It's Easter Morning family. This is the highest Holy day for Christians all over the world. But many Christians, and non-Christians alike have no idea of the actual importance of Easter. We know it's "A day to reflect,"... We know that we say to people things like "He is Risen," and they respond "He is Risen indeed." We know that this day represents the resurrection of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. But do we know that it's more than a day of representation? How many of us let it sink in that this day, Easter, is not merely a day of representation, but a day of true hope? A day of Remembrance. When we reflect, remember, and study, that on this Easter day nearly 2000 years ago, the God who created us in love, who made us in His Image... The God who stepped into the world to live amongst us, (Who took on flesh and bone and lived a sinless life amongst His creation to give them(us) hope, direction, instruction, and light) rose from the dead. That's not some mystical thing that Christians believe, or an abstract concept of hope. Jesus Christ, our Lord and our Savior, who was crucified and buried 3 days earlier, Rose Again from death. His disciples and followers found Jesus' tomb empty after it had been watched and stationed all night by Roman guards. It was not only they who found it empty, but also the entire Jewish world and Roman command. Now this is explainable by many theories if the story had ended there... but it didn't. Confused and downtrodden at the death of their leader, who they believed was going to save them and initiate Heaven, and yet had somehow died and "failed..." the disciples found the tomb of Jesus empty... What a strange thing to happen... Maybe at that point they started to remember Jesus' teachings that the Son of Man would be tortured, die, and raised again to life by the very God He was. I doubt it set in just yet though. I doubt it really set in until Jesus appeared to them, ALIVE. He appeared to them and over 500 other eyewitnesses. He was in his physical body, restored to heavenly glory, showing them and us that Life is redeemed in Him. Sin is forgiven, a relationship to God the Father is opened up and available to every man, woman, and child who would desire to know the God who loves them, and death is conquered. Jesus showed the world that our hope is not in this broken life. Our hope is set on eternity in His care. Our hope is set in life after death, in being raised physically from death to live with God and each other. This is Easter. This Hope. Watch this brief video for some Easter morning inspiration: 1 Corinthians 15: 3 For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance[a]: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas,[b] and then to the Twelve. 6 After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, 8 and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born. The Resurrection of the Dead 12 But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. 14 And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. 15 More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised. 16 For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. 19 If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied. 20 But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21 For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. 22 For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. 23 But each in turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him. 24 Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. 25 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. 26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death. 27 For he “has put everything under his feet.”[c] Now when it says that “everything” has been put under him, it is clear that this does not include God himself, who put everything under Christ. 28 When he has done this, then the Son himself will be made subject to him who put everything under him, so that God may be all in all. 29 Now if there is no resurrection, what will those do who are baptized for the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptized for them? 30 And as for us, why do we endanger ourselves every hour? 31 I face death every day—yes, just as surely as I boast about you in Christ Jesus our Lord. 32 If I fought wild beasts in Ephesus with no more than human hopes, what have I gained? If the dead are not raised, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.”[d] 33 Do not be misled: “Bad company corrupts good character.”[e] 34 Come back to your senses as you ought, and stop sinning; for there are some who are ignorant of God—I say this to your shame. The Resurrection Body 35 But someone will ask, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body will they come?” 36 How foolish! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. 37 When you sow, you do not plant the body that will be, but just a seed, perhaps of wheat or of something else. 38 But God gives it a body as he has determined, and to each kind of seed he gives its own body. 39 Not all flesh is the same: People have one kind of flesh, animals have another, birds another and fish another. 40 There are also heavenly bodies and there are earthly bodies; but the splendor of the heavenly bodies is one kind, and the splendor of the earthly bodies is another. 41 The sun has one kind of splendor, the moon another and the stars another; and star differs from star in splendor. 42 So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; 43 it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; 44 it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. 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