But what does it mean to you
and me? What benefit(s) do we receive as followers of this Lord, Who conquered
even the grave and death? Let’s consider two benefits.
First and foremost,
there is victory.
We have
hope of Eternal Life. We have a guarantee of our own
resurrection one day, when He will raise each of us (who have placed our trust
in Him) from the dead.
While the whole world is in
constant fear for their lives, and do not have any assurance for their future,
the Christian is gloriously and literally, liberated. While the world is
inconsolable when loved ones die, the Christian is liberated from the fear of
death and the prolonged sorrow caused by death. How? By the fact of Jesus Christ’s Resurrection.
It is written in the Word
of God,
“that through death he might destroy him that had the power
of death, that is, the devil; And deliver them who through fear of death were
all their lifetime subject to bondage.”
- Hebrew 2:14b,15
“But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren,
concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have
no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also
which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.”
- 1 Thessalonians 4:13, 14
If the Lord remained in the grave like any other man, then He cannot
deliver anyone from the fear of death. Since
He arose however, we have a true deliverance. We really don’t need to and
should not be afraid of death. Neither need we mourn like the world does, in an
inconsolable way when a loved one goes on to be with the Lord.
Now the degree of fulfillment of any and all of His promises for us
depends upon our faith and obedience to His Word.
The resurrection to Life, is guaranteed by the Lord Himself (Who was
the first to resurrect) to all believers.
“Jesus said unto her, ‘I am the resurrection, and the life:
he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live’” - John
11:25
Secondly, because He is alive, He is able to execute, “His Will.” Something no one else has ever been around
to do or can do after their death. That
“Will”, of course is the New Testament (which has the Old Testament revealed in
it as well). This includes all of the many, many promises that are ready to be
realized by us who believe in Him. And all because He lives.
As an example, consider a fulfillment of just one such promise, which
He had foretold to His disciples.
The promise:
“And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils;
they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they
drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.” – Mark 16:17, 18
The
fulfillment:
“through
faith in his name hath made this man strong, whom ye see and know: yea, the
faith which is by him hath given him this perfect soundness in the presence of
you all.” - Acts 3:16
That Name of Jesus, which is above every other name in the
whole physical and spiritual universe, is Potent because it belongs to One Who
is Alive and Reigns as Lord.
As noted above, there is a multitude of promises that He is able to,
“make good” or guarantee because He is alive.
If the Lord didn’t rise from the dead, then our faith is indeed, vain
and hopeless as stated in 1 Cor 15:12-20,
“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. But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.”
Live out your
faith then, dear believer, in the Living Lord Jesus Christ by believing in His
Word
, the
Bible.
Also, by joyfully and
obediently, expecting Him to do great things in your life now and in
the future when you shall have transcended this life into the Eternal Life with
Him forever!
Faith in a
Resurrected and Living Lord means victory for He has promised,
“ ...lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.” – Matthew 28b