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“Fellow Israelites, I can tell you confidently that the patriarch David died and was buried, and his tomb is here to this day. But he was a prophet and knew that God had promised him on oath that he would place one of his descendants on his throne. Seeing what was to come, David spoke of the resurrection of the Messiah, that he was not abandoned to the realm of the dead, nor did his body see decay. God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of it. Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear.”
Peter preached this sermon 50 days after the resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is the very first sermon recorded in the New Testament. Now, this is important because, only a few weeks before this sermon was preached, Peter expressly and specifically denied Jesus three times. It was only after the resurrection that Peter and Jesus reconnected. That reconciliation, in and of itself, is evidence of the resurrection. If the resurrection had never occurred, Peter and Jesus would have never had the chance to reconcile. Peter would never have preached this sermon. And Peter himself would never have been killed for telling people about Jesus.
So you see, just the existence of this scripture is both explicit and implicit evidence of the resurrection. This scripture also reveals the deepest meaning of the resurrection...the ultimate meaning of the resurrection. People can be reconciled with God. The resurrection means that everything Jesus promised is true, and we can trust God’s word with total confidence. A thousand years before Jesus’s resurrection, King David prophesied that the Messiah would not be abandoned to the grave, nor would his body see decay. This prophecy came true in the resurrection. God’s word also tells us that “Everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Romans 10:13). As a result of the prophecies and promises of God, every person, no matter how terrible their sin, can trust God to forgive them through the blood of Jesus Christ shed on the cross. Once forgiven, they can live a new life of freedom. Freedom from condemnation. Freedom from fear. Freedom from death.
The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the assurance of the best things that we can ever hope for or even imagine.