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The Nature of
The Resurrection |
Dear Brethren,
We are in the midst of the counting of weeks between Passover and Pentecost. It is
50 days from the Wave Sheaf Offering to Pentecost. Jesus was resurrected on
a Saturday evening by His Father but He did not immediately ascend into
heaven. He remained on earth and began to appear to the disciples and other
brethren. He appeared first to Mary Magdalene, then to two disciples on the
road to Emmaus, then to the apostles behind closed doors, except later to
Thomas, and at one point He appeared to more than 500 of the brethren all at
once. Then forty days after His passion He was taken into heaven. If we
were marking the days we would note this occurrence this coming week.
“The former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to
do and teach, Until the day in which He was taken up, after that He through
the Holy Spirit had given commandments unto the apostles whom He had
chosen: To whom also He showed Himself alive after His passion by many
infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things
pertaining to the Kingdom of God: And, being assembled together with them,
commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the
promise of the Father, which, saith He, ye have heard of me. For John truly
baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many
days hence.” (Acts 1:1-5)
The purpose of this Countdown is to show that the resurrection of Jesus Christ
is a type of our own coming resurrection. It is most important to reflect
upon this as we draw near to Pentecost. The Feast of Pentecost is
intricately tied to the resurrection of the saints. We will be looking at
the Scriptures that tie the resurrection of Jesus to our own resurrection to eternal life.
First we need to ascertain from the Scriptures that Jesus in fact died and that He
was subsequently raised back to life by His Father. When we speak of a
resurrection, we are speaking of an awakening from the dead, whether it be
the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the saints, all mankind, or the
incorrigibly wicked. We need to understand how to put God’s Word together
correctly – less we become deceived.
Jesus said, "Destroy this temple [referring to His being killed], and in three
days I will raise it up [referring to His resurrection]." (John 2:19)
Jesus did not say that He would bring Himself back to life on His own.
Jesus understood through His perfect Faith that God the Father was the
source of Life, and that He would not allow His body to see corruption.
“Who [Jesus] in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and
supplications with strong crying and tears unto Him [God the Father]
that was able to save Him from death, and was heard in that He
revered Him.” (Hebrews 5:7) Notice the perfect Faith of Jesus. He knew
His Father could be fully trusted to restore Him to Life – not fleshly life – but to the
glorious eternal life that they had shared for all eternity up to that
point. God the Father saved Jesus from death after He was dead! Jesus
could not resurrect Himself from death to life.
Brethren, what was the greatest miracle of all time? Was it the angelic
creation? Was it the creation of the vast universe? Or perhaps it was the
creation of man? No. Picture this: Jesus Christ – who created all things
– was dead. He was not glorious. He had no thoughts, no memory, no
breath, and no existence at all – only a lifeless body. At that time, God
the Father was all alone with His memory of what and who Jesus once was. In
the most exceedingly powerful miracle of all time, God the Father brought
again Jesus Christ into existence in full glory.
“The God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory… that ye may know what is
the hope of His calling, and what the riches of the glory of His inheritance
in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power to us-ward
who believe, according to the working of His mighty power, which He wrought
in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead, and set Him at His own
right hand in the heavenly places.” (Ephesians 1:17-20)
Not only was that the greatest miracle of all time – you and I are included. “That
ye may know what is the hope of His calling, and what the riches of the
glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding
greatness of His power to us-ward who believe”
Let’s look at a few verses that show that we, the saints, are integrally tied into
the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
“Therefore we are buried with Him by baptism into death: that like as Christ
was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also
should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the
likeness of His death, we shall be also in the likeness of His
resurrection.” (Romans 6:4-5)
“God hath both raised up the Lord, and will also raise up us by His own power.” (1 Corinthians 6:14)
“Knowing that He who raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also
by Jesus, and shall present us with you.” (2 Corinthians 4:14)
“If the Spirit of Him [God] that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, He
that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies
by His Spirit that dwells in you.” (Romans 8:11)
Brethren, Jesus hung around for 40 days to give us many infallible proofs
that He had been resurrected from death. He did that so that we might know
that we are to take part in His resurrection. The nature of the
resurrection is such that we are to share in the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
***
| Sermon: |
"The Nature of The Resurrection" |
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