Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

Story Narrative Opening: The man has joined a crowd gathered in celebration. The risen Savior stands among them, His presence filling the place with peace, victory and joy. The man listens as the Savior speaks of life eternal, of a kingdom without end for those who walk the narrow path, through the narrow gate.

He feels a deep sense of purpose and belonging, knowing this journey has changed him forever. The man looks around at the faces of those gathered and sees the same hope and joy in them. They have all come through their own hard journey with their own heavy loads. Together, they sing, their voices rising in song, proclaiming the victory of the risen King.

Introduction: The Dawn That Shakes the Earth

It started with a rumble. Not the quiet kind that makes you glance at the windows, but the kind that wakes the world. The kind that shakes bones and breaks silence. Before the birds began to sing and before the dew dried from the ground, something unimaginable happened. Jesus, who had been crucified and buried, rose from the dead.

He didn’t just wake up. He shattered death. He didn’t just step out of the tomb, He walked out as King and Lord. The stone that sealed His grave wasn’t gently nudged. It was rolled away by a heavenly force of power. With it rolled away the darkness that had clung to creation since Eden.

This isn’t just the beginning of a good story. It’s the beginning of a new reality. Christ is risen. And everything, everything, has changed.

I. The Banquet of Victory

Over 600 years before Jesus the prophet Isaiah gave us a glimpse of what was to come:

He will swallow up death forever; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces… It will be said on that day, ‘Behold, this is our God; we have waited for Him, that He might save us.’¹

Can you imagine it? A mountaintop banquet where tears no longer fall and graves no longer claim? That’s not just pretty poetry. That’s fulfilled prophecy. Today, in the garden near Golgotha, a tomb stands empty. Death has been swallowed up in victory.

This feast Isaiah saw is not far off. In Christ, it has already begun. This morning is a taste. A foretaste of the feast to come. Real flesh. Real blood. Real forgiveness. Real life. A Savior who rose with nail-scarred hands and who promises you a place at that table.

II. The Resurrection Reality

Paul didn’t pull punches either when he wrote about the resurrection:

Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep… For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.²

That word, “firstfruits” means Jesus went first. Others had been raised from the dead. Jesus was the first to come back from eternal death. Jesus descended into hell on that cross. He died our eternal death. Then He rose the “firstfruits” from eternal death into eternal life. This is the beginning of something massive.

Where Adam brought death, Jesus brings life. And because He lives, the chains of death are broken forever. Your resurrection isn’t a theory. It’s a certainty. Jesus walked out of the tomb to ensure you will too.

III. The Witness of the Women

Imagine walking to a tomb, heart heavy, arms full of spices, expecting death to live there. Then try to imagine being met instead with blinding light, an empty grave, and a message, “Death don’t live here anymore.” That was the women’s morning. The angel said:

Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen.³

The angel’s words weren’t just to inform—they were to ignite. The women didn’t just see the evidence. They were sent with the announcement. The resurrection moves us too. It doesn’t let us sit still. It calls us out with the same words: Go. Tell. Rejoice.

IV. Fulfilled in Christ

King David once wrote about God:

You make known to me the path of life
In Your presence there is fullness of joy.
At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.⁴

The path of life David longed for, Jesus made clear. The joy David hoped for Jesus delivered. The tomb is no longer an end. It is a beginning. We, by Baptism, walk that path from death to life, from sin to righteousness.⁵

V. Christ Reigns

The tomb is empty. The cross is behind Him. And now He is crowned Lord of all. The Bible says:

Then comes the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father… For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death.⁶

Jesus reigns. Now. Not someday. Not symbolically. The risen Lord rules with grace and power, and He sends us out to tell. The message is clear: You are not forgotten. You are not forsaken. You are not defeated. You are alive forevermore in Him.

Conclusion: Alive Forevermore

Jesus walked out of the grave with scars still on His hands and a mission on His lips. Today He meets you right where you are, not in shadow, but in light.

He is risen, not just back then, not just out there, but for you, right here.

Alleluia. Christ is risen.

He is risen indeed. Alleluia!

Amen.

Story Narrative A New Beginning

That is our journey “From Dust to Glory.” The man steps forward with others ready to share the good news with the world. This new resurrection life for him will be freedom in Christ.

What will this resurrection life look like for you? What does a weight free life really mean? It means we can live as people of the risen King. Still on a journey, but one made easier because the real load, the true weight, of sin is solved in a Savior who is Christ the Lord.

We’ve traveled from Ashes to Glory. Next Sunday we begin to love “From Glory to Grace.” Stay with us and experiences what it really means to live in real grace.

In Jesus’ name.

Amen.

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NOTES

1Isaiah 25:8–9