Resurrection Is the Glory of the Gospel

Now, let me show in the rest of the Scriptures how powerful and profound this singular theme is: Peter in Acts 1:20-22, along with the other Apostles, the “women” who followed Jesus, His mother “Mary” and “His brothers” {vv. 13-14}, said of Judas Iscariot, “‘May another take his place of leadership.’  Therefore it is necessary to choose one of the men who have been with us the whole time the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from John’s Baptism to the time when Jesus was taken up from us.  For one of these must become a witness with us of His Resurrection.”  Matthias was to become a “witness of His Resurrection,” the astounding fact of the 1st century Faith.

In Peter’s preaching on the Day of Pentecost in Acts 2, the majority of what he has to say— from vv. 24-35— is occupied by the Resurrection and Ascension.  Acts 4 tells us, “the priests and the captain of the Temple Guard and the Sadducees came up to Peter and John while they were speaking to the people.  They were greatly disturbed because the Apostles were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the Resurrection of the Dead,” vv. 1-2.  It’s the same thing in v. 33, “with great power the Apostles continued to testify to the Resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and much grace was upon them all.”

We can go on.  Paul in Athens testifying before Greek philosophers— Acts 17:18  and 32 {“Paul was preaching the Good News about Jesus and the Resurrection.”}; Paul speaking to Jewish theologians in Jerusalem— Acts 23:6 {“I stand on trial because of my hope in the Resurrection of the Dead.”} and 24:21.  We see the Apostle testifying in his own defense before King Herod Agrippa and the Roman Governor Festus in Acts 26:22-23, “I have had God’s help to this very day, and so I stand here and testify to small and great alike.  I am saying nothing beyond what the prophets and Moses said would happen— that the Christ would suffer and, as the first to rise from the dead, would proclaim Light to His own People and to the Gentiles.”  Peter in 1 Peter 1:3-5 wrote: “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!  In His great mercy he has given us new birth [Anagennao- lit., ‘we are born again:’] into a living hope through the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade— kept in Heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the Last Time.”

In Romans 6:4 Paul say’s, “We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new Life,” a Resurrection Life …in Time.  This is for now, not later.  In v. 11 he says, “In the same way, count, consider, add up the facts and come to the conclusion, to this relational reality: that you are dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.  Therefore, in light of this, do not let sin reign over you, don’t let it run amok, wreaking havoc in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires” {RRExp}.  In Ephesians 2:4 he wrote, “But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions....  And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus,” vv. 5a-6.

We believe Christ died for us, that’s true, as a Substitute on our behalf— 2 Corinthians 5:15-21.  But He was also raised for us {1 Cor. 15:12-22}; His Resurrection as much for us as His sacred Life and sacrificial Death.  Romans 5:17: “For if, by the trespass of the one man [the First Adam], death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and …the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man [the Second Adam], Jesus Christ.”’  Let me ask you a question.  Are you ‘reigning’ in your life, right now?  “Through the one Man, Jesus Christ”?  If not, why not?  We have been abundantly provided for in grace, we’ve been given the gift of a “righteousness” not our own to last beyond any Time we could conceive, we’ve been sealed in Christ by the Holy Spirit and this same Spirit sealed in us as a down-payment on “God’s possession” and the guarantee of “our inheritance” as Sons {Eph. 1:13-14}.  We were meant and we were made to “reign” in this Life as preparation for the next.

Let this be the challenge lingering in our hearts and lives this Easter Son-Day: as Sons and Daughters of the Most High God, we were meant and we were made for so much more than we have known, so much more than we presently possess in our daily experience.  May the Light of Christ’s Resurrection lead us to these riches.  Amen.

HJC	Ric Webb  |  Shepherd Heart’s Journey Community 9621 Tall Timber Blvd. |  Little Rock, AR 72204 t +1.501.455.0296
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