In Matthew 28:5-6 we read "And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified. He is not here: for he is risen, as he said, Come, see the place where the Lord lay." Jesus Christ is alive and we serve a risen Savior. Apart from the resurrection of Christ we would have no hope for salvation. A Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:19-20, "If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable. But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the first fruits of them that slept."
One of the historical events the Bible records for us is the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is indeed the Bible's greatest miracle and the most important fact of history. Jesus rose bodily from the dead. It was not merely Jesus's influence that came from the grave but His literal and physical body. Jesus rose triumphantly from the dead. Paul therefore could say, "O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?" The grave could not hold him and death could not harm him. Furthermore, Jesus rose eternally from the dead. In history others had been raised from the dead. Both Elijah and Elisha saw people raised from the dead. Jesus himself raised people from the dead. But all of these people who were raised were destined to die again. But Jesus was raised to never die again, indeed He is "alive forevermore" (Revelation 1:18).
Without the empty tomb Christianity has no uniqueness, offers no hope, has no power, and changes no life. In fact if Jesus had stayed in the tomb there would be no Christianity. Now, the truth of the resurrection may not be that great a deal to you at this point but I promise you that before your life is over it will become very meaningful to you and very important. When you stand over the grave of a loved one and your life seems to be in a 1000 pieces, this truth will be meaningful to you. When you come to the place when your life will not be counted in years but perhaps hours and minutes this truth will be very important to you. One day when you stand before God this truth will be very important to you. May we never fail, forget, nor hesitate to declare the empty tomb and that Jesus is alive forevermore as Lord, Messiah, Savior, Sovereign! God loves you and so do we at First Baptist Church.