If you’ve ever gone to a funeral or memorial service, you may have been hit hard with the reality of death. It’s a subject we avoid talking about, yet one we certainly cannot ignore forever.
But what if I told you that that dark shroud that seems to rear its ugly head when we’re grieving the loss of loved ones (or even thinking about our own eventual end) can be replaced with the victorious light of hope?
During the Easter season, we especially reflect on the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Without either of these events, there is no hope. With them, hope is eternal!
Since the beginning of time, God had promised to send a Savior who would overcome the power of sin and death (see Genesis 3:15). Sin had entered the world through the rebellion of the first humans, Adam and Eve, who chose to disobey God’s instructions that were meant to protect them. But sin cannot exist in the presence of God, who is holy, so the only way to restore humans’ relationship with God is for sin to die. But if sin has to die, that means we die, too, because we carry sin in our very nature!
Jesus Christ is the answer to this dilemma. Sent from God, He was fully divine and fully human. He died in our place to take the necessary punishment that sin deserves, but He also rose from the grave, defeating the power of death! His resurrection proved who He was and that by trusting in Him we can be saved.
The title “Son of God” is a common title given to Jesus Christ in the Bible. This identifies the divine side of who He was when He came to earth.
This is what the angel said to Mary about the birth of Jesus:
“ The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God” (Luke 1:35).
Jesus’ divinity was clearly seen in the miracles He performed, especially the raising of Lazarus from the dead (see John 11:1-44). Because He was divine, He was also without sin and unable to be contained by death Himself. When he rose from the grave, he proved that He was indeed the Son of God (Romans 1:4)!
He is eternal, and He came to extend that eternal life to all who would trust in Him for salvation:
“…God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God” (1 John 5:11-13).
Jesus Christ also carried the title of the Son of Man. This refers to his full humanity, or His flesh. He had to become like a human in order to take the punishment for humanity’s sin (though he personally remained sinless).
At the Last Supper with His disciples, just before He was crucified, Jesus used the symbol of bread for His body, and the cup for His blood (see Luke 22:19-20). Both of these refer to His physical body that He laid down in order to establish a way for men and women to be cleansed of sin and receive the promise of eternal life in Heaven. Through Jesus’ death, sin was condemned and paid for (see Romans 8:3). Now, all who trust in Jesus for salvation receive a new life in His Spirit (see Romans 8:4).
You will also become a child of God, having been adopted by God through His Son, Jesus Christ (see Galatians 4:4). Another way of seeing this is that Jesus Christ actually comes to live in you, making you acceptable to God: “ I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20).
What will you do with Jesus? Accept or reject Him?
Rejecting Jesus Christ and the salvation He has made possible through His death and resurrection, means that you will stay in your state of condemnation.
“… he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God” (John 3:18b).
To accept Jesus Christ means the removal of that condemnation through His death that paid for sin, and the promise of eternal life because He rose from the grave.
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned…” (John 3:16-18a).
Jesus is the Judge of sin, which requires a sentence of condemnation.
He explained that God, the Father, had committed to Him – the Son – all judgment, and that “He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life” (John 5:22-24).
The apostles of the church after Jesus’ death proclaimed the same truth: “He…was ordained of God to be the Judge of quick and dead. To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins” (Acts 10:42-43).
The apostle Peter warned about those who refused to turn from sin and trust in Christ for forgiveness: “Who shall give account to him that is ready to judge the quick and the dead. For this cause was the gospel preached also to them that are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit” (1 Peter 4:5-6).
The dead are those who remain in their sin. The living are those who have trusted in Jesus Christ and now have a life in the Spirit – a life that is apart from the power of sin and its death sentence.
Jesus Christ died to take the penalty of your sin, rose from the grave to give you victory over death, and as the supreme Judge has offered you a choice: Will you take the gift of forgiveness and eternal life through Jesus Christ and be set free from condemnation?