The Significance of the Bodily Resurrection of Jesus
In last October’s blog, I shared with you “The Truthfulness of the Bodily Resurrection of Jesus.” But just because something is truthful, doesn’t mean it’s significant. I might say something like, “Your shirt is green.” You might respond, “Big deal. So what?” Even if the bodily resurrection is true, which I very much believe, so what? What’s the big deal?
In his letter to the Romans, Paul said that Jesus “… was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.” (Romans 4:25)
Two things are important in this verse. First, that Jesus died for our sins.
Consider a conflict between you and a loved one over something that one or the other of you did wrong. Until there is repentance (“I’m truly sorry”) and forgiveness (“I forgive you”), the relationship is broken, and that can be a source of sadness, despair, and separation. Due to sin, humanity is in the position of separation from God. Much of the sacrificial system of the Old Testament was built around the shedding of blood of animals (often lambs). It was a way of allowing us to ask God for forgiveness, and hopefully bridge the separation. It worked, in a sense, but not permanently.
When Jesus came, we hear John the Baptist – upon seeing Jesus - proclaim: “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29) And unlike the shedding of blood of animals, which had to be done regularly, when Jesus the Lamb of God was crucified it was a once for all event. As the writer of Hebrews states: “Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when this priest (Jesus) had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God….” (Hebrews 10:11-12) Jesus died so that the separation caused by our sin, between us and God, could be forgiven permanently.
But does God forgive? That’s where the bodily resurrection comes in, and the verse from Romans gives us our second important point: that Jesus was resurrected for our justification.
Going back to the conflict between you and a loved one, don’t you hate having to justify yourself? Often, when I find that I am justifying myself, it’s because I know I did wrong but I’m trying to find some excuse as to why I’m not “that wrong.” And when it comes to my relationship with God, I know I don’t have a leg to stand on. He knows, and I know that He knows. But here’s the good news – I don’t have to justify myself to God. Neither do you. Why? Because Jesus justifies us. He does all the work. And it’s by His resurrection – His bodily resurrection – that He does that work.
What do you and I have to do, then? Nothing? Well, “no” and “yes”. No, we don’t need to, nor should we, try to justify ourselves. It will never work. We don’t have what it takes to argue before a holy God that we deserve to have a relationship with Him. But yes, we do need to have faith in Jesus, the one who died and was raised bodily to new life. In Him, and what He has done for us, is our salvation. As Paul wrote to the Romans: If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. (Romans 10:9-10)
I’d say that’s a pretty big deal.
In Christ,
Pastor Dave Hedgepeth
In his letter to the Romans, Paul said that Jesus “… was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.” (Romans 4:25)
Two things are important in this verse. First, that Jesus died for our sins.
Consider a conflict between you and a loved one over something that one or the other of you did wrong. Until there is repentance (“I’m truly sorry”) and forgiveness (“I forgive you”), the relationship is broken, and that can be a source of sadness, despair, and separation. Due to sin, humanity is in the position of separation from God. Much of the sacrificial system of the Old Testament was built around the shedding of blood of animals (often lambs). It was a way of allowing us to ask God for forgiveness, and hopefully bridge the separation. It worked, in a sense, but not permanently.
When Jesus came, we hear John the Baptist – upon seeing Jesus - proclaim: “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29) And unlike the shedding of blood of animals, which had to be done regularly, when Jesus the Lamb of God was crucified it was a once for all event. As the writer of Hebrews states: “Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when this priest (Jesus) had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God….” (Hebrews 10:11-12) Jesus died so that the separation caused by our sin, between us and God, could be forgiven permanently.
But does God forgive? That’s where the bodily resurrection comes in, and the verse from Romans gives us our second important point: that Jesus was resurrected for our justification.
Going back to the conflict between you and a loved one, don’t you hate having to justify yourself? Often, when I find that I am justifying myself, it’s because I know I did wrong but I’m trying to find some excuse as to why I’m not “that wrong.” And when it comes to my relationship with God, I know I don’t have a leg to stand on. He knows, and I know that He knows. But here’s the good news – I don’t have to justify myself to God. Neither do you. Why? Because Jesus justifies us. He does all the work. And it’s by His resurrection – His bodily resurrection – that He does that work.
What do you and I have to do, then? Nothing? Well, “no” and “yes”. No, we don’t need to, nor should we, try to justify ourselves. It will never work. We don’t have what it takes to argue before a holy God that we deserve to have a relationship with Him. But yes, we do need to have faith in Jesus, the one who died and was raised bodily to new life. In Him, and what He has done for us, is our salvation. As Paul wrote to the Romans: If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. (Romans 10:9-10)
I’d say that’s a pretty big deal.
In Christ,
Pastor Dave Hedgepeth
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