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Original Christian artwork: The cross, an instrument of
death stands in contrast to the glory of Christ's resurrection 3
days later. Jesus is not dead, He is risen!
The resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead changes
everything. The voices of darkness and unbelief had what
seemed like a plausible argument until God raised Jesus from the
dead. Now we know the truth that sets us free. Now
we know that we have the forgiveness of sin. Now we know
that life is not just what we see and feel on this planet.
Now we know that eternal life is real, that God is real, that
the testimony of the prophets and ancient Scriptures is all real
and true and trustworthy. Now we know that God does not
lie when He says that He loves us, that He cares about what
happens to us, and that He will one day make everything right.
Already, on the cross Jesus has acted as the Lamb of God that
takes away the sin of the world. Jesus has died for sin.
For your sins and for my sins, and for the sins of all the
people we are praying for. Jesus had already taken the sin
out of the way, making an open doorway from earth to heaven for
all who seek God's favor and eternal life. But because
Jesus destroyed the power and claims of death, but both His own
death and by His resurrection from the dead, we also have been
liberated from death itself.
It is appointed, the Bible says, for every human being to die
once. This is our inheritance from Adam and Eve in the
garden. But after this comes the judgment. The Bible
shows us in both Daniel and Revelation that all the dead shall
be raised up to appear before God in order to be judged for the
things we have done in the flesh, that is, in our mortal bodies.
And all of us have done our share of wrong deeds in the flesh.
We have all sinned, Scripture says. We have all fallen
short of the glory of God. We have failed to live up to
the great purpose for which humankind was created. Had we
simply continued to please God, we would have proven the
goodness and power and greatness of our Creator. But when
we chose to reject God's plan, when Adam and Even turned away
from trusting God and chose to believe a lie, we all, as a
species, failed. We fell from the high place intended for
us. And were it not for God's grace and mercy, we would
have been destroyed then and there.
Fortunately, God had a plan of His own. He had created us
for fellowship and glory and He would not let any evil purpose
(not even our own foolish choices) take that away or prevent it
from being fulfilled in every way. Jesus, the eternal Son
of God, was willing to come down to this earth and to become one
of us. He grew up as we all do, and He lived among us as a
real human being. He spoke and did only the things that
please God, the Father. And He also went to the cross,
willingly laying aside His own will, His own comforts and life,
to die for our sins.
But that is not all. Jesus went down into hell itself (and
by "hell," I do not mean merely the grave, as some false
teachings hold). Jesus went down into hell and there He
showed everyone what He had done, and He proclaimed the truth of
God to spirits in chains of darkness. And then, on the
third day, Jesus walked out of hell. Now, you should
understand that many souls have entered into hell throughout the
course of human history. All who perish without God enter
that place. But Jesus is the first ever to walk out again.
On His own. No angels had to rescue Him. He did not
have to apply for a free pass. He is Himself the Way out
of darkness, hell and death.
Jesus took up His own life again, bringing His body back to
life. That is, as we understand the physical laws of this
universe, an impossibility. No corpse can be truly and
fully restored to life and good health after lying in a tomb for
3 days and nights. No human brain can function properly
again after lying dead, without living blood and oxygen for 3
days. Once we are dead, the body begins immediately to rot
away. Living cells all begin to break down into something
less than living human tissue. But nothing is impossible
to God.
Jesus' dead body returned to life and health and full
functionality. He then walked out of His grave. He
did not need a wheel chair, or crutches or nurses or even angels
to help Him along. He proved by this power to be the very
Son of God. The one and only eternal Son of God. The
Savior of the world.
Because Jesus did these things, we have a reason to hope.
The world, as a whole, still rejects the truth about God,
choosing darkness and unbelief over light and truth. But
for all who trust in Jesus, the darkness and death and despair
and mourning has been dashed away, overcome by light, truth and
laughter. We live because Jesus lives.
The above graphic may be used by Christian believers in various kinds of
personal witness, for church programs, and other Christian
activities. There is no charge for this use, so long as
the copyright/credit info is included with the image or a link
back to this site is provided.
To use the graphics on this site,
right click the image (Mac users hover the mouse cursor over the
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file on your computer's hard drive. Images not saved to
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files), or will likely suffer broken links in a short time.
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