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ISAIAH 65:17-25

1 CORINTHIANS 15:19-26

LUKE 24:1-12

EASTER SUNDAY REFLECTION

Christ’s victory over death is the theme for our reflection. The greatest enemy of human beings is death. Death ends our lives and relationship with our beloved ones on earth. It is refreshing and delightful to know that Christ overcame the greatest enemy of every living creature, death. We shall proceed to deliberate on Christ’s victory over death by reflecting on the following points;

1. Without Christ’s victory over death, our salvation is incomplete.
2. Christ’s victory over death renders death powerless.

Firstly, our salvation will be incomplete if Christ’s dead body had remained in the tomb. Paul explains this fact to the Corinthians in the second Scripture reading when He wrote that “if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.” (1 Corinthians 15:17-19). Praise be to God that our faith or salvation is made complete because the third Scripture reading, Luke 24:1-12, gives us the evidence that truly Jesus resurrected from the dead. We are told that “… on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared. And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel. And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.” And they remembered his words,” (Luke 24:1-8). We are to rejoice and be filled with gratitude “For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. For “God has put all things in subjection under his feet.” (1 Corinthians 15:24-27). In other words, Christ has already overcome death through His resurrection from the dead, death no longer has power over us. When Jesus returns the second time to judge and grant eternal life to His faithful servants, death will be forever destroyed.

Secondly, apart from Christ’s victory over death completing our faith or salvation, it renders death powerless and makes it a servant that ushers us into the New Heaven and Earth created by God. In our first Scripture reading, we are told that death will no longer have power over us when Isaiah said that “No more shall there be in it an infant who lives but a few days, or an old man who does not fill out his days, for the young man shall die a hundred years old, and the sinner a hundred years old shall be accursed. They shall build houses and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit. They shall not build and another inhabit; they shall not plant and another eat; for like the days of a tree shall the days of my people be, and my chosen shall long enjoy the work of their hands. (Isaiah 65:20-22). These promises are fulfilled in Christ’s victory over death!. Beloved in the Lord, even when death takes away our lives prematurely, it has already been defeated therefore it is simply ushering us into the New Heaven and Earth created for God’s children. “For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former things shall not be remembered or come into mind. But be glad and rejoice forever in that which I create; for behold, I create Jerusalem to be a joy, and her people to be a gladness. I will rejoice in Jerusalem and be glad in my people; no more shall be heard in it the sound of weeping and the cry of distress. (Isaiah 65:17-19) This promise is confirmed in the book of Revelations when John wrote, “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” (Revelation 21:1-4). It is for this reason Paul assured the Philippians that “to live is Christ, and to die is gain. (Philippians 1:21), In other words, death has no power over us in this life and the next because Christ has given us victory over death, Paul could not have said it better when he wrote that “For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s. For to this end, Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.” (Romans 14:7-9). Jesus again gave us the assurance He has given us victory over death when He said to Martha, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he dies, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” (John 11:25-26). Death has been defeated and is now a servant! Praise the Lord.

In summary beloved in the Lord, Christ’s victory over death has completed our faith and salvation. Again, His victory over death has rendered death powerless in our lives, therefore whether we live or die, Jesus remains our Lord and Saviour. May the Holy Spirit strengthen us to live victorious lives in Jesus Christ so that when He comes the second time to destroy death we shall be partakers of His gift of eternal life. Amen