He is risen!

I am alive, because He is alive! Tomorrow we celebrate God's atoning sacrifice that brings us to Him. The tomb is empty.

Don't ever let anyone tell you that it doesn't matter to your faith if Christ was raised or not. Christ was not just a good teacher who died. We don't just live under the influence of his profound teachings. Those descriptions trivialize and demean who He really is. He is God, and he conquered sin and death by his resurrection. Take it from Paul on this one:

"But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. 18Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men.

But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. But each in his own turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him. Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. For he "has put everything under his feet." Now when it says that "everything" has been put under him, it is clear that this does not include God himself, who put everything under Christ. When he has done this, then the Son himself will be made subject to him who put everything under him, so that God may be all in all."- 1 Corinthians 15: 12-28

I have such joy today because He has made me His daughter by His sacrifice for me. The springtime I see all around me is one way that God reminds me at this time of year of the new life that I have in Him. Happy Easter! He is risen indeed!