Christ Risen! by The Evangelical Messenger

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Mountain View, California · May 20, 1908

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 34, No. 21.

Christ Risen!

By The Evangelical Messenger

How full of meaning! It points backward and looks forward. Christ risen implies Christ crucified, dead, buried; death and the grave conquered, redemption sealed, a way of salvation for the whole race of mankind provided as a gift.

So, to contemplate this great fact is to be reminded of the suffering of our Lord, His obedience even unto death for our sake. We can not look upon Christ risen and not see the judgment hall, the mockings and the scourging, the cross, and hear His dying groans, His plea for mercy in behalf of those who sinned against His body on the tree.

But Christ risen inspires faith in us for the future. The cross is transformed into a synonym for hope and blessed assurance. It sheds a radiant light on the future. “Because I live, ye shall live also.” He conquered death not only for Himself, but equally for all who believe in Him. He rose from the dead, and is able to raise others from the dead.

Christ risen is the greatest fact in history and the most comforting theme of the Gospel. It is the keystone of the whole structure of Christianity. Christ dead demonstrates His humanity; Christ risen proves His divinity beyond question, both of which facts are essential to the plan of salvation. Christ risen is the Rock upon which our hope depends. So taught Paul by inspiration, saying: “If Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain. But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the first-fruits of them that slept. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? Thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory thru our Lord Jesus Christ.” We look back to the triumph of Christ and joyfully look forward to our own victory over the grave thru Him who is the Resurrection and the Life.—The Evangelical Messenger.