How the resurrection changes everything

Nathan Brown
Master of Arts (Research) student
Avondale College of Higher Education
Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia

The resurrection of Jesus changes everything. It’s the central event of Christianity and, as such, is sometimes merely assumed rather than truly celebrated. But we can’t overestimate the significance of what happened that Sunday morning, and we should take every opportunity to remind ourselves of this astounding reality and its implications for everything—all our lives, all our dreams, all our hopes.

We breathe in so many of our worldviews from what others take for granted. This is another reason why celebrating the resurrection is valuable; it’s a story powerful enough to jolt our worldviews, opening us to not just a new way of looking at life but a new kind of life.

Perhaps the resurrection has its most profound effect on how we measure our attitude to winning and losing. Ron Sider puts it like this: “Those who understand the empty tomb can afford to lose now” (I Am Not A Social Activist).

Because of the sacrifice—the loss—of Jesus and His resurrection victory, faithfulness is always more important than success. Not only is what Jesus did the foundation for this reassessment of life, it’s also the model: “He was willing to die a shameful death on the cross because of the joy he knew would be his afterward” (Hebrews 12:2, NLT).

When “we understand the empty tomb,” we can confront our inevitable disappointments and losses. No longer do we have to win, guard and maintain our image or be a “success” to justify our place in the world or our sense of worth. No longer does our opinion or even belief have to win every argument or have the last word. The last word—or the Word that will be the last word—has already been spoken.

The resurrection must change everything—including our perceptions and preoccupations about winning and losing. If it doesn’t, the resurrection is merely a historical oddity, barely worth remembering at all.