There are so many things we wouldn't have realized and have come to know without the Lord Jesus Christ.
For starters, He came to show us who the Father is:
"Philip said to Him, "Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us." Jesus said to him, "Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, 'Show us the Father'? Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works. Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves." (John 14:8-11)
Jesus is the perfect and exact representation of the Father. By Him we get to know who God is. We've been given the opportunity to know who God really is through Jesus' life -- His words, actions, behaviors, and attitudes.
Since Jesus perfectly showed who God really is with His life, we are also given an opportunity to see how great and awesome our God and Father is through His death and resurrection.
Here are a few things we would have never realized about God if Christ did not rise from the grave:
1) That God is very righteous
Isaiah 53:4-6 tells us that Christ suffered because He carried our sins and iniquities on the cross:
"Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities;The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all."
Christ's resurrection meant He really died for our sins. He paid the price for God's righteous wrath to be satisfied (see Romans 3:25, 8:4, 10:4).
2) That God wants all men to be saved
Christ died, but He lived again. His resurrection is the very basis for our hope: that we, through Him, will live with God forever:
"For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died; and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again." (2 Corinthians 5:14-15)
"For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him." (1 Thessalonians 5:9-10)
"But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive." (1 Corinthians 15:20-22)
"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." (John 3:16)
3) That God has a purpose for us
After His death and resurrection, He gave us all a command that transcends all that we do as we live:
"And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Amen." (Matthew 28:18-20)
Christ did not die and live again just so that we'd all be selfish, self-centered Christians who only think about being with God and forget everyone else. No, it's not like that.
Christ's resurrection assures us of forgiveness and eternal life with God. It should also give us the confidence to go preach the Gospel and make disciples wherever we are, in whatever field we may be.
This is the purpose that God has for us: that we'd glorify Him by spreading His love to everyone in the world, in obedience and gratitude to Him.
