This is April 8, Resurrection Sunday, 2007, anno Domini, year of our Lord. This is the day the Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it!
When a man comes back from the dead, everything in all history must eventually center on that man. When a man is executed by the most powerful authority in the world at the time, and they do the worst that mortals can do—which is to execute—and then that man comes back from the grave, the old story is all over. The new story has begun, and the new story is obviously inexorable. The gospel is established, and the cornerstone is laid. He is risen—He is risen indeed.
This was not done in a corner; it was out in public. It was not done in anyone’s heart with a subsequent effect on the public square. It is the other way around. The only reason our hearts can be transformed is because the exact place where Jesus rose can be marked by latitude and longitude, and there is probably some tourist standing on that place right now. The only reason our hearts can be transformed is because Jesus rose on a particular day in history, in fulfillment of all that the prophets had spoken.
The resurrection of Jesus is the beginning of the Regeneration of all things. Put another way, the world was born again before we were, and the only reason we can be born again is because Jesus thrust the principle of new life into the middle of all our public affairs. He put it there in such a way that it cannot be extracted, and it cannot be ignored. More wonderful than this, it cannot be stopped from spreading. It cannot be defeated.
That life has now reached us, and because it has, we have gathered on this Lord’s Day to celebrate that life, and the impact it has had. We do this every seven days, and we do it annually. But think for a moment. What kind of event deserves to have its anniversary marked and celebrated every seven days? We frequently forget how odd this is. But whether we take it for granted or not, the principle of life continues to grow. The resurrection life of Jesus continues to spread around the world.
Men who have not yet been touched by this life have sought out many devices, trying to keep what they see as a superstitious contagion from spreading any further. But despite all this, despite their lies and counterarguments, the spread of life continues. He is risen. He is risen indeed.