April 5, 2026

John 20

Christus Victor

Sunday Sermons

Why have Christians across the world celebrated the Resurrection for 2,000 years? Is it a testable historical event — or just a comforting metaphor for “new beginnings” and “the triumph of the human spirit”?

The answer changes everything.

Join Pastor Jim this Sunday as we explore the theme Christus Victor — Christ the Victor. We’ll look at what the Bible actually claims happened that first Easter morning, why the evidence for it is stronger than most people realize, and why the bodily resurrection of Jesus is the hinge on which all of Christian hope swings. Because if it really happened — and we believe it did — then death has been defeated, sins are truly forgiven, and God’s new creation has already begun.

Speaker

Jim Thomas

Series

Holy Week & Advent

Go to Series

Scripture

John 20

Topics
Growth & Discipleship Worldview & Culture

Sermon Notes

John 20

Christus Victor

Easter Sunday 2026

Pastor Jim Thomas

Christus Victor: Our Hope in Life and Death

“Within the Christian faith we find a Creator God who becomes part of our shared experience in this broken world, including experiencing pain, evil, and suffering. What did He do about it? He took it full on. He went to the cross, died and was buried. Then He rose again three days later, proving He had the power over death and could offer life and a destiny to those who would believe in Him.”
Prof. John C. Lennox

The Resurrection is a testable historical claim about a real person (Jesus of Nazareth) who died, was buried, and was raised bodily on the third day. The Resurrection is not just a romantic metaphor for “new beginnings,” “hope,” “the triumph of the human spirit”. Because the Resurrection happened in space-time history, it validates Jesus’ claims about Himself, grounds forgiveness of sins, proves He defeated death, and has launched the new creation!

Historical Evidence for the Resurrection:

  1. The Empty Tomb
  2. The women as first eyewitnesses
  3. The transformation of the disciples
  4. The 500+ eyewitness appearances
  5. The wildfire-like spread of the Gospel

“You know that He appeared in order to take away sins, and in Him there is no sin.”
1 John 3:5

“The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil.”
1 John 3:8

“By this the love of God was revealed in us, that God has sent His only Son into the world so that we may live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.”
1 John 4:9-10

“And when you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, having canceled the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him.”
Colossians 2:13-15

1. The victory of Christ is cosmic

“The God who raises the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist has triumphed over the ruler of this world, and death shall have no dominion. The Lord is risen! The Lord is risen indeed! Alleluia!”
Fleming Rutledge, The Undoing of Death

“With the resurrection itself a shockwave has gone through the entire cosmos: the New Creation has been born…The resurrection of Jesus is the only Christian guide to the question of where history is going.”
N. T. Wright

2. The victory of Christ is global

“The resurrection is the beginning of the restoration of all things. Jesus rose not just to give us life after death, but to begin the renewal of the whole world — and that renewal is moving toward the day when people from every nation, tribe and tongue will together reflect the glory of God.”
Tim Keller, The Reason for God

3. The victory of Christ is personal

“We are not to regard the cross as defeat and the resurrection as victory. Rather, the cross was the victory won, and the resurrection the victory endorsed, proclaimed, and demonstrated. If the resurrection is the divine declaration that the cross was effective, then the cross is the divine victory over sin, death and the devil.”
John R. W. Stott, The Cross of Christ

“The resurrection is not simply the reversal of the cross. It is the public declaration that the work Christ accomplished in his death has been accepted and that the powers that stood against us have been defeated.”
Sinclair Ferguson, The Christian Life

“This world is a great sculptor’s shop. We are the statues and there is a rumor going round the shop that some of us are some day going to come to life.”
C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

Discussion Questions

  • Read the passage together: Before today’s sermon, what did you already know or believe about this passage? Did anything in your understanding shift after hearing the message?
  • Challenge and Reflection: Was there a part of today’s message that was particularly challenging or surprising for you? Why?
  • Unpacking the Message: Pick a quote from today’s sermon notes. Discuss what it means to you.
  • Personal Impact: What’s one specific way you feel called to change or grow after hearing this message?
  • Practical Application: What’s one step you can take this week to put today’s message into practice?
  • Connecting Scripture: Are there other Bible passages or stories this message reminds you of? How do they expand or confirm this teaching?
  • Gratitude: What aspect of God’s character stood out to you in today’s message? How does it inspire praise or gratitude?
  • Pray the Scripture: After hearing the message, is there a specific area where you feel led to pray? How can we pray for one another in light of today’s teaching?

Songs, Readings & Prayer

Songs:

“Christ the Lord Is Risen Today“ by Charles Wesley, arr. Bailey, Mickle
“Crown Him With Many Crowns“ Matthew Bridges, Godfrey Thring arr. Bailey, Mickle
“Victory in Jesus (Christ Won the Victory)“ Words and Music by E.M. Bartlett, Matt Boswell, Keith Getty & Kristyn Getty, Arr. by Samuel Wilson and Paul Campbell
“Jesus Keep Me Near the Cross“ lyrics by Fanny Crosby, music by William H. Doane
“In Christ Alone“ by Keith Getty & Stuart Townend, Arr. Dave Cleaveland, Orchestrated: Paul Campbell
“Christus Victor“ by Keith Getty, Kristyn Getty. Matt Boswell, Matt Papa, Bryan Fowler
“Doxology” by Thomas Ken and Louis Bourgeois
All songs are used with permission. CCLI License No. 2003690

Looking for our Hymns of the Week or resources to worship anytime? We’ve curated a playlist of hymns TVC Worship has led over the years on our YouTube Channel!

Call To Worship: Resurrection Sunday

Leader: Who is the resurrection and the life?
People: Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.”

Leader: What does God promise to all who believe?
People: “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”

Leader: Will anything separate us from the love of God in Christ?
People: No! We can be “sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor
things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Leader: What will God do someday soon?
People: “He will swallow up death forever, and the Lord God will wipe away every tear.”

All: By dying He destroyed our death, and by rising again restored our life; Jesus Christ our Lord.
Alleluia! Amen!

Classic Prayer: Easter Prayer

Oh, to the praise of our great God, the Invisible One who came as the Visible One – to pay a great debt we could not pay…to clear away the gloom of sin, the doom of death, the ancient guilt, the stain of exile.

Jesus, You are Eternal Word, You are Risen Savior, Perfect Lamb of God. You are the last Adam in all excellence, yet You willingly bore all the weight of all our sin. You are initiating love, saving love, sovereign grace. By Your dying, You destroyed our death. By Your rising You restored our life. So that we are kindled, not extinguished. Welcomed, not banished. Rejoiced over, redeemed, abided with and dwelled within.

Regard and have mercy on us Holy Spirit govern and guide us. Give us right understanding, that, humbled for receiving Your mercy and favor, (which was not because of our goodness, but because of Yours,) we might rejoice and praise You with thankful hearts, worship You for the living hope of Your resurrection, and live confidently in the imperishable, undefiled and unfading inheritance of our adoption!

So now preserve us with Your watchful care. Set our troubled hearts at rest. Give peace in our times and day by day increase our faith and certainty and hope, because of Christ in whose name we pray Amen.

TVC Prayer Ministry

TVC Ministry: Meals Ministry
Vocation: Entertainment & Publishing
TVC Mission Highlight: The Garden Tomb
Praying for the Persecuted Church: Niger

Join Our Prayer Team

Do you have a heart for prayer or a desire to lift others before the Lord? Sign up for our weekly prayer email, and you’ll receive trusted prayer requests from within our church family, our community, and around the world. At TVC, we believe it is a privilege to carry one another’s concerns to our Heavenly Father. Join us as we pray faithfully and walk with one another.

Join in Prayer