In Luke chapter 23 we read of the trials and crucifixion of Jesus. If
you’re familiar with the story, you’ll notice that as long as the Lord
Jesus was standing in the sinner’s stead, God allowed every kind of
indignity man could think of to be heaped on His blessed Son. They spit
in His face, they played a game of “guess who struck you with their
hand.”
The scripture tells us they flogged Him until His back looked like a
plowed field. Blood flowed out of all these wounds. They made a crown of
thorns and jammed it on His head. They put a beautiful purple king's
robe on Him and knelt before Him in mockery. They said, “Hail, king of
the Jews.”
He suffered more pain and indignity when He carried the cross out to
Golgotha and was nailed, naked and bleeding, to the cross. The final act
of indignity that God allowed sinful man to inflict on His Son was to
permit one of the soldiers to pierce His side with a spear.
The spear that pierced His side drew forth the blood that can save us
from the penalty of our sins.
After that act, I think God just said, “I gave My Son into your hands and
you have shown all the hatred and bitterness that's in the human heart.
From now on, no unclean hand will touch Him.” You know, from that time
on, only hands of believers are recorded as touching Him.
Luke 23:50-56. (Read the Scripture)
They turned sadly away, intending to return after the Sabbath, to embalm
the body of Jesus. They prepared spices and ointments, and rested the
Sabbath, in obedience to the commandment.
This is significant. Jesus was born under the Law, the Ten Commandments
and all the Law. He died under the Law, and keeping the Sabbath was a
part of the Law required by God.
The greater significance here is that in the first verse of chapter 24,
the Day of Grace begins. This ends the time when man was judged by God on
the basis of keeping the commandments and it begins the time that man is
judged by faith in God's Son.
This is why the resurrection is the greatest event in the history of
mankind.
This Christ, who was born of a virgin, who had healed the sick and lame,
gave sight to the blind, raised people from the dead, and proclaimed the
gospel of the kingdom had died on the cross for sinners. His body was in
the tomb and no one on earth knew for sure if our redemption was an
accomplished fact or not.
LUKE 24:1-6. (Read the Scripture)
If Jesus hadn’t come forth from that
tomb there would have been no evidence that the sin question had been
settled. But, in His resurrected body, that was seen by hundreds of
people, was proof that God had accepted that sacrifice for the sin of all
mankind.
Now, Heb.7:25 tells us this: He is able to save them to the uttermost
that come unto God by Him, seeing He ever lives to make intercession for
them.
He’s not on the cross as He is sometimes shown. He can’t save you from
there. He’s not in the tomb, either. He's not here on earth limited in a
physical body. He is not here, He is risen! He's ascended. He's in
heaven, seated at the right hand of God, still interceding for the
believer.
"He is risen!" the angel said. The greatest words this saved sinner
standing before you has ever heard! God has accepted His death and shed
blood to pay for my sins!
I have some questions to look into about this all important resurrection
of God's Son.
WHY IS THE RESURRECTION SO IMPORTANT?
Sin and death had come into the world by man. God has always demanded a
blood sacrifice for sin. His death and resurrection was God's way to
redeem fallen man back to Himself.
WHY DID DEATH COME INTO THE WORLD?
The first man God created had disobeyed Him. He had sinned and by doing
so earned the wages of sin, which the Bible says is death.
Gen. 3:17-19; "And unto Adam He said, Because you have listened to the
voice of thy wife, and have eaten of the tree, of which I commanded you,
saying, You shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for your sake; in
sorrow shalt you eat of it all the days of your life; 18: Thorns also and
thistles shall it bring forth to you; and you shall eat the herb of the
field; 19: In the sweat of your face shall you eat bread, till you return
unto the ground; for out of it were you taken: for dust you art, and to
dust you shall return."
The sentence of death for sin had been passed on man. Man sinned, and God
can't accept sin into His presence. God told Adam that because he
listened to his wife and ate of the fruit that God had forbidden, the
ground would be cursed and thorns and thistles would grow. Adam was to
scratch a living from it, and would sweat and toil all his life, and then
he would die. God made him out of the dust and he would return to dust.
Romans 5:12-14: "Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world,
and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have
sinned: 13: For until the law, sin was in the world: but sin is not
imputed when there is no law. 14: Nevertheless death reigned from Adam
to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of
Adam's transgression, who is the figure of Him that was to come."
When Adam sinned, sin entered the entire human race. Adam’s sin brought
death, so sin spread to everyone, because we all have sinned.
People sinned even before the Law was given. Before the Law was given,
there was no law to break, since it hadn't yet been given. But, because
of sin, they all died anyway - even though they didn’t disobey an
explicit commandment of God as Adam did.
What a contrast between Adam and Christ, who was yet to come!
WHY WAS THE RESURRECTION NECESSARY?
Romans 3:23: For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
Romans 6:23: The wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal
life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
God has shown us a different way of being right in His sight, not by
obeying the Law but by a way promised in the Scriptures a long time ago.
We're made right in God's sight when we trust in Jesus Christ to take
away our sins. Each of us can be saved in this way, no matter who we are
or what we have done. When God says all, He means all.
When we accept Jesus as our Savior, God in His kindness and mercy
declares us not guilty. It's through the shed blood of His Son that our
sin debt was paid, and the fact that God resurrected His Son from the
dead is the proof of that.
That's why the resurrection, which we celebrate on Easter, is so
important.
HOW WAS ETERNAL LIFE MADE AVAILABLE TO MAN?
ROMANS 5:15-21: "But the gift is not like the trespass [sin]. For if the
many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God's grace
and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ,
overflow to the many! 16: Again, the gift of God is not like the result
of the one man's sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought
condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought
justification. 17: For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned
through that one man, how much more will those who receive God's abundant
provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through
the one man, Jesus Christ. [18] Consequently, just as the result of one
trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of
righteousness was justification that brings life for all men. [19] For
just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made
sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be
made righteous. [20] The law was added so that the trespass might
increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, [21] so
that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through
righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."
What a difference there is between our sin and God’s generous gift of
forgiveness.
This one man, Adam, brought death to all mankind through his sin. But
this other Man, Jesus Christ, brought forgiveness that is available to
all through God’s gift. The result of God’s very gracious gift is
different from the result of one man’s sin. Adam’s sin led to
condemnation, but we have this free gift of being accepted by God, even
though we're guilty of many sins.
The sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to come to every one of us,
but all who will receive God’s wonderful gift of righteousness will live
eternally in triumph over sin and death through this one man, Jesus
Christ.
Adam’s one sin brought condemnation on everyone, but Christ’s one act of
righteousness can make you right in God’s sight and give you eternal
life.
Because one person disobeyed God, and we all are descended from that one
man, we all are born sinners. But because one other Person [Jesus] obeyed
God, those that believe God's Word will be made righteous in His sight.
God’s law was given so that we all could see how sinful we are. Just as
sin rules over us all and brings death to us, now God’s wonderful
kindness rules instead, giving us a right standing with God and resulting
in eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
WHAT WILL ETERNAL LIFE IN HEAVEN BE LIKE?
Rev. 21:3-4: "And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the
dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his
people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. [4] He will
wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning
or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away."
Rev. 21:22-27. "I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord
God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. [23] The city does not need the
sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and
the Lamb is its lamp. [24] The nations will walk by its light, and the
kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it. [25] On no day will
its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there. [26] The glory
and honor of the nations will be brought into it. [27] Nothing impure
will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or
deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of
life."
Rev. 22:3-5: "No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and
of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him.
[Remember what the curse was from Gen. 3? Work, sweat, eat, die, dust]
[4] They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. [5]
There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or
the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they
will reign for ever and ever."
HOW DO I GET THIS ETERNAL LIFE?
If you or I could do one thing, or perform one act, no matter how large
or small, that could be a part of our salvation, then Christ's death on
the cross was useless. Salvation is by faith alone.
Eph. 2:8-9: "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and
this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-- [9] not by works, so
that no one can boast."
God saved you by His special favor when you believed. You and I can’t
take credit for this; it's a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for
the good things we've done, so none of us can boast about it.
Romans 10:9-10: "That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord,"
and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be
saved. [10] For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified,
and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved."
God wants us to own up to the fact that we are sinners without a thing to
offer Him that can make us right in His eyes. Being a good person is a
wonderful attribute, but it absolutely won't get you to heaven. All our
giving and doing and church going has no merit at all in our quest for
salvation.
The Bible tells us that when we were utterly helpless, Christ came at
just the right time and died for us sinners.
God will only accept one thing. That one thing is the admission of our
guilt as sinners, and our belief that Christ died for those sins. It's
personal. It's one on One. It's between you and God. It's not by
anything we can do. It's by faith alone. If you are outside of Christ
today, or if you're just not sure, I ask you to please accept His offer
of salvation right now.
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