“JESUS, THE RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE”

Jesus said to Martha, “I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth on me, though he die, yet shall he live…” (John 11:25). Our hope of life after death rests upon these words. Without this hope, we have no real reason to live, nor any reason to have scruples. Indeed, a life without faith and hope of life beyond physical existence is “vanity and a striving after wind” (Eccl. 2:26).

It is sad to read of some whose love of “all that is in this world” (1 John 2:15-17), drove them to a persecution level of hatred toward those who preached a resurrection from the dead through Jesus (Acts 4). Most of their ancestors of the nation of Israel doubted God’s power to fulfill His oath to Abraham (1 Cor. 10). Their lack of faith also turned to rebellion and persecution of God’s messengers and appointed leaders. They boasted of being Abraham’s seed yet failed to acknowledge that the blessing of Abraham was through the righteousness of faith, regardless of physical lineage (cf. Rom. 4; Gal. 3). They rejected the message of the prophets, that Christ was a confirmation of the “promises made unto the fathers” (Rom. 15:8).

Jesus was the one promised to bring a blessing upon all families of the earth (Acts 3:25). That blessing has come because Jesus lives. His soul did not see corruption. He is now seated at the right hand of the Father and has given us the Holy Spirit as assurance of our eternal inheritance (cf. Rom. 8; Eph. 1). Jesus’ resurrection from the dead, is God’s assurance to us that all who die in faith, will be raised to eternal life. As God raised the Lord, God will raise up us through His power (1 Cor. 6:14).

“He is risen” declared the angel (Matt. 28:6). Because He lives, we have the, “…promise of the life which now is, and of that which is to come” (1 Tim. 4:8). Let us pray for one another lest there be, even the slightest resentment of Jesus’ resurrection, simply because of what we are called upon to give up in this life (cf. Heb. 11:25-26). 

“THE JOY OF DISCIPLESHIP”

The Hebrew Christians are reminded in Heb. 12:1 of a host of witnesses who, by their faith, gained God’s approval (cf. Heb. 11:2, 4-5, 39). These witnesses’ faith and hope were in Jesus and the resurrection through which they would, one day, obtain a better resurrection (Heb. 11:35); and the promise of eternal life (Heb. 11:39). That Jesus had risen from the dead, as prophesied, is seen from Heb. 11:40, “…apart from us they should not be made perfect.” Why is this statement important? Paul explained it as follows: “if Christ hath not been raised…ye are yet in your sins.” (1 Cor. 15:17). Simply put, there would be no “us” (Christians). For this reason, we read of Jesus, “…who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising shame, and hath sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Heb. 12:2).

It takes the proverbial eye of faith to see the unseen. To ‘see’ by faith, is to comprehend or understand why physical pain and suffering are connected to an incorruptible crown of life. It is known only through wisdom and understanding provided in God’s word. (cf. 1 Cor. 2:9-10).

The joy set before Jesus enabled Him, in the flesh, to endure the cross. Do you know that you and I were that joy? Jesus deemed the value of our souls well worth the shame of the cross. He looked beyond the physical suffering and physical death to the resurrection. His joy was to make that possible for us. His resurrection is our hope and assurance for a resurrection to eternal life (1 Cor. 15).  

What of our joy? In view of this great love for us, does it not renew our spirit within us? Let us encourage one another, lest we become weary. The Lord has provided the means to address that very thing: assembling. This is the path to joy: “not forsaking our own assembling together, as the custom of some is, but exhorting one another; and so much the more, as ye see the day drawing nigh.” (Heb. 10:25). In this, the saying is fulfilled, “Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.” (Prov. 27:17).