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JESUS DIED AND ROSE AGAIN!
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 27
1 Thessalonians 4:13-14

1 Corinthians 15:1-23

 

“…if we believe that Jesus

died and rose again…”

 

JESUS DIED AND ROSE AGAIN!
 
The death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ is the very foundation of the Gospel. We must believe in these two key facts about Christ in order to be saved. 1 Corinthians 15:3-4 very succinctly explain these thoughts: “…Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures.” In dying on the cross at Calvary, Jesus took the punishment of sin on our behalf. He received the wages of sin, which is death, and through that He made an atonement of sin for us. He was perfect and innocent, and did not deserve this death. Yet, it was a willing sacrifice that was made, whereby He laid down His life for our sakes.
 
But Jesus did not remain dead. On the third day, God the Father raised Him from the dead, demonstrating the fact that He had accepted the sacrifice of Christ and granted Him victory over death. Jesus is described as the firstfruits of them that slept (1 Cor 15:20). This means that He was the first to be risen from the dead with the glorified body, and like the first fruit that appears on a tree, it signals the fact that there are more to come. Through Christ, we can now have the hope of resurrection.
 
The promise then is that for those who believe that Jesus died and rose again from the dead, if they were to sleep (that is to say they die in Christ), they will one day be awoken to receive the same glorified, resurrected body that Christ has. That is the promise of the resurrection.
 
This is the wonderful promise of hope that Paul wanted every believer to be assured of. This is what we commemorate every year at Easter. We remember the death of Jesus on Good Friday, and on Easter Sunday, we celebrate the fact that Jesus rose again from the dead, and is now alive! Because He is living, we can declare together with Paul: “O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Cor 15:55-57).
 
THOUGHT: Am I afraid of death?
PRAYER: Father, I praise Thee for the wonderful redemption plan, that through Christ’s death and resurrection, I have the hope of eternal life.

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