The Lord is Risen, Hallelujah!
The resurrection has many repercussions and accomplishments. Here are some of them:
- It proves The Word of God is true. He said He will suffer many things from the elders and chief priest and scribes, be killed and raised on the third day (Matt 16:21). Psalm 16:10 says You will not leave my soul in Sheol, nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption. Both were fulfilled.
- Coinciding with the Feast of First Fruits, the resurrection brought about the First Fruit from the dead, the Lord Jesus (1Cor 15:20-21) and serves as a pattern for the resurrection of those who believe.
- “It is finished.” What was finished? Daniel 9:24 showed us the purpose and mission of the Messiah – “to finish the transgression, to make an end of sin; to make reconciliation for iniquity; to bring everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy.” All was fulfilled. It was finished.
Jesus was innocent
If you carefully go over the trial that Jesus went through, the conclusion you will draw is that He was innocent, not guilty of the charges. The charge by the religious leaders against the Lord is that He was guilty of blasphemy; He being a man equates Himself to God. Before Pilate, the charge was changed to “treason”, that is that He is the king of the Jews and because Caesar is king, having another king is treasonous. To the first charge, we know that He did not blaspheme God because He is the Son of God and that He is God; He is therefore not guilty. To the second charge, when Pilate asked Him if He is the king of the Jews, His response to Pilate was that “He is indeed a king but His kingdom is not of this world.” and therefore not a competitor or a threat to Caesar. Therefore, He is also not guilty of the second charge. Pilate wanted to release Him. But, why is it important to point these out? It is important because if He was guilty, then the punishment He was given (death on the cross) was for His own sin or offense. If He was not guilty, then He is qualified to pay for the sin of another in a substitutionary manner. That being the case, the scriptures can now be fulfilled. He who knew no sin became sin for us. In this, the dilemma that the Father was placed into, by our sin, a Holy and Just God who must deal with and punish sin but is so Loving and merciful that He wanted also to deliver us from the punishment, was settled. What took place is the Son of God suffered and died for the punishment we deserve. Calvary was His substitutionary death and a propitiation, an appeasement for the punishment that the Holy God must impose on sin.
Revealing Jesus, Revealing the Father
In John 17:1-2, Jesus prayed “Father the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that your Son may glorify You.” Glory in the bible has many different meanings. The most often meaning is “weighty or worthy of much importance”. Another meaning is “glory is something that one can boast about”. In this verse, the most appropriate meaning of glory or glorify is “to reveal”. So, to paraphrase the verse, let us substitute “glorify” with the word “reveal” and we will understand what Jesus was praying about clearly. “Father, the hour has come. Reveal your Son, that Your Son may also reveal You.” Reveal Your Son as the Redeemer, the Lamb who was to be slain, the Passover Lamb, the Lamb who takes away the sin of the world. By Your revealing Me, I will also reveal You. Reveal You as the Holy God, who has to punish sin, who loves Your Only Begotten Son, who loves the world that You were willing to give Him up to die a cruel death so sin can be atoned for. You are such an awesome God!
How Do we know the sacrifice was accepted?
In the OT, whenever sacrifice was offered, the people were sure that the sacrifice was accepted because they see a supernatural, unmistakable response from God. Let us consider these 2 events:
- The Lord swore to Abraham that He will fulfill all His promises (to give him descendants as many as the stars in heaven and to give his descendants the Land) to Him. As a proof, the Lord asked him to bring a 3 year old heifer, a 3 year old female goat, a 3 year old ram, a turtle dove and a young pigeon as an offering. In Gen 15:17-18, we read that a smoking oven and burning torch passed between the pieces and consumed the sacrifice. The sacrifice was accepted and the scent and smoke went up to heaven.
- When Elijah battled with the 850 prophets of Baal and had a contest with them, he told the people to prepare 2 bulls, one for Baal and another for the Lord. He said the god or God who answers by fire, He is God. Baal’s prophets did everything they could to get Baal consume the offering but Baal did not show up. But, for Elijah, the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the sacrifice and its smoke rose up to heaven.
Do you see the supernatural response from God in these 2 examples? In the case of the Lord Jesus’ sacrificial death, He was crucified, a Lamb without blemish, died, laid in a tomb and on the third day rose back to life. Thereafter, He was taken up into heaven. His sacrifice accepted by God, also in a supernatural response, like an offering whose smoke and aroma rose up to heaven.
Conclusion
In the same chapter in John (17:2-3), it is written,
“As You have given Him authority over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him. And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.”
It is not to be taken lightly, but, the Lord’s coming to the cross is intended to bring about eternal life to those that are being saved. That those who are being saved will understand the suffering that the Lord endured was to pay for their sin and respond to Him with worship, praise and gratitude.
The verse says “that they may know You and Your Son”. The verse did not say that they may know about You and Your Son but to “know” You, meaning to come have a personal, intimate relationship with You and Your Son. To know God is to have oneness with Him (not possible with a stranger), to have a fellowship (sharing together of everything) with Him, to fear and love Him, to learn to be content with what He gives, and to make Him lead, to entrust your life to Him. It means to know Him just like you know your spouse or best friend. And, He must also know you. This means spending quality time learning from Him, speaking to Him and getting your life impacted by such relationship. In other words, answering His invitation, to come and follow Him. Following from afar, indifference, mediocrity and superficiality have no place in such a relationship.
