Sunday, March 31, 2013

From the Dead


Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. (Hebrews 13:20-21, NKJV).

Nearly 2000 years ago, on this very day according to the Lunar Calendar, Jesus Christ rose from the dead. It is fitting that our journey through Hebrews lands us here and now.

He rose, not as a zombie, and not via resuscitation, but through Resurrection, never to die again – unique in all Cosmic history. He is rightly called in Scripture, the first born from the dead, and all those who believe in Him will follow in His footsteps.

A careful study of the Bible indicates that all three Persons of the Trinity were involved in this momentous event, with the Father, our God of peace, detailed here, while in the Gospel of John, Jesus speaks of the laying down of His life in this manner:

No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father.” (John 10:18, NKJV).

And the Apostle Peter informs us of the Holy Spirit's part:

For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit, (1 Peter 3:18, NKJV).

There are other similar tripartite citations, as well, and this is also true of all the key elements of our redemption in that all three Persons of the godhead were involved in our creation, in forgiving our sins, in indwelling us, and in providing us eternal life.

While a profound mystery, it is clear that we mere humans are of immeasurable value to God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. It is equally clear that these and other revelatory aspects of our Christian faith are from God Himself, rather than inventions of man, for no man could conceive of such things, nor would he envision such “complications” if he were attempting to “fabricate the faith”.

As C.S. Lewis has written, the very improbability of Christian doctrine lends it credence.

The word resurrection, from the Greek, anastasis (an-as'-tas-is), appears 40 times in the New Testament. It's meaning is simply the opposite ('ana') of being still or unchanging in death ('stasis'). The dead, by definition, are without life. Those who are resurrected as Christ was, are forevermore without death, in His company.

This is our destiny as followers of Jesus by faith, an astounding inheritance.

While it is true that all who are in the graves will come forth at His summons on That Day, only those who have believed will be brought into the resurrection of life, with the rest relegated to the resurrection of condemnation, an unthinkable alternative of eternal pain and suffering.

What does this mean to us today, this entirely unique past event?

Among many other things, it means that death has been conquered on our behalf. We were bound by the wages of sin, which is death, until Christ, the Sinless One, died in our place. Because of His righteousness, death could not hold Him, and because of His willing sacrifice, that righteousness is imputed to us by the only means available, faith. With that righteousness comes eternal life – the life bestowed upon us by Christ, who is the resurrection and the life.

It means that our sin is taken away and we are justified, just-as-if we were innocent of the rebellion and evil, which is inherent in our fallen natures.

It means that we need fear nothing in this life, or the next, because we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us and gave Himself for us.

It means that the last enemy, death itself, simultaneously the greatest offense and the greatest mercy in all existence, is powerless over us. It is the greatest offense because it is the antithesis of God's purposes in Creation, although the divinely anticipated result of sin. It is the greatest mercy because, through Christ's death, that un-payable debt of sin has been paid.

We know deep in our hearts that we are intended to live forever. From the age when we are first able to think, our own mortality is both always in front of us, and yet, on a fundamental level, unimaginable. The sight and experience of human death for the living is of monumental significance precisely because it is so alien to our innermost being.

No other religion requires the death of God to redeem His creatures. No other religion resolves the helplessness of man in the face of sin in such a way. No other religion demonstrates the boundless love and mercy of God in that when we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

But it is not only His death that is meaningful, but even more so His being raised to life again. For that is the proof of the efficacy of His sacrifice.

He partook of flesh, because we are flesh. He died because we are subject to death. But He rose again because He refused to lose us to the rebellion of sin. He loves us too much to see us lost forever.

Take advantage of that love today. Be shamelessly opportunistic and ask His forgiveness in sincere belief. It is your only hope.

Otherwise, the resounding cry of HE IS RISEN, is for you of no effect, and you will die in your sin.