“Christmas-2020, Part 3: The Significance of Christ's Resurrection” by Romans:
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Last week, I stated in the introduction to the Discussion, “You may be wondering as Christmas is upon us, and we are celebrating the birth of Christ, why would I choose a topic that might seem to be better suited for when we commemorate Jesus' Death and Resurrection?” Last week I spoke of Simeon in Luke 2 who held the infant Jesus in the Temple and said, “Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word: For mine eyes have seen thy salvation, Which thou hast prepared before the face of all people.”
Jesus came to this earth to bring Salvation to this world. And that Salvation could only be brought about by His Sacrificial Death. That is why His birth is celebrated at all. As Simeon said as he held the infant Jesus in his arms, “Mine eyes have seen Thy Salvation... prepared before the face of all people.”
I believe it is not only valid, but essential in celebrating Jesus' birth, to have it brought to our attention, the reason for His birth: Beginning in Romans 5:8: “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.”
Did you get that: We are reconciled by His death, but we are saved by His life, and that life was evidenced by and through the Resurrection. Jesus not only was born to die, but He also died to be raised to Life, Immortal Life, and called, “the beginning, the firstborn from the dead” (Colossians 1:18), signifying that we would follow Him in our own resurrection to immortality. And that is what I want to focus on and examine, this evening.
Matthew Henry writes, “We were without strength, in a sad condition; and, which is worse, altogether unable to help ourselves out of that condition - lost, and no visible way open for our recovery - our condition deplorable, and in a manner desperate; and, therefore our salvation is here said to come in due time. God's time to help and save is when those that are to be saved are without strength, that his own power and grace may be the more magnified. It is the manner of God to help at a dead lift,
2. He died for the ungodly; not only helpless creatures, and therefore likely to perish, but guilty sinful creatures, and therefore deserving to perish; not only mean and worthless, but vile and obnoxious, unworthy of such favour with the holy God. Being ungodly, they had need of one to die for them, to satisfy for guilt, and to bring in a righteousness. This he illustrates as an unparalleled instance of love; herein God's thoughts and ways were above ours.
The precious fruits of his death. Justification and reconciliation are the first and primary fruit of the death of Christ: We are justified by his blood , reconciled by his death. Sin is pardoned, the sinner accepted as righteous, the quarrel taken up, the enmity slain, an end made of iniquity, and an everlasting righteousness brought in. This is done, that is, Christ has done all that was requisite on his part to be done in order hereunto, and, immediately upon our believing, we are actually put into a state of justification and reconciliation.
Justified by his blood. Our justification is ascribed to the blood of Christ because without blood there is no remission. The blood is the life, and that must go to make atonement. In all the propitiatory sacrifices, the sprinkling of the blood was of the essence of the sacrifice. It was the blood that made an atonement for the soul.
2. Hence results salvation from wrath: Saved from wrath, saved by his life. When that which hinders our salvation is taken away, the salvation must needs follow. Nay, the argument holds very strongly; if God justified and reconciled us when we were enemies, and put himself to so much charge to do it, much more will he save us when we are justified and reconciled. He that has done the greater, which is of enemies to make us friends, will certainly the less, which is when we are friends to use us friendly and to be kind to us.
And therefore the apostle, once and again, speaks of it with a much more. - We shall be saved from wrath, from hell and damnation. It is the wrath of God that is the fire of hell; the wrath to come, so it is called. The final justification and absolution of believers at the great day, together with the fitting and preparing of them for it, are the salvation from wrath here spoken of; it is the perfecting of the work of grace.
- Reconciled by his death, saved by his life. His life here spoken of is not to be understood of his life in the flesh, but his life in heaven, that life which ensued after his death. He was dead, and is alive, (as we see in Revelation 1:18). We are reconciled by Christ humbled, we are saved by Christ exalted. The dying Jesus laid the foundation, in satisfying for sin, and slaying the enmity, and so making us salvable; thus is the partition-wall broken down, atonement made, and the attainder reversed; but it is the living Jesus that perfects the work: he lives to make intercession, (see Hebrews 7:25).
It is Christ, in his exaltation, that by his word and Spirit effectually calls, and changes, and reconciles us to God, is our Advocate with the Father, and so completes and consummates our salvation. Christ dying was the testator, who bequeathed us the legacy; but Christ living is the executor, who pays it. Now the arguing is very strong. He that puts himself to the charge of purchasing our salvation will not decline the trouble of applying it.”
The Resurrection of Jesus Christ is a most pivotal part of our Salvation: Let's read my opening verse once, again: Romans 5:8: “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.”
Yes, Jesus died. But, unlike every other leader, or even every other human being, He, and He alone, was raised not merely to life, but to immortality. Lazarus, Jairus' daughter, and others whom Jesus raised, did not remain alive. They all died within a few years or decades of their being raised back to life. Jesus alone was raised once, and for all time. His ministry continues on our behalf as we read in Hebrews 7:25: “Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.”
For the Discussion this week, I will use once again for my basic Outline, (with just a few exceptions), the headers and points from “The World's Bible Handbook” by Robert T. Boyd. As much as none of Jesus' followers seemed to expect the Messiah to die, much less be executed, it is just as true that they did not expect Him to be raised from the dead. This is true even though Jesus foretold both events repeatedly to His disciples throughout His ministry. Notice just a few examples of this:
First, using prophetic symbolism, Jesus said in Matthew 12:39-40: But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas: For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.”
And then, in much plainer English which you might think no one could possibly miss, Jesus told His disciples in Mark 10:33-34: “Behold, we go up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man shall be delivered unto the chief priests, and unto the scribes; and they shall condemn him to death, and shall deliver him to the Gentiles: And they shall mock him, and shall scourge him, and shall spit upon him, and shall kill him: and the third day he shall rise again.”
These events were recorded for centuries. This prophetic Psalm which referred to Jesus' Resurrection, was written by David 1,000 years before it took place: Psalms 16:10: “For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.” Peter actually quoted this Psalm to those assembled on the Day of Pentecost just weeks after Jesus' Resurrection.
We read beginning in Acts 2:22: “Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know: Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain...”
He continues, “Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it. For David speaketh concerning him, I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for he is on my right hand, that I should not be moved: Therefore did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad; moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope: Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.”
Many years later, the Apostle Paul also quoted this Psalm as he addressed the Jews assembled in the synagogue in Antioch in Acts 13. When Paul would arrive in a new place, his first order of business was to preach Jesus as Messiah to the Jews.
No one was expecting the long-awaited Messiah to be executed before re-establishing the Kingdom of God on earth. And even His disciples, in spite of Him telling them in as clear language as He could tell them, that Jesus would then be raised from the dead. But Jesus' Resurrection is a critically important ingredient in out Salvation. Notice Paul's words on just how important it is:
“Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen: And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain. Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ: whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not...
For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised: And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.”
If Jesus did not rise, His disciples were deceived, they suffered unimaginable trials and died... all for nothing. Their preaching was vain, making our faith vain, making us false witnesses, making the Christian Church a farce, and the Christian experience a complete fabrication based on nothing. But then that also means we are still in ours sins. We do not die to be raised to immortal Glory, we die like animals, and are put in the ground from which we never return. As Paul so powerfully concluded, “If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.”
The Sermon Bible says of this: The Certainty of the Resurrection Demonstrated. There are two propositions furnished by the Apostle in our text—each is comprehensive of many truths, and may be divided into more. The first is, that if there be no resurrection from the dead then Christ is not risen—a proposition which assumes or affirms that the resurrection of all men is a necessary consequence of the resurrection of Christ; so that to prove the one is to establish the other.
The second, that if Christ be not risen "our preaching is vain and your faith is vain," a proposition which clearly makes Christianity nothing better than a worthless delusion if you take it from the article of the Redeemer’s resurrection.
I. Consider first the necessary connection between the resurrection of Christ and the resurrection of all men. If Christ rose, He rose not as an individual, but as head of the whole race; His was the resurrection of human nature, and therefore must all men eventually rise.
If, on the other hand, the dead are to rise, Christ must have risen; they can rise only through human nature having been redeemed from its own dark image by the resurrection of Christ. All would agree in the statement that if men are not to die then is Adam not dead. They are bound by the same reasoning to assent to the proposition of our text, that if there be no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen.
II. Consider the indispensableness of the truth of the resurrection to the worth of Christianity. If Christ be not risen, we shall not rise. But if we shall not rise, our nature is still unredeemed, and the Mediator must have failed in the great work which He came to achieve.
If Christ have not secured a resurrection for the body, He cannot have secured eternal happiness for the soul. If He succeeded He threw life into human dust, as well as ransomed the human spirit; if He failed He has as much left the soul in hell as the body in the grave. In pleading for the truth of the resurrection we are pleading for the whole Christian system. H. Melvill, Penny Pulpit, No. 1502.”
But I have Good News for you. Jesus did rise from the dead. And the Word of God is True and dependable. Why do I
believe that? Because I have Faith? Yes, I do have Faith, but much more than that, allow me to present 5 reasons to establish beyond any doubt that the New Testament Writers' reports of Jesus' Resurrection was verifiable Truth. I would like to give full credit for this portion of tonight's Discussion to Frank Turek, and Chapter 11 of his book: “I Don't Have Enough Faith To Be An Atheist.” The actual Chapter 11 includes 10 reasons, but for times' sake, I will list the five most important ones.
Reason Number One: All four Gospel Accounts include embarrassing details about themselves. If the whole story of Jesus were complete fiction, and part of your lie is that this Messiah that you invented commissioned you to tell the world about Him, you are not also going to include your Messiah questioning your faith, your perception, and your ability to understand what He was talking about. You would not invented your Messiah calling your present leader “Satan.” No, if you are going to fabricate a Messiah, you would never include the details that we find in all four Gospel Accounts.
Reason Number Two: If the identity of the Messiah, and His death, and His resurrection, were all merely pure invention, you would never write that He was called a “deceiver,” a “drunkard,” disbelieved by His own brothers, thought to be “mad” by His own family, deserted by many followers, opposed by the High Priest, that His own fellow Jews turned on Him and tried to stone Him, and then basically blackmailed the Roman Governor to have him crucified.
Reason Number Three: The writers of the New Testament carefully, meticulously distinguished Jesus' words from their own. If they were set to invent a new religion, they could have attributed to Jesus every word of doctrine that they wanted people to follow. There would have been no debate about whether Gentiles had to be circumcised or obey the Law of Moses or any of the other controversies that arose.
All the apostles would have had to say was, if Jesus were a figment of their imagination, “Well Jesus specifically said...” Fill in the blank regarding any argument that they would have wanted settle. But they didn't do that. There were frequent disputes in the Church that needed to be settled, none of which were settled with “Well, Jesus said...” solutions.
Reason Number Four: If Jesus were a fictional Messiah whose Resurrection were also every bit as fabricated, the first witnesses to the resurrection would have been the disciples bravely going to the tomb. Instead, how did they paint themselves? Even after being told the tomb was empty, even after seeing the empty tomb for themselves, we read in John 20:19: “Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews.”
But who told them the tomb was empty to begin with? The women who followed Jesus are depicted as bravely going to the tomb, unescorted, in the dark, braving even the squad of armed Roman soldiers who were anticipating the grave to be robbed by Jesus' followers, in order the claim a resurrection. And where were the men while the women went to the grave? They were hiding behind locked doors.
Keep in mind, also, that women were very lowly regarded in that culture, such that a woman's testimony in a court of law could not be admitted on the grounds that their word was “unreliable”! So who do each of the Gospel writers identify as the original witnesses of Jesus' Resurrection? Women! No sane males in that culture would ever have included details such as these in a story which they, themselves, concocted!
Reason Number Five: Under threats from Jewish Leaders, and the penalty of death from the Roman Authorities, the writers of the New Testament abandoned beliefs and customs that had been long-held and cherished and lived by for over ten centuries! If it were all a lie, why would they all but one, (John, who was exiled to Patmos) willingly go to their deaths instead of easily saving their own lives by just admitting that it was a lie, for an invented Messiah and His fabricated Resurrection?
The claims that they died for brought them nothing but grief, slander, rejection by the culture, family and religion, arrest, confiscation of property, imprisonment, torture and execution. Am I to understand that they endured all of this in order to perpetuate a lie which they, themselves, fabricated? Plenty of people have died for various religious, political, military and other causes. These martyrs all believed in the causes for which they sacrificed their lives.
But I hasten to add that no one dies for a known lie! No one endures impaling, being skinned alive, burned at the stake, being scourged and crucified for an utterly unprofitable lie! They wouldn't have... and they didn't... because everything they wrote and everything they preached, and everything they died for was True!
So let's now look at the positive evidences of the Resurrection: a.) The empty tomb: Luke 24:2: “And they found the stone rolled away from the sepulchre. And they entered in, and found not the body of the Lord Jesus. And it came to pass, as they were much perplexed thereabout, behold, two men stood by them in shining garments: And as they were afraid, and bowed down their faces to the earth, they said unto them, Why seek ye the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen:”
Let me just make this point: I would have been perfectly satisfied if Mr. Boyd in his Handbook had merely listed the various appearances, but he took it a step further and also included the Spiritual Role that Jesus fulfilled in each appearance. Let me show you what I mean:
Jesus appeared to Mary Magdalene as Consoler beginning in John 20:11: After Mary was asked by the angels, “Woman, why weepest thou? She saith unto them, Because they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him. And when she had thus said, she turned herself back, and saw Jesus standing, and knew not that it was Jesus.
Jesus saith unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? whom seekest thou? She, supposing him to be the gardener, saith unto him, Sir, if thou have borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away. Jesus saith unto her, Mary. She turned herself, and saith unto him, Rabboni; which is to say, Master.”
He appeared to the disciples as the Restorer of their joy in John 20:19: “Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you. And when he had so said, he shewed unto them his hands and his side. Then were the disciples glad, when they saw the Lord.”
Jesus appeared to Peter as the Friend Who never forsakes in Luke 24:33: “And they rose up the same hour, and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven gathered together, and them that were with them, Saying, The Lord is risen indeed, and hath appeared to Simon.”
He appeared to the two disciples on the Road to Emmaus as the sympathetic Instructor beginning in Luke 24:13: “And, behold, two of them went that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was from Jerusalem about threescore furlongs. And they talked together of all these things which had happened. And it came to pass, that, while they communed together and reasoned, Jesus himself drew near, and went with them. But their eyes were holden that they should not know him. And he said unto them, What manner of communications are these that ye have one to another, as ye walk, and are sad?”
They spoke to Him about how they thought the Messiah had come at last, but the chief priests delivered him to be condemned to death. As He was about to depart from them, they invited Him in, and before disappearing from their sight He said, “O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken: Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory? And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself” (Luke 24:13-25).
He appeared to the disciples in the Upper Room (when Thomas was absent) as the Restorer of Peace beginning in John 20:19: “Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you...”
Then He appeared to the disciples when Thomas was the Confirmer of the Faith beginning in John 20:26: “And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you. Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing. And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God. Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.”
He showed Himself alive to five-hundred brethren at once, Jesus appeared as the Resurrection and the Life. Notice 1 Corinthians 15:6: “After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep.” Jesus showed Himself to His half-brother James, Jesus appeared as an Assurance, as we read in 1 Corinthians 15:7: “After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles.”
To the eleven, Jesus' appearance was as the embodiment of Leadership and Authority beginning in Matthew 28:16: “Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them. And when they saw him, they worshipped him: but some doubted. And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.”
To Stephen, Jesus appeared as High Priest. We read in Acts 7:55: “But he (Stephen), being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God.” Notice Hebrews 8:1: “Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum: We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens;”
Jesus appeared to Paul on the Road to Damascus as Victor in Acts 9:3: “And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven: And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest...”
To Paul in the Temple, Jesus appeared as Protector and Comforter. We read in Acts 22:17: “And it came to pass, that, when I was come again to Jerusalem, even while I prayed in the temple, I was in a trance; And saw him saying unto me, Make haste, and get thee quickly out of Jerusalem: for they will not receive thy testimony concerning me... And he said unto me, Depart: for I will send thee far hence unto the Gentiles.”
Later in Acts 23:11 we read: “And the night following the Lord stood by him, and said, Be of good cheer, Paul: for as thou hast testified of me in Jerusalem, so must thou bear witness also at Rome.”
The Resurrection of Jesus Christ, as evidenced by His Post-Burial Appearances had many positive effects: Consider, first of all, the change wrought in the disciples: They went from cowering behind locked doors, to openly and boldly proclaiming the Name of Christ in public, and in defiance of the orders and threats of the same rulers that sent Jesus to His death, just a few weeks earlier.
Jesus' Resurrection established His Deity. We read in Romans 1:3: “Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh; And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead:”
Jesus' Resurrection furnishes justification for believers: Notice beginning in Romans 4:23: “Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him; But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead; Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.”
Jesus' Resurrection gives believers a living hope: We read beginning in 1 Peter 1:3: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”
Jesus' Resurrection enables believers to bear fruit: We read in Romans 7:4: “Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God.”
Jesus is celebrated as the Babe in the Manger at this time of year. But my goal was also to remind us the reason for the celebration: Jesus is our Life, our Forgiveness, our Salvation, our Victory, our Eternity and our membership in the Family and Kingdom of God, all made possible by His Death and Resurrection.
We celebrate His birth because of the Gifts He gave us by stepping away from the Throne of Heaven, forfeiting Divine Rank, Privilege and Power, and being made flesh, being made a curse, and being made sin for us. The Apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 15:50: “But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.” Jesus was born to die. But He died to be raised again. And because He rose again, we, too, can and will rise, putting on immortality and be raised with Glory as He was raised. And we thank God with all of our hearts for Jesus, and for all He has given us through His Son.
This concludes this Evening's Discussion: “Christmas_2020, Part 3, The Significance of Jesus' Resurrection.”
This Discussion was originally presented “live” on December 23rd, 2020.
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