A common symbol of Christianity is a cross. This is because Jesus Christ was crucified on a Roman cross in the first century A.D., an act that paid the penalty of our sin – death – in full. Jesus Christ, the perfect Son of God, was the only One who could become man and take our sin upon Himself to die in our place. By doing this, He made us right with God – something we could never do on our own because of the sin nature into which we are born.
“For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him” (2 Corinthians 5:21).
When we put our faith and trust in Jesus Christ for forgiveness of sin, we are made acceptable – through Him – before God.
However, this wouldn’t be possible if the work of Jesus Christ ended with His crucifixion and death. He can’t save us if He’s dead! This is why the ultimate hope of Christianity lies with His resurrection from the dead. The Bible tells us that Jesus rose from the grave three days after His crucifixion (Matthew 28:1-8; Luke 24:6-7; John 20:1; 1 Corinthians 15:3-4).
As the Apostle Paul wrote centuries ago, without the resurrection of Christ we would still be burdened by the power of sin, and our loved ones who have gone before us would have died without hope of eternal life. There really is no reason to hope in Christ if it’s only for this life and not also for the next!
“And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable” (1 Corinthians 15:17-19).
But those are not “ifs” that we need to be worried about, because Jesus did rise from the dead. In His death, He made it possible for us to be forgiven of sin. In His resurrection, He made it possible for us to have eternal life in Heaven with Him and to escape the torment of life outside of His kingdom, and of eternity in Hell – which is the fate for all who die in their sin and reject Him (see 1 Corinthians 6:9-11).
Jesus Christ is indeed our living Savior (Romans 10:9). He is also our divine mediator, interceding for us before God (Romans 8:34). And He has given us an undying promise that if we believe in Him, then we too will live after death – for eternity in Heaven (John 11:25).
Because He lives, so can we.