The Centrality of Resurrection in Mission

A Christian faith that is not resurrection faith can therefore be called neither Christian nor faith. It is the knowledge of the risen Lord and the confessions to him who raised him that form the basis on which the memory of the life, work, sufferings and death of Jesus is kept alive and presented in the gospels. It is the recognition of the risen Christ that gives rise to the Church’s recognition of its own commission in the missions to the nations. It is the remembrance of his resurrection that the ground of the inclusive hope in the universal future of the Christ. The central statements of the primitive missionary proclamation are therefore: (1) God has raised the crucified Jesus from the dead (Acts 2:24, 3:15; 5:31; 1 Cor. 15:4; and frequently elsewhere. (2) “Of this we are witnesses.” (3) In him is grounded the future of righteousness for sinners and the future of life for those subject to death.

Jurgen Moltmann. Theology of Hope. From Religion-Online