By Marcos Alejandro Badra [a former member of Nelson Ave]
It began in the quiet. A garden. A stone, rolled away. A body, missing. But this absence was not loss—it was victory. In the stillness of that morning, the world turned. Not by human will, but by divine power.
The resurrection of Jesus Christ is not a legend meant to inspire; it is the definitive moment in history when God demonstrated His justice, mercy, and sovereign strength. It is not merely the reversal of death—it is the defeat of death. It is not an exception to the rule—it is the first sign of a new creation.
What happened that morning was not simply that a man came back to life. It was that the Son of God, having borne the full weight of divine wrath on the cross, was raised by the power of the Father, vindicated in His righteousness, and exalted as King. His resurrection is God’s visible declaration that the atonement is complete. The penalty has been paid. The Judge is satisfied. There remains no condemnation for those who are in Christ.
But Easter is not only about what has been done for us—it is also about what is now true of us. Those united to the risen Christ are no longer in Adam but in Him. Our union with Christ is not poetic; it is the ground of our transformation. As He was raised, we are raised—not yet bodily, but truly and spiritually. We are new creatures. The old has gone; the new has come.
We do not achieve this. We do not cooperate our way into holiness. We were dead, and God made us alive. The same Spirit who raised Christ now dwells in us—not to inspire our efforts, but to empower obedience and form Christ’s likeness in us. Holiness is not legalism—it is life. It is not God asking us to become something unnatural; it is God restoring what sin had deformed. The resurrection doesn't strip us of our humanity—it redeems it.
We walk not in moral improvement, but in resurrection life. Not striving for approval, but living from it. Not to earn grace, but because grace has already accomplished what we never could.
This also reshapes our hope. The resurrection of Jesus is not simply proof of life after death—it is the beginning of new creation. Our future is not the dissolution of the world, but its renewal. What happened to Christ will happen to us: body and soul restored, incorruptible, raised in glory. This is not a vague hope; it is the anchor of our faith.
And it changes how we live here and now.
We no longer live as those ruled by fear, shame, or death. We no longer belong to the dominion of darkness, because our King is risen. The resurrection is not only comfort—it is a call to allegiance. The Lord who was crucified is now enthroned. His resurrection establishes His rule. He is not just Saviour—He is Lord of all.
This Lordship reshapes our daily work, our relationships, our decisions, our witness. We are not spectators of resurrection; we are participants in it. Through us, His life is made visible in a world still gripped by decay.
The world says that death is inevitable, that sin is natural, that injustice is permanent. But Easter says otherwise.
Easter declares that sin does not define us.
That death does not own us.
That Christ lives—and in Him, so do we.
This is the hope that drives the Church—not a fragile optimism, but a living certainty. We are not here to preserve tradition or offer inspiration. We are here because Christ is risen, and everything now bends toward His victory.
So we rise—not in our strength, but in His.
We repent—not to earn mercy, but because mercy has found us.
We endure—not to prove our worth, but because the risen Lord is worth everything.
We rejoice—not because life is easy, but because death has been defeated.
The tomb is empty. The King is alive. The world is changed.
And so must we be.