He Paid Our Debt | Easter 2026

He Paid Our Debt | Easter 2026

He Is Risen… But What Does That Actually Mean?

Every Easter, we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. We say the words. We rejoice. But have we truly grasped what it means... for us?

In this message, we move beyond the familiar story and into the deeper reality of the resurrection. Through a powerful illustration of modern-day slavery, we see a clear picture of humanity’s condition, bound by sin, carrying a debt we could never repay.

But with the gospel comes our redemption.

Jesus didn’t just die, He paid the full debt of sin. And because the payment was complete, death no longer had any claim on Him. That’s why He rose.

The resurrection is not just proof that Jesus is alive—it is the declaration that sin has been defeated, death has lost its claim, and all who are in Christ will rise with Him.

“He is risen” means the debt is paid.
“He is risen” means death is defeated.
“He is risen” means we will rise too.

Transcript

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SPEAKER_00 0:02

So I was reading the passage in 1 Corinthians 15 just last night. I couldn't help but just continue to notice. Paul says, I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures. And then he goes on, that he was buried and he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures. And I'm reading this, I'm remembering this other story in Luke chapter 24, where the disciples are, you know, Jesus has died, he's in the tomb, and they're just walking on the road to Emmaus, and they're just talking about how bummed out they are, you know, about everything that had come to pass. And so they they they're walking along and suddenly Jesus appears beside them, but they don't recognize him, and he's like, hey, what are you talking about? And they said, Well, we're talking about everything that happened in Jerusalem. He's like, Well, what happened in Jerusalem? They're like, Are you the only one that hasn't heard everything that's come to pass with Jesus? And so they're telling them all the things that happened. Well, hey, listen, you know, we really had our hopes up. We thought, you know, this is the guy. This is gonna be the one, this is gonna be the Messiah, he's the one that's gonna redeem Israel, he's gonna save us. And it says that Jesus said to them, Oh, foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken. Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory? And beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself. And the point that Paul's making and the point that Jesus made is this was always the plan. Amen. Sometimes I think we say, well, you know, like this, like this morning, we say, He's risen, and we say, He's risen indeed, and and we all say it and we embrace it and we think, well, this is amazing, Jesus is alive, you know, and then but I remember thinking before, like, but like, like, okay, that's cool, like it's cool, you know, but like why? Why does it matter? You know, I I I don't know, some of you know that I do a little bit of ministry in Pakistan, and I've never been there, but I met some pastors from there, and so sometimes I do some events with pastors in Pakistan, and there's a lot of need, and and there's a lot of poverty, and there's a lot of hurt and pain in Pakistan. But one of the worst things that I've found there is actual slavery. And what's going on there? There's three to three and a half million people in the country of Pakistan that are in modern day slavery. They're there what it is, is it's a debt bondage. Okay, and so what happens is there's a lot of poverty, and so there will be a family that has a lot of need and they're poor, but then something happens in their life, a medical emergency or an injury, or something comes up, and they don't have the money, and so they're forced to take a loan. But these lenders are actually company owners. They own these brick factories where they make brick trees brick bricks, they're they're brick kilns. And so what happens is they loan the money, but they do it with these predatory terms that are almost impossible to pay back. And so the people, you know, take the loan, they get whatever is done and need done, and then they eventually default on the loan, and so they're forced to basically become slaves of these companies that make bricks. But the problem is the wages that these companies pay are so low, and they still have to feed their kids and clothe their families and take care of them out of that same money. And so this situation happens where their debt doesn't go down, it just keeps going up, and they're just stuck in this situation for their whole lives, and their kids grow up in slavery and they become slaves, and then they get married and have kids, and their kids are slaves, and generation after generation after generation is stuck in this slavery. And I look at that and I'm thinking, well, there's two reasons I would share with that with you on an Easter morning. One of them is just to make you aware of a horrible, terrible injustice that's happening on the earth, and then maybe as a church, someday we can do something about that. Maybe we can help free one of these families. But what happens is that these families are stuck in this situation until someone from outside comes in and pays the debt. See, as long as they have debt, that owner of that company has a claim on them. They can put their claws in them, they can hold on to them, they can force them to stay there, they can force them to do things, they can force them to work. But if you and I go over there and we take their debt and we go, paid, done, then that owner can't touch them. He can't look at them, he can't say anything to them. They're free. They just get to go. And as I thought about that this morning, I'm thinking, what a perfect picture of the human condition. See, over the last month, we've walked through much of the biblical narrative. We started at creation when God made the heavens and the earth perfect and he made humanity to dwell with him in communion. And we lived in shalom and perfect relationship with God. From that relationship came our identity, our sense of well-being, the meaning of our lives. But humanity turned from God, and when they turned from God and embraced sin, it created a debt, a debt to God that would be paid out in wrath upon our sin. And the payment for that sin is death. See, before humanity sinned, death had no claim on humanity. Death had no claim on any person. It couldn't sink its claws in them, it couldn't get a foothold. But when humanity sinned, now death had a claim. And what's happened is generation after generation after generation after generation of us has been born into this same situation, and we try every way we can think of to try to be good people and to earn our way and to make our way. I had a conversation with a guy the other day, and he's like, How can you say there's only one way to God? And the answer is because there was no way at all. We were hopelessly lost, and we can try all we want, and we can meditate as long as we want and we can become the best people we can be, but we can't pay that debt. And so God looked upon our situation and he didn't leave us, he didn't turn around and buy himself a new TV. He said, I'm gonna pay the debt, and I'm not gonna just pay the debt of one, I'm gonna pay the debt of all of them. And in order to pay the debt of human sin, God himself took on human flesh. He became a man so that he could pay in the flesh the punishment, God's wrath on the sin, and so he bore that punishment in his flesh. He paid the price in full, and when he was done, he said, It is finished. And what that meant is the debt has been paid in full, the bill has been settled. I have paid to the last penny, I've paid to the last drop, there is no more debt, there's no more owed. And then Jesus died. In his humanity, he died, and his body was taken down off the cross, it was laid in a tomb, and it was there in the tomb. And something inside of me at different times of my faith walk, when I was younger, I would have said, Well, isn't that enough? Why does he need to rise? If he paid the penalty of sin and he had to die for us, why does he get to rise again? And it's because of this. When there's no debt, death has no claim. When there's no debt, the slave owner cannot hold the brick kiln worker. When there's no sin debt, death has no claim on us. Jesus paid the debt of sin completely, absolutely, till there was nothing left. And death couldn't hold him. And so Jesus rose from the grave, and he was clothed in humanity. In this passage in Corinthians, in chapter 15, verse 20, Paul goes on, he says, In fact, Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have been who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For in his and as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive, but each in his own order, Christ the first fruits, and then it is coming those who belong to Christ. Why does it matter that Jesus is risen, church? Because his resurrection proves that the payment was accepted, that the price has been paid, and death has been defeated. And why it matters for you and me is because Paul's saying Christ is the first fruits. He's the one that proved it. He's the one that resurrected first into a glorified humanity. And if he conquered death and he paid your sin and you're in him, then you also will rise with him. And that matters for this life, and when we leave this life, and when we die in this body, this body's gonna die because it's still touched by sin. But when I rise again, because death can't hold me, it'll be into a new body, glorified as his. Paul says we are citizens of heaven, and from there we await a savior, even the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly bodies to be like his heavenly body by the power that enables him to subject all things to himself. So, church, he is risen. He is risen indeed. Amen. Lord, we thank you for this awesome, beautiful truth. We thank you, God, that you have conquered sin and death through your son. We thank you, Lord, that he paid the payment in full, and if we are in him, then we also can be accepted in you. We can be redeemed and our sin debt paid. And Father, when we leave this earth, we leave this body, God, we rise again into new life with you. We thank you and praise you, Father, for this truth. I pray that it would sink into the heart of every single person in this room today, and every single person that's watching us in video. In Jesus' name. Amen.