If asked to explain why it’s important that Jesus rose from the dead, most Christians couldn’t give you a reason. Here are three reasons why so many Christians don’t think the resurrection of Jesus matters, as well as a number of reasons why the Bible tells us it does.
I’m not saying that we don’t make a big production of Easter in our churches, but if asked to explain why it’s important that Jesus rose from the dead, most Christians couldn’t give you a reason. Here are three reasons why most Christians don’t actually think the resurrection of Jesus matters that much.
1. Many Christians believe humans are spiritual beings having a bodily experience
Many Christians think of human beings as souls trapped in bodies, a notion also found in ancient Greek philosophy. That’s why when Paul preached about Jesus’ resurrection in Athens, on a hill where we’re told everyone used to spend their time in nothing other than telling or hearing new philosophical ideas (Acts 17:21, ESV), some began to sneer. It was the resurrection of the dead that made them unwilling to accept Paul’s teaching. Why would they want to be trapped in bodies after death had freed them from our physical limitations? In contrast, the Bible tells us that our bodies are good–made by God. Jesus’ resurrection tells us that God wants to redeem our mortal bodies.
2. Many Christians don’t believe the creation is going to be redeemed
A lot of Christians believe that our ultimate destination is heaven and that the physical world we live in isn’t important. But the message of the gospel isn’t only that God wants to redeem our bodies, but all of creation. Jesus tells us that it is the meek who shall inherit the earth (Matthew 5:5).
Luke tells us that Jesus was received into heaven only until the time comes for God to restore everything:
“Heaven must receive him until the time comes for God to restore everything, as he promised long ago through his holy prophets.”
– Acts 3:21, NIV
At the time of restoration, Jesus and the New Jerusalem will descend to earth, as we read in Revelation chapter 21:
“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.'”
– Revelation 21:2-3, ESV
We’re not ditching this world any more than we’re going to ditch our bodies, but God will transform both.
3. Many Christians don’t believe that Jesus came to defeat death but only to be a sacrifice for our sins
The Apostle Paul tells us that the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). John’s Gospel famously reads that those who don’t believe in Jesus don’t have everlasting life, but perish (John 3:16).
In contrast, a majority of Christians believe that human souls live on forever and the only real question is where they’ll spend eternity–in an ethereal heaven or an infernal hell. From this point of view, Jesus’ resurrection did not, as the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews wrote, mean that Jesus, “shared in [our] humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death” (Hebrews 2:14-15, NIV).
However, the standard presentation of the gospel in the early church emphasized the resurrection, as Peter did in his sermon recorded in Acts 2:
“But God raised [Jesus] from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him.”
– Acts 2:24, NIV
Paul also tells us in his epistle to the Roman church that, “if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you” (Romans 8:11, NIV).
The trouble is that most Christians don’t REALLY think that Jesus defeated death and they don’t understand that His resurrection is proof that He did. In this popular Christian view, all that Christ needed to do is die for our sins so that our immortal souls need not dwell forever in hell: He did not need to raise from the dead.
But if you’re celebrating Easter Sunday this year, remember that Jesus’ resurrection is just as much good news as His crucifixion for our sins–it means that God is redeeming the world and will not let His people be destroyed by the power of death. Jesus defeated death on our behalf.
Interested in learning more? My essay The Gospel of the Resurrection: How Belief in Eternal Conscious Torment Has Obscured the Apostolic Understanding of the Gospel is only 99 cents on Kindle. You can also listen for free to my podcast episode “The Gospel of the Resurrection” here.