Jesus was only the second man to walk the earth who was born without sin. Adam was the first – but unlike the first Adam, Jesus was faithful and obedient all the way to death – even death on a cross. During Jesus life, he made some pretty remarkable claims. He claimed to be eternal, worthy of worship, and the Son of God. His claims earned him the derision and hatred of the religious, political, and cultural leaders of his time.
But he lived a remarkable life to go along with his remarkable claims. He healed the sick. He comforted the hurting. He welcomed the outsider. He also condemned the prideful religious elite. He submitted to earthly authority, while undermining their ultimate authority by claiming first allegiance to his Father. He was a constant comfort and consistently made people uncomfortable.
In the end, he lived the life we should have lived. He walked in absolute freedom – completely submitted to his Father God. Because of that, Jesus was qualified to both be our substitute in judgment (as perfect man) and able to bear that judgment (as eternal God). When he died, he died the death we deserved to die, in our place, as our substitute.
When he rose again, it was proof that Jesus was who he said he was (the Son of God sent on mission from his Father) and that he had accomplished paying for our sin. The rebellion of Adam and Eve and the introduction of death into the created order defined human existence. It separated mankind from the peace God and introduced disruption into every other relationship, even with ourselves. The resurrection of Christ changed everything. When Jesus was brought back to life, it demonstrated to us that our way back to peace with God and experiencing the peace of God has been re-opened to us.
In his resurrection, Jesus won for us a victory we could never gain or claim on our own. In him, we have salvation from death – our eternal separation from God and his goodness. We are restored to a right standing with God. In fact, we are covered with the rightness of Jesus – so God looks at us with the same affection and acceptance as he has for his own Son!
There is nothing left for us to do. There is only a message for us to hear and believe – that Jesus is our champion. When we believe in Jesus, we are immediately and completely made right with God based on the victory of Jesus.
This message of Jesus is called the gospel – a word that literally means “good news.”