We need not wonder that so much importance is attached to our Lord’s resurrection. It is the seal and headstone of the great work of redemption, which He came to do. It is the crowning proof that He has paid the debt which He undertook to pay on our behalf, won the battle which He fought to deliver us from hell, and is accepted as our Surety and our Substitute by our Father in heaven. Had He never come forth from the prison of the grave, how could we ever have been sure that our ransom had been fully paid? (1 Cor. 15:17.) Had He never risen from His conflict with the last enemy, how could we have felt confident, that He has overcome death, and him that had the power of death, that is the devil? (Heb. 2:14.) But thanks be unto God, we are not left in doubt. The Lord Jesus really “rose again for our justification.” True Christians are “begotten again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” They may boldly say with Paul, “Who is he that condemns – it is Christ that died, yes rather that is risen again” (Rom. 8:34. Rom. 4:25. 1 Pet. 1:3). (Matthew Commentary, Chapter 28).
John MacArthur wrote,
The basic truth of the resurrection undergirds a number of other truths.
1. It gives evidence that the Word of God is totally true and reliable. Jesus precisely when and in the way He had predicted (see Mt. 12:40; 16:21; 17:9, 23).2. The resurrection means that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, as He claimed to be, and that He has power over life and death.3. The resurrection proves that salvation is complete, that on the cross Christ conquered sin, death, and hell and rose victorious.4. The resurrection proves that the church has been established. Jesus had declared, "I will build My church; and the gates of Hades shall not overpower it" (Mt. 16:8)... His resurrection proved that death itself could not prevent Christ from establishing His church.5. The resurrection proves that judgment is coming. Jesus declared that the heavenly Father "has given all judgment to the Son" (Jn. 5:22), and since the Son is now risen and alive, His judgment is certain.6. The resurrection of Jesus Christ proves that heaven is waiting. Jesus promised, "In My house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you" (Jn. 14:2). Because Christ is alive by the resurrection, believers have the assurance that He is now preparing a heavenly dwelling for them. (Matthew 24-28, Moody, 1989, p. 314-315).
CH Spurgeon,
We gather together on the first rather than the seventh day of the week because redemption is even a greater work than creation and more worthy of commemoration and because the rest which followed creation is far outdone by the rest which ensues upon the completion of redemption. Like the Apostles, we meet on the first day of the week and hope that Jesus may stand in our midst and say, “Peace be unto you.” Our Lord has lifted the Sabbath from the old and rusty hinges where on the law had placed it long before and set it on the new golden hinges which His love has fashioned. He has placed our rest day not at the end of a week of toil but at the beginning of the rest which remains for the people of God. Every first day of the week we should meditate on the rising of our Lord and seek to enter into the fellowship with Him in His risen life.
