The opening line beautifully captures the heart of the resurrection: Christ triumphed over sin and death by being physically resurrected. That final phrase physically resurrected is crucial. There are some who are fond of the Christ’s teaching but deny the physical resurrection, saying instead that His resurrection was metaphorical. That is not the Christian confession.

Christ rose bodily from the dead. As Peter declared in Acts 2, death could not hold Him. The grave had no power over Him. Indeed, the great wonder of Christ’s life is not that He rose again but that He died at all. If Jesus is truly God made flesh and dwelling among us, then we should be most astounded that He would choose to die. Resurrection naturally follows from who He is. The God of life cannot be held by death. But it is astonishing that He would allow Him to die in the first place.

Of course, this does not mean that the crucifixion is more important than the resurrection. Both are essential for our salvation. Christ’s death is His work of atonement for our sins; His resurrection is the seal, vindication, and confirmation of that atonement. Without the resurrection, Paul says, we would be the most pitiable of people. If Christ did not rise, He was not truly God, and everything He said was false. But by rising physically, Christ demonstrated His victory and triumph over both sin and death.

What, then, does this mean for us?

The catechism answers: so that all who trust in him are raised to new life in this world and to everlasting life in the world to come. Notice that there is both a now and a not yet in that answer. We are raised to new life now. Through Christ’s indwelling Spirit, we already share in the power of His resurrection. At the same time, we are promised everlasting life in the world to come.

Unless Christ returns first, we will all face physical death. But Christ assures us that death does not have the final word. As He told Martha, He is the resurrection and the life, and whoever believes in Him never truly dies. Even though we must still pass through death, it has no ultimate power over us.

Just as we will one day be resurrected, so this world will one day be restored. Christ’s saving work is also cosmic in scope. He is not simply redeeming individuals; He restoring all things. All of creation will one day be renewed under the reign of Christ.

Finally, the catechism ends with a sobering reality: those who do not trust in Christ will be raised to everlasting death. Though the final question of the catechism will return to this theme, here we find the emphasis that all will be raised to new life. All will receive resurrected bodies. Those who trust in Christ will be raised to glorified bodies like Christ’s resurrected body. But those who do not will be raised to everlasting death.

This is one of the most terrifying aspects of damnation. I have always appreciated R. C. Sproul’s honesty when he said that he was not afraid of death but was afraid of dying. Like Sproul, I have a great confidence of life with Christ after death, but the actual process of dying is still a frightening thought. For those who reject Christ, resurrection does not lead to rest but to everlasting death. Always dying but never being dead. The process of dying goes on forever and ever.

May that reality drive us to renewed awe at the triumph of Christ over sin and death. By nature, all of us deserve condemnation and separation from God. But Christ died in our place to reconcile us back to God and everlasting life. Let us give thanks then to Him for His death, His resurrection, and the life we have in Him, both now and forevermore.