April 19, 2019 ● 19-24
Sunday, April 21, is Easter Sunday. On Easter Sunday we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the grave. The next two blog posts will be focused on the resurrection. Part I is the basics of resurrection; Part II will deal with the impact of the resurrection for our faith.
Why is this discussion on the resurrection so important? Believing in the resurrection is key to our salvation, key to our faith, key to our belief in Jesus Christ as the Savior of the world.
THE BASICS OF THE RESURRECTION:
1. The FOUNDATION of our belief in the resurrection is the Word of God.
2 TIM. 3:16-17: All scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.
God’s Word is our authority on all matters concerning faith and life. We will either take the Bible as a whole or not take it all. The Bible is not like some buffet in a restaurant, only taking what we like and discarding what we don’t like.
2. The FUNDAMENTALS about resurrection is belief in the general teaching from the Word of God.
In Mark 12:18-27, Jesus was asked a question about personal relationships in the resurrection of the dead. The question was from a group of religious leaders who did not believe in the resurrection nor did they believe parts of the Old Testament. Jesus taught those questioning Him that personal relationships in the resurrection will be different, there will be no husbands and wives. In the resurrection, Jesus taught, we will know each other, but not as husbands and wives. Jesus also taught that marriage was not a reality in the resurrection. Jesus taught that just as angels are a special creation of God as His messengers, so too will the resurrected person be a special work of God.
ISA. 26:19: Your dead will live; their corpses will rise, you who lie in the dust, awake and shout for joy, for your dew is as the dew of the dawn, and the earth will give birth to the departed spirits.
EZE. 37:12-14: Therefore prophesy and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Behold, I will open your graves and cause you to come up out of your graves, my people; and I will bring you into the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the Lord, when I have opened your graves and caused you to come up out of your graves, my people. I will put My spirit within you and you will come to life, and I will place you on your own land. Then you will know that I the Lord have spoken and done it,” declares the Lord.
Read also: Job 14:14-15; 19:25-27 / Ps. 16:10; 17:15; 49:15 / Daniel 12:1-4
3. The FORCE of Jesus’ teaching about the resurrection is to believe in Him.
On at least three occasions as recorded in the Bible, Jesus taught He would be arrested, betrayed, crucified and then raised on the third day. Jesus told His disciples He would be resurrected, and He was.
Mark 10:33-34: saying, “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered to the chief priests and the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death and will hand Him over to the Gentiles. They will mock Him ad spit on Him and scourge Him and kill Him, and three days later He will rise again.”
4. The FACT of the resurrection is belief in the reality of the risen Lord.
Mark 16:6-7: And he said to them, “Do not be amazed; you are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who has been crucified. He has risen; He is not here; behold, here is the place where they laid Him. But go, tell His disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see Him, just as He told you.”
Paul wrote that after Jesus had been resurrected, there were over 500 people who saw Him (1 Cor. 15:5-8).
5. The FUTURE effect of believing in the resurrection is Jesus’ return one day.
1 Cor. 15:20: But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep.
The “first fruits” that Paul was referring to was those who would be resurrected on the day Jesus returns in power and with great glory.
1 COR. 15:52: In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.
1 THES. 4:16: For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead will rise first.
The resurrection of the dead is a fact that both the Old and New Testaments give witness to. I want to encourage you, this Easter weekend, to allow the Word of God to equip you to fully understand the power of God in the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
1 COR. 2:9: but just as it is written, “things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard, and which have not entered the heart of man, all that God has prepared for those who love him.’