Derek Wells | The Benefit of Christ’s Resurrection for Believers

Sunday Evening, April 26, 2026

Given by Derek Wells | Pastor of Counseling, Christ Covenant Church

The Benefit of Christ’s Resurrection for Believers
Heidelberg Catechism—Lord’s Day 17

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Let's go to the Lord once more in prayer. 

Father in heaven, as we come now before your Word to think upon the resurrection of Christ our savior, we pray, O Lord, that you would encourage us by the working of your Spirit, that you would increase our faith, that you would strengthen us, that we might be renewed in that same power of your resurrection. We pray, O Lord, that you would glorify yourself through the preaching of your Word. In Christ's name. Amen. 

Well, we've been making our way through the Heidelberg Catechism. It's been a joy for me, like many other pastors. I was not raised on the Heidelberg. And I hope if it's new to you, it's been a great source of encouragement, and I hope if it's familiar to you, it's also been a great source of encouragement. We're in that section walking us through the Apostles’ Creed, and we are on Lord's Day 17 in question 45. That's in the back of your bulletin. You can open your bulletin to the back there. 

Last week, Clay spoke about the cross of Christ. And this evening, we're thinking about the resurrection of Christ. And of course, it being Easter season, the resurrection is something that's really fresh on our minds. It's good timing, and the Heidelberg helps us in a special way, I think, by leading us to think not only about the truth of the resurrection but to reflect more personally and deeply about how the resurrection benefits us as believers. And so, the question for you and for me this evening is simply this – I want you to think about this throughout this sermon – how does the resurrection benefit me? How does the resurrection benefit me? Well, the answer might seem obvious to a Sunday evening crowd, but just think for a second. If I were to ask you, what role does the resurrection play in your salvation? What would you say? If I were to ask you what role the resurrection plays in your sanctification, what would you say? If I were to ask you what role does the resurrection play in your present hope and hope of future glorification, what would you say? Now, all of those are three exhaustive categories that can't be fully explored this evening, but they all touch on how Christ's resurrection benefits us. And so, let's look in your bulletin at question 45. I’ll read the question, and let's read the response together. 

Q: How does Christ's resurrection benefit us? 

A: First, by his resurrection, he has overcome death so that he can make us share in the righteousness which he had obtained for us by his death. Second, by his power we, too, are raised up to a new life. Third, Christ's resurrection is to us a sure pledge of our blessed resurrection.

Friends, these are encouraging truths for us, and we'll be following the catechism here. We're also going to be looking at various Scriptures along the way as well. I want us to see three things about how Christ's resurrection benefits us. First, the resurrection is the victorious reality of our salvation. Second, the resurrection is a present reality in our sanctification. And third, the resurrection is a future reality for our glorification. A victorious reality of our salvation, a present reality in our sanctification, and a future reality for our glorification. 

So, the resurrection is the victorious reality of our salvation. Well, how so? Well, the beginning of the answer in the catechism – it says something rather essential and significant for us as believers, but it's easy to overlook. It tells us that by his resurrection, Christ overcame death. Now, it's easy to miss that in one sense, because as we think about the cross, a lot of our reflections are rightly on how Christ endured death – that is, he really, physically died. And even more than that, in his death he bore our sin. He suffered the pains and torments of the cross, death on the cross, bearing the curse for our sin, paying the penalty for our sins. That was Clay's sermon last week. But as remarkable as that is, the death of Christ alone would not have secured our salvation, because in terms of our salvation, death was not merely something for Christ to endure, but rather something that must be overcome. This is in line with Paul's famous argument regarding the resurrection. Harry just read it. You can flip back in your bulletin. 1 Corinthians 15:12-23. I won't read the whole passage but just highlight a few things. Here's what Paul says about the resurrection and our salvation. Just highlight verse 14. He says, "If Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain, and your faith is in vain." Verse 17, "If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile, and you are still in your sins." Verse 18, “Those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.” And finally verse 19, “If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are, of all people, most to be pitied.” So, friends, we see in this text that the resurrection is an essential part of our salvation. In fact, Paul's logic is that if the resurrection is not true, then everything else unravels. He says we would be found to be liars about God. He says your faith would be in vain. He says you would still be in your sins. He says we of all people should be most pitied if Christ was not raised from the dead. And so, for Paul, the critical question in terms of the truth of Christianity and the plan of redemption hinges on whether Christ was truly raised from the dead. That is the litmus test. 

I don't know if you've seen the conversion story of Molly Worthen. She is a professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill – professor of history. She's also spent a lot of time in journalism, spent a lot of time studying evangelicalism. And it came to be that, in studying evangelicalism, she got connected with some pastors, and ultimately, she began to take the truth claims of Christianity seriously. And she was connected a bit with Tim Keller, having a bit of back and forth with him about the truth and veracity of Christianity, and she was just sort of stuck with all kinds of questions about the Christian faith – you know, the God of the Old Testament, or supposed contradictions in the Bible, reliability of Scripture, all of those sorts of things, and she was just stuck on those questions. And she credits Keller with helping her get out of that place, and she said what he helped her to see was that all the other questions that she had was secondary to this question: was Christ raised from the dead? Because if the resurrection is true, then all of those other questions, perhaps, have a plausible answer. But if the resurrection is not true, then none of those questions even matter. Friends, that is not only a good starting point, perhaps, for us with our friends and our neighbors – the truth of the resurrection, boiling it down to that – but it's a great reflection for us in terms of our comfort as well, because if the resurrection is true, then our perspective on our lives and everything in our lives, all the challenges and trials that we face – everything changes. We'll come back to that at the end. 

For Paul, this was the question, though. The hope of our forgiveness, the hope of reconciliation with God, the hope of eternal life, all comes down to the truth of the resurrection. Now, why is that? Well, it has to do with the sufficiency of Christ's death on the cross, and this goes back to Clay’s sermon last week, that when Christ died, he offered the perfect sacrifice to God on our behalf. He satisfied divine justice. He suffered the penalty for our sins, and by virtue of that same sacrifice, he destroyed the power of sin and death. Listen to Hebrews 2:14-15. It puts it this way: “Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself, likewise, partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.” We learn from Hebrews chapter 2 that Christ by his death destroyed the one who holds the power of death, that is the devil. How do we know that? How do we know that he did that? We know that because he was raised from the dead. And friends, all of this was for us and for our salvation. Paul says in Romans 4:25 that Christ was delivered up for our trespasses and raised to life for our justification. As one commentator put it, the resurrection is the demonstration of Christ's sufficiency and righteousness, then, as our savior. It was the vindication of Christ. When we think of the sacrifice of Christ, we often rightly think of the suffering servant in Psalm 22 in the opening verse, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” I was reading about this in Kevin's Daily Doctrine, about Christ's true feeling of God-forsakenness. And yet, if we read on in that passage of Psalm 22, what we discover is this was temporal and that the suffering servant was not ultimately forsaken by God, but rather vindicated by God. And of course, we see this come to fulfillment in Christ's resurrection for us. Romans chapter 1:4 says that he was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead. So, the resurrection of Christ is the great testimony. It is the great verdict. It is the great vindication of the Son of God and his righteousness as our savior. So, friends, this should be an encouragement to us, because what we see, what we come to see, is that in his vindication we come to see our justification, and we come to share in his righteousness, as the catechism says, by faith. 

2 Corinthians 5:21 says – a familiar text to us – “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin in order that we might become the righteousness of God.” You know, it made me think of the Olympics and how we find ourselves watching all kinds of sports that we really could care less about any other time of the year. Think about it. Curling. I still haven't figured out the rules of – what is curling actually? I still haven't figured that out. Synchronized swimming. I don't know how many of you are glued to synchronized swimming on a constant basis. You won't find me doing that or trying to do that at the pool. I can tell you that. Archery. Badminton. And wait for it, in 2028, race walking is coming to the Olympics. I'm sure we'll all be glued to that. But what happens to us as Americans? No, no matter the sport, you put an American in that sport, you put an American flag up on the TV, inject some national pride, and what happens? We're all dialed in. We're all glued to the TV. Now, why are we glued to the TV? Apologies to Ethan Vroom for this example, but I think of the USA hockey team beating Canada in the Winter Olympics just a few months ago. And no, Ethan, if you're here, we're not going to let that go. Keep bringing it up and all the fanfare around that. It reminded me of the 1980 Miracle on Ice, when the American hockey team took down the Soviet Union, and how great that was, and all the American flags just waving, and Al Michaels, “Do you believe in miracles? Yes!” And we're all just on the same page together. As Americans, we take pride in their performance. Why do we do that? Friends, we do that because we are united in our identity. In a sense, their performance becomes our performance. Their victory is our victory. We share in it. And so, we celebrate, because they are our representatives. And so it is with Christ, our federal head, the God man who overcame death for us. His righteousness becomes our righteousness. His vindication becomes our vindication. His victory becomes our victory by faith. And so, the resurrection of Christ is the victorious reality of our salvation. That certainly shapes our second point. 

The second benefit is that the resurrection of Christ is a present reality in our sanctification. We often forget that. The catechism tells us that by his power, we too are raised up to new life. To new life. Now, I should point out that there's more here in view than our sanctification. This actually begins with our regeneration. The Bible speaks of our condition apart from Christ as being dead in our sins and trespasses – Ephesians 2 and Colossians 2, we'll come back to those Scriptures – that is, in our natural condition, we are not alive to God. The things of God do not make sense to us and neither do we desire the things of God. 1 Corinthians 2:14 says, "The natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit. He is not able to understand them, because they are spiritually discerned." That's us in our natural condition. Romans 3 – we all know these passages – “There is no one righteous. No, not one. No one who understands, no one who seeks God.” That's us in our natural condition. In other places, the Bible speaks to our natural condition as spiritually blind, spiritually deaf, spiritually lame – all metaphors for our spiritual inability and deadness. So, if we are dead in our sins, something must happen for us to be made alive. As Jesus said to Nicodemus in John 3, “Unless you are born again, you cannot see the kingdom of God” – that is, you cannot see or embrace the saving rule and reign of God. We must be made alive. Our eyes must be made to come open. Our ears must be unstopped. Our hearts must be regenerated. And that's what the Scripture tells us that God does for us by the work of his Spirit. Just look back in your bulletin to this morning – Titus chapter 3. We read it. I'll just read verses 5 and 6. It says that “God saved us not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and the renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ, our savior.” And so, it's the Holy Spirit who regenerates us, who raises us up to new life, as it were, giving us faith and repentance as we hear the gospel, which is the power of God unto salvation to all who believe. And Paul tells us that all of this happens by his mercy, and the catechism tells us that all of this happens by his power, not ours. And that should be an encouragement to us. 

Well, if it's not from us, we might wonder, well, where does that power come from? Well, it comes from God, yes. But hear what Peter says in 1 Peter 1:3. He says, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” Friends, that means we have been born again. You and I have been born again to a living hope. That is our present reality in the here and now. And how did this happen? It happened by regeneration through the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. Friends, that means that the same power that raised Christ from the dead is at work in our spiritual rebirth and new life, taking away the heart of stone, giving us a heart of flesh, bringing us to faith and new life. And here's what we need to see about this. This great power and this great work is one of the Spirit, but it is all in Christ and through Christ. Listen to Ephesians 2:4-6, “But God, being rich in mercy, because of his great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ – by grace you have been saved – and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.” We see a similar passage in Colossians 2:13-14. But catch this, “Even when we were dead in our sins, God, being rich in mercy because of his great love for us, made us alive together with Christ.” Friends, it's that great doctrine of the believer's union with Christ that hangs all over these truths regarding our salvation. We have been chosen in Christ, and we have been raised to new life in Christ. Moreover, Paul says in verse 6 that God raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. In his commentary on Ephesians, Sinclair Ferguson points to this remarkable reality of being raised up from spiritual death to be seated with Christ, and he points to where Christ is. Where is Christ now? He is ascended. He is enthroned. He is seated in the place of victory, in the place of honor, in the place of reigning. And where are we? We are with him – that is, God has already seated us with him. You think of someone who invites you to a sporting event. You say, "I got some tickets to the game. You want to come?" "Sure, I'll go." And think of how your disposition changes when they say, "And by the way, these are my box seats." You know, then, all of a sudden everything changes, right? So, game on. I mean, we were I was going to the cheap seats, but hey, I'm going to be in the box seats, and you call your friends, and you start bragging to them to make him jealous. I'm going to be in box seats at this great game. And so there you are. Your friend invites you. It's his box seats, but you get to sit with him. You walk in, and he gives you all the paraphernalia and stuff that you get – you know, the lanyard and everything. He says, "Here's your all access pass, and there's the all-you-can-eat buffet and all you can drink, and you have all the benefits of my status as a box seat holder. Sit, and enjoy the game.” Friends, this is our reality as believers, raised to new life with Christ, seated with him, sharing in his triumph and glorious reign. 

So, here's the question. What does being raised to new life in Christ mean for our sanctification? Well, Paul works this out in Romans 6, and there's not time to work all the way through it, but I'll just cite a few verses speaking to our being united to Christ in his death and resurrection. Romans 6:6, he says, "We know” – thinking about our sanctification – “we know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so, we would no longer be enslaved to sin." He goes on to say, in verse 11 of chapter 6, “So, you must also consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. Let not sin, therefore, reign in your mortal body to make you obey its passions. Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, your members to God as instruments for righteousness, for sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.” And so, having been united to Christ in his death and resurrection, Paul says that we are then to consider ourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus, for sin no longer shall have dominion over us. Why? Because our old self was crucified with Christ, and there is a new self that has been raised with him. Romans 6:4, “We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too may walk in newness of life.” These are glorious promises for our sanctification. Now, this doesn't mean that we won't or don't battle with sin. It doesn't mean that we don't struggle or strive with sin. It just changes everything about how we struggle and how we battle and how we strive with sin. The Scriptures tell us we are no longer enslaved to sin. It no longer has dominion over us. That means it no longer controls us or has mastery over us. Why? Because we've died with Christ unto sin, and we are raised to live more and more unto righteousness. So, the chains of sin have been broken for us, and all of this amounts to working out the implications of our salvation and the process of our sanctification. As Paul says in Philippians 2:12-13 – we all know this text – “Work out your salvation in fear and trembling, because it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.” So, think about that. God is at work in me, even as I am working. So, I am working, I am striving, but all the while I realize that the Spirit of Christ is working in me. Stop, and think about that in your struggle with sin. Friends, we could list off any number of sins, maybe ones that are besetting for you. Do you know that Jesus is greater than that sin? Do you know that he is greater than your sin? Do you not think that he can subdue your sin? And again, once I begin to realize that, it changes how I battle sin in my life, knowing that God is at work in me, and it produces what D.A. Carson calls grace-driven effort. Grace-driven effort, which is not about a life of perfection. No, it's not. But it's one with a victorious direction. Do you see that? It's not about a life of perfection. It is one with a victorious direction. And that's the Christian life. That's the newness of life. 1 Peter 2:24 says that Christ died and rose again so that we can walk in newness of life. Resurrection is a present reality for our sanctification. 

Third, Christ's resurrection is a sure pledge of our glorious resurrection. When we think about this, the transformational impact of the resurrection of Christ, the disciples seeing the risen Christ – the transformational impact of that on their lives. Just ponder that for a second, alright? They went from cowardice to courage. They went from fear to faith, and there's this remarkable transformation, having seen the resurrected Christ. Now, why is that? It's because they understood that his resurrection was a pledge, a glorious pledge, of their resurrection. We see that in 1 Corinthians 15:20-22. Here's what Paul says, “But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead, for as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.” Brothers and sisters, this is the great and glorious promise to us. Not only are we made alive spiritually in the here and now, but our bodies will be raised. Paul says that Christ is the first fruits of our resurrection. He is the one who's gone ahead of us, and now in his glorified body, Colossians 1:18 says he's the firstborn from the dead. And Romans 8:23 tells us that we have the first fruits of the Spirit as we await the redemption of our bodies. So, we have the presence of the Holy Spirit with us, as Ephesians 1:13-14 tells us that God has given us his Holy Spirit, who is a seal, a deposit, guaranteeing our inheritance. And so, our future hope is anchored in the sure promises that come with Christ's resurrection and the present reality of the Holy Spirit who is with us, the one who indwells us, the one who is at work in us now. And so, Paul says in Romans 8, “If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.” Elsewhere, the promise tells us that he will transform our lowly bodies to be like his body. So, just stop, and put that – there's a rearview mirror, but put that in the front. Just look at that view. The glorious resurrection that awaits us all as believers. 

The catechism tells us Christ's resurrection is a sure pledge of our glorious resurrection. And so, take this, brothers and sisters, into your Monday morning. Number one, Christ has overcome death. Christ has raised you to new life. And three, he's given you a sure pledge and great promise of what is to come. So, you put all of those three things together, and you carry that with you into your week, and if you put them all together, what do you get? What does it amount to? What is the benefit? And it comes back to comfort. Comfort amidst all the challenges and trials of a Monday morning and an upcoming week. Comfort. And we simply need to remember the benefits of the resurrection. It will change our perspective on our life. A great example of this, I alluded to Tim Keller a bit ago, but I know lots of you have probably seen this video. It's passed around during Easter time. It's Tim Keller being interviewed, and I think it was in the last year of his life. He's reflecting on his mortality and the sadness of it. And here was his comfort and words of comfort just before he died. He boiled it down to this. He said, "Here's the thing about the resurrection. If Christ is raised from the dead, then you know what? Whatever you are worried about, whatever is keeping you up at night, whatever fears or concerns you have, if Christ has been raised, everything is going to be okay.” Everything. Let's allow this comfort and reassurance to lead us into this week and beyond. Let's pray. 

Father in heaven, we do thank you for these glorious promises, immeasurable and exhaustible, Lord, hard to fathom at times. But yet, you have given them to us, and you have given your Spirit to us. And so, I pray in each one of these that you would encourage us in the places where we need to be encouraged, renewed, and strengthened, Lord, that you would increase our faith, that you would bring repentance into our life, that we might walk in newness of life and closeness to you. O Lord, would you strengthen us by your Spirit? And we pray this in Christ's name. Amen.