APRIL 5: GOD IS LIFE-GIVING

Focal Passage: Mark 16:1-6; 1 Corinthians 15:1-4, 20-22   

Today is a day to celebrate! Easter means everything. It’s the day we remember Jesus’s sacrifice. The resurrection of Jesus Christ stands as the most life‑giving moment in human history. Thanks be to God for the incredible gift!

Mark 16 opens with a scene filled with grief, devotion, and uncertainty. Early on the first day after the Sabbath, a group of women made their way to the tomb where Jesus had been laid. They had witnessed His crucifixion with their own eyes. They saw Him breathe His last. They watched His body taken down and placed in a borrowed tomb. Now, after the Sabbath rest, they returned to anoint His body — one final act of love for the One they believed they had lost.

But what they found changed everything.

The stone was rolled away. The tomb was empty. Their minds must have raced — Did someone move Him? Did they remember His words about rising again? Walking closer to the opened tomb, an angel appeared. 

Scripture often shows people responding to angels with fear, and these women were no different. Yet the angel’s message brought comfort, not terror: “Do not be alarmed … He is risen.” They heard the message, and they believed. Their sorrow turned to hope. Their confusion turned to faith. The empty tomb declared a truth that still echoes today: Jesus is alive. The question that confronted them now confronts us — have you believed?

About thirty years later, Paul wrote to the church in Corinth to remind them of this very truth. In 1 Corinthians 15:1-4, 20-22, he brings them back to the foundation of their faith — the same reality those women encountered at the tomb. Christ died, Christ was buried, and Christ rose again. This is the heartbeat of the gospel, the message upon which the church stands and the message that transforms lives.

Paul emphasizes that the resurrection is not optional or symbolic. Some in Corinth were questioning whether it truly happened, just as many still do today. Paul responds by laying out the essentials with clarity. Christ died — not partially, not apparently, but fully. His death was purposeful, offered specifically for our sins, because sin separates us from God. Christ was buried — placed in a real tomb, confirming His real death. And Christ was raised on the third day—at a real moment in history, fulfilling real Scripture, demonstrating real victory.

In verses 20-22, Paul explains why this matters so deeply. Through Adam, sin entered the world, and with it came death — spiritual and physical. Every one of us bears the mark of that brokenness. But through Jesus — through His death, burial, and resurrection — we can be forgiven, restored, and made alive. His resurrection is not just an event; it is the source of new life for all who believe.

Because He lives, we can live. The life‑giving power of God displayed at the empty tomb is still at work today. The question remains: Has His resurrection changed you? You can respond to the Gospel by admitting your state as a sinner, believing in Christ as God’s son and the one and only way to salvation, and confessing your faith in Jesus as your Savior and Lord. If you would like to do that, please talk to your pastor today! B&R