without easter, christmas is worthless

But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead. He is the first of a great harvest of all who have died. So you see, just as death came into the world through a man, now the resurrection from the dead has begun through another man. Just as everyone dies because we all belong to Adam, everyone who belongs to Christ will be given new life. (1 Corinthians 15:20-22 NLT)

Jesus was not the first person to come back from the dead. There are several instances in the Old Testament and Jesus himself raised three people: a widow’s son in the city of Nain, a little girl and his friend Lazarus.

But there is a difference between all those people and Jesus. The difference was that they were all raised by the power of God through Jesus. And he was raised by the power of God through his life.

Colossians 1 says:

Christ is the visible image of the invisible God.
      He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation,
 for through him God created everything
      in the heavenly realms and on earth.
He made the things we can see
      and the things we can’t see—
such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world.
      Everything was created through him and for him.
He existed before anything else,
      and he holds all creation together. (1:15-17)

That Word which was spoken was the pre-incarnate Christ, Jesus before he became Jesus. He is the one who created the world and he is the one who will conquer death.

His resurrection was not the only one. However, it is the only one that has power to bring us back from death in sin into his glorious light. His death gives us life.

All those other people died again. They got old and died natural deaths. None of them were raised for eternal life. They died and that was that.

Jesus, on the other hand, rose from his death to never die again. And because he will never die again, he gives us – by the power of God – the power to never die again.

Yes, we will die, or at least this physical body will. but our souls, that which makes us who we are, our nature, will never die.

When Jesus was there to bring Lazarus back to life, he told Martha, Lazarus’ sister: I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying. Everyone who lives in me and believes in me will never ever die. (John 11:25-26)

When we die, and we will, we can know that we are not really dead. We still live. Our nature and our form is changed, but that which defines us as who we are is not changed. In him, we live forever.

That is the point of Easter. When it comes down to it, it is a much more important holiday than Christmas. Christmas only marks the beginning of Jesus’ earthly situation, his life on this planet.

Easter marks the beginning of his reign in heaven. Without Easter, Christmas is worthless.

Without Easter, Christmas is just the introduction of yet another child into the world. with Easter, that child saves the world.

Praise be.