Pastor's Desk
April 16 , 2006
A PERSON BEING raised from the dead is not an every day occurrence. We read about a few people in the Old Testament who were raised from the dead. Jesus raised several people from the dead during his ministry as did the apostles. We even hear about such miracles throughout church history as well as occasional reports of people being raised from the dead in our present time. But these resurrections, while being thoroughly miraculous in their own right, are only a shadow compared to the resurrection of Jesus Christ. All these other resurrections were primarily the temporary reversal of inevitable death. These people probably died again.
Jesus, however, was raised to life never to die again. When he appeared to the apostle John on the island of Patmos he said: “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.” (Revelation 1:17-18) The scripture teaches that the kind of resurrection that Jesus experienced involved the transformation of his body. The apostle Paul explains: “So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.” (1 Corinthians 15:42-44) If we put our trust in Jesus, who has gone ahead of us, we can look forward to the same kind of resurrection. As Jesus said to Martha, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.” (John 11:25-26) Our eternal salvation is tied up with the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and we have access to eternal life when we put our trust in him.
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“But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you,
He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead
will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.”
(Romans 8:11)
“For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable,
and the mortal with immortality.
When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable,
and the mortal with immortality,
then the saying that is written will come true:
‘Death has been swallowed up in victory.’”
(1 Corinthians 15:53-54)
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"If you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,”
and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead,
you will be saved."
This page was last updated on Thursday, April 13, 2006