Before you write me off as a heretic and take away my membership card for the Evangelical club, please hear me out.
As literally crucial as the cross is to the gospel message, that a man died is hardly stop-the-press news. Thousands and thousands died by crucifixion. That one of them was a leader of a small group of Jews who had been following him and listening to his every word, on its own, means nothing. The word gospel means good news. How could a death be good news?
As a child I remember asking my dad why Good Friday was called Good Friday. His answer?
Because Jesus rose again!
Christians celebrate the death of the founder of our religion on Good Friday. Has it ever struck you as slightly macabre?
We can celebrate Jesus’ death because we know that he rose again on Easter Sunday to live to save us.
Paul explains this to us in one verse from his magnificent book of Romans. This verse is the beating heartbeat of that book, and also of the whole Bible.
Jesus our Lord . . . was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.
ROMANS 4:24–25, ESV
The Apostle Paul did not believe that the cross alone could rescue us from the mess we are in. Rather the cross and the resurrection working together can and does save us!
Jesus paid the debt for our sins on the cross. The resurrection declared to the universe that Jesus is still accepted by his Father, and that we are his adoptive children. Through the resurrection we were justified or declared not guilty. And life-giving power was released, so that every true Christian would have the same power that raised Christ from the dead pulsating through their veins
Perhaps you have never heard a sermon on Romans 4:25. Maybe you still have questions about what it means. Perhaps you have a commentary at home. Look it up now, does it say much about this verse? There’s a whole chapter on these crucial words in my book Raised With Christ: How The Resurrection Changes Everything. It might help you in your last minute preparation for an Easter sermon. The whole book answers perhaps the most important question we could ever ask:
Is the Easter story true, and what does it mean?
This book, along with two others by me are on a special offer this Easter as we celebrate the death and resurrection of Jesus
Raised With Christ: How the Resurrection Changes Everything
https://mybook.to/raisedwithchrist
Discover the blazing center of the Christian faith and its implications for life today. Includes study guide questions and an afterword by Charles Spurgeon and John Newton, updated into modern English.
“Finally, a new generation of readers has a clear and highly readable book on the resurrection of Jesus Christ.”
—Joni Eareckson Tada
“What a refreshing wake-up call Adrian’s fine book provides.”
—Terry Virgo, from the Foreword
Latest version March 2026: Includes Afterword by John Newton and Charles Spurgeon
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