The Resurrection as the Chief Article of our Faith

Christians will defend the historicity of Jesus’ resurrection and yet still miss its theological centrality. Machen reminds us in Christianity & Liberalism that the acts of redemptive history and their meaning are “always combined in the Christian message.”[1] According to eyewitness testimony, Jesus rose again from the dead and by it He “was declared to be the Son of God in power” (Rom 1:4). So the resurrection is not only a fact of history, but, as John Knox said, it is “the chief article of our faith”[2] and therefore our life in the local church.
When (and Why) We WorshipThe Gospels are rather sparing on chronological detail, but they take pains to point out that Christ rose on the first day of the week (Matt 28:1; Mark 16:1-2; Luke 24:1, 36; John 20:1, 19, 26). So the church has always gathered on the first day (Acts 20:7; 1 Cor 16:2), “the Lord’s Day” (Rev 1:10). In the language of the early church, it is the “day of the resurrection.”[3] Memorably, B.B. Warfield declared,
Christ took the Sabbath into the grave with him and brought the Lord’s Day out of the grave with him on the resurrection morn.[4]
For too many Christians, why and when the church meets are open questions. Answers are found in this central article of the faith: on the first day of the week, Jesus rose again. We gather weekly on the Lord’s Day because we only come to God through our risen Lord Jesus.
​

The Resurrection as the Chief Article of Our Faith - Credo Magazine