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Jesus Christ died for our sins and was resurrected to bring us back to a close relationship with God
When I was a little boy growing up in rural Ghana, members of the women’s ministry of our local church would go to the town cemetery at dawn on Easter Sunday and start walking from there singing loudly into the city. main street: “He is risen, He is risen.”
A common greeting among Christian believers down through the centuries is: “Christ is risen”, and the answer is: “He is indeed risen”.
In fact, the two saving events which constitute the center of the Christian faith are the death of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross at Calvary and his resurrection from the dead on the third day.
These saving historical events constitute the core of “the Good News”, the Gospel.
This is the Good News of Easter!
The apostle Paul writes about this to the people of Corinth: “I have passed on to you what was most important and what had also been passed on to me. Christ died for our sins, as the scriptures say. He was buried and he was raised from the dead on the third day, as the scriptures say. (1 Corinthians 15: 3-8 NLT).
First, Jesus died on the cross.
Throughout his life on earth, Jesus Christ lived under the cloud of his suffering and death.
And He was always aware of what He came to earth for.
He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
He himself never sinned, but would be the sin offering for all mankind; so that we who wanted to believe in him would become righteous before the holy God and become members of the kingdom of heaven (see 2 Corinthians 5:21).
Jesus died for our sins according to the Old Testament scriptures.
The text of the prophet Isaiah says it clearly: “… we thought that his troubles were a punishment from God, a punishment for his own sins! But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. … The Lord put our common sins upon him. (Isaiah 53: 4-6 NLT).
Spectacular things happened as Jesus died on the cross: “… suddenly the curtain of the temple sanctuary was torn in the middle; the earth shook, the rocks split and the graves opened.
The bodies of many godly men and women who had died were raised from the dead. (Luke 23: 44-45; Matthew 27: 51b-53 NLT).
Second, Jesus was buried. Joseph of the city of Arimathea and Nicodemus, two prominent religious leaders who were true disciples of Jesus, took care of his burial. “… Joseph went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. And Pilate gave the order to give it to him.
Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a long sheet of clean linen.
“He placed it in his new grave which had been dug in the rock. Then he rolled a large rock across the entrance. (Matthew 27: 57-60 NLT). Further, “they sealed the tomb and posted guards to protect it” (Matthew 27:66 NLT).
Third, Jesus rose from the dead on the third day, demonstrating victory over death and sin.
Jesus rose from the dead according to the Old Testament scriptures (see Psalm 16:10). Jesus himself told his disciples that he would rise from the dead after being slain by the leaders (see Matthew 16:21).
Evidence of Christ’s resurrection included his many appearances after the resurrection. Among these were:
• To Marie-Madeleine; Joanna, Mary, James’ mother, and several other women (Luke 24:10)
• To Peter
• To the two disciples of Jesus on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24: 13-34)
• His 11 disciples who were still terrified and who were behind closed doors on the day of the resurrection (Luke 24: 36-43).
The benefits of Christ’s death and resurrection for us are summarized in Romans 4:25: “He was delivered up to die for our sins, and was raised to be well with God.”
Finally, we turn to the future general resurrection of all peoples.
The Bible teaches that there is the resurrection of all dead on the day that God’s trumpet is sounded and for review and rewards.
The apostle Paul states: “… since we are preaching that Christ rose from the dead, why do some of you say that there will be no resurrection from the dead? For if there is no resurrection of the dead, then neither is Christ risen. But in fact, Christ rose from the dead. ”(1 Corinthians 15: 12-14 and 20a NLT).
The apostle Paul continues, “But let me reveal a wonderful secret to you. We will not all die, but we will all be transformed! It’ll be in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, when the last trumpet sounds. For when the trumpet sounds, those who have died will be resurrected to live forever. And we who live will also be transformed. For our dying bodies must be transformed into bodies that will never die; our mortal bodies must be transformed into immortal bodies. (1 Corinthians 15: 51-53 NLT).
We are all mortal people who, even after death, will go through the resurrection of the dead on the last day and face our Creator. CS Lewis, professor of philosophy at the University of Oxford and prolific Christian writer and thinker, said:
“There are no ordinary people. You have never spoken to a mere mortal… They are immortals when we joke, work, marry, snub and exploit – immortal horrors or everlasting splendors… who if you see, you would be tempted to worship.
“Immortal horror” or “immortal splendours”, to which of these two categories would you belong after the general resurrection of the dead?
Jesus Christ died for our sins and was resurrected to bring us back to a close relationship with God – the most precious Good News ever announced.
This is the Good News of Easter! May God bless you on Easter.
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