Luke 9:22
"Saying, The Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be slain, and be raised the third day," Luke 9:22. To sum up in a few words what the resurrection of Christ accomplished, we would say it gives us full assurance regarding the promises of God. We can go as far as saying if Jesus Christ did not rise from the dead, then we can close our bibles and go home. The Scriptures make this clear in I Corinthians 15:1-20. "If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable," I Cor. 15:19. If this is our best life now then we are to be pitied. This means we have no hope for life after death, no hope in the promises of God, and all that we are doing is just stupid. But, Christ did rise again on the third day! We have hope in the promises of God! We are living for, longing for, and looking for the return of our resurrected Lord and Saviour! "Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure," I John 3:1-3.
The suffering and the death of Christ is extremely important, but without the resurrection, Christ's sinless life, suffering, and atoning death would do us no good. If we have a dead Saviour then we have a dead hope. The disciples were so consumed with Christ "not" suffering that they missed what He said about rising again on the third day. This is one reason they responded like they did when Christ gave His life on the cross, and on the third day when they heard the tomb was empty early that Sunday morning. "Hope" in this context means expectation of good; joyful and confident expectation of eternal salvation as the result of Christ's life, death, and resurrection. We have an expected hope. "To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory," Colossians 1:27. Jesus Christ is our source, ground, author of hope. Because of Christ we have a confident expectation of good. All whom Jesus Christ died for look forward to a glorious condition of blessedness. This is appointed and promised to all who have and will believe.
Can we trust the promises of God? "For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us, even by me and Silvanus and Timotheus, was not yea and nay, but in him was yea. For all the promises of God to him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us," II Corinthians 1:19-20. In Christ are all the promises of God fulfilled. These promises give us a great hope. "They are like the Gospel which exhibits them, consistent, and all of a piece; like the covenant which contains them, and is ordered in all things, and sure; and like the author of them, whose faithfulness and lovingkindness to his in Christ shall never fail; and like Christ himself, in whom they are, who is "the amen, the true and faithful witness, the same today, yesterday, and for ever"; by whose blood, the covenant, and all the promises of it, are ratified and confirmed, and in whom, who is the truth of them, they are all fulfilled." John Gill.
I hope we see how foundational the resurrection is to true Christianity. It gives us assurance that God is able to do what He has promised to do. Christ is the first fruits of the resurrection, and all who are in Christ will also be resurrected. This is a guarantee. The resurrection also magnifies the Trinity. Just as the Trinity is active from Genesis to Revelation, the plan and the performance of redemption, it is also active in the resurrection. Here are a few Scriptures confirming this truth. "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," Romans 6:4. "Paul, an apostle, (not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised him from the dead,)" Galatians 1:1.
We have Scripture stating the Father raised the Son, and we also have Scripture stating the Son raised Himself. "Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life that I might take it again. No man taketh if 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 commandment have I received of my Father," John 10:17-18. We also have Scripture stating the Holy Spirit raised Jesus from the dead. "But if the Spirit of him 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 dwelleth in you," Romans 8:11. The Trinity is clearly seen in the resurrection; creation, etc. If someone does not believe in the Trinity they destroy the resurrection, which destroys the promises and the hope we have in our resurrected Saviour.
If you take away the resurrection of Jesus Christ, you take away Christianity. If Christ is not raised from the dead, then He is just like every other religious leader, a liar and a sinner. This also makes us no different than the followers of every other religion. Hopeless. But, the resurrection is true. Jesus Christ died on the cross and fully paid the sin debt for all who have and will believe. On the third day He rose again giving us the assurance of justification. Christ completed the work He came to do.
Christ defeated death. Death is what the world fears, yet thousands of people die daily. "And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment," Hebrews 9:27. Death is the great equalizer. No matter your age, your lineage, your resources, or your wealth, you will die. "The rich and poor meet together: the LORD is the maker of them all," Proverbs 22:2. Jesus Christ is the difference; He is the Deliverer. He delivers all who believe from the wrath of God. He makes us a new creation in Him. He gives us eternal life. Because of Christ's resurrection, we can cry out like Paul in I Corinthians 15:55-57, "O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."
The disciples were learning. They initially missed some things Jesus taught, but understood them later. We have the whole counsel of God, which means we have the full revelation concerning Christ work to redeem sinful man. Have you trusted the Saviour to save your soul? And are you producing the biblical fruit of someone whom the Lord saved? Dear fellow Christian, we can rejoice in this life, and we can rejoice on the door step of death, all because of what Christ has done for us. What great love Christ loves us with!
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Soli Deo Gloria.
