesus asked is the question I pose to you today. Do you believe this?

There is no other Savior for sinners. Christ alone can save sinners. We are all sinners who desperately need Jesus as our Savior. He is Lord. He is alive evermore. We know the good news of the gospel is true because Jesus is alive. Because He is the resurrection and the life He alone can deliver us from sin and death. There is no other name given among men whereby we must be saved. 

Thank you Father for the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ and the hope we have because He conquered the grave and death. Because He lives we live also.

To conclude our service we are going to partake of the elements of the Lord’s Table. This is for any who are Christians. If you have trusted Christ as your Lord and Savior you are welcome to partake of this with us.

The Scriptures warn of partaking of this in an unworthy manner. Being separated from Christ because you have never repented and believed certainly means you are unworthy. If you are a Christian and you are living in sin and you are unrepentant, you would be partaking of this in an unworthy manner. I don’t say this to be mean-spirited or judgmental. This warning isn’t from me, it is from the Apostle Paul. 1 Cor. 11:27 says, “Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord.” Paul calls for us to examine ourselves. Otherwise we drink judgment to ourselves. I would not be a faithful pastor if I did not warn of partaking of this in an unworthy manner.

We must examine ourselves if we do this ritualistically, or with an attitude of indifference to the significance of the elements, or with an unrepentant heart, or if we harbor a spirit of bitterness, or any other ungodly attitude, we are at risk. Let’s ask God’s Spirit to do what Jesus promised He would do. He will convict of sin, righteousness, and judgment.