Christ, the only begotten Son of the Father, left his heavenly dwelling place and "made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient unto death, even death on a cross (Phil. 2:7-8)."
Jesus Christ, the promised Messiah, the holy Son of God (who was God himself), died for the sins of man.
Don't just pass over that statement. Read it again!
Jesus DIED for the sins of man.
It's not some token example or illustration that the scripture uses. This death was a real event. Jesus died. The prophet Isaiah foretells this event with these words. "Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed (Is. 53:4-5)." Jesus died for the sins of the human race. It was not because of any wrong doing that he (Jesus) had done, but for the wrongdoing of sinful men. To personalize the words of Isaiah, "Surely he has borne (my) griefs and carried (my) sorrows." It was my sin that put him on the cross. It was the punishment for my sin that he endured.
When considering the cross, there does not appear to be much power there. The death of Jesus on the cross is simply an innocent one dying for the guilty. If the story ends at the cross, then death has won. But, the cross is not where the story ends.
In Philippians 3:10, Paul expresses a desire to "...know him (Christ) and the power of his resurrection." Three days after Christ had surrendered his life on the cross, he rose from the grave. He became alive again! This he could do because he was God in human form, and by rising again he displayed his ultimate power over death so that Paul could say in 1 Cor. 15:55, "O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting." And then in vs. 56 and 57 he says, "The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord, Jesus Christ." Through the death and resurrection of Christ we have gained victory over death. For those of us who have trusted in the work of Christ, Romans 6:5 stands true. "For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his." For even though we die in Christ we live! As Galatians 2:20 puts is, "I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me."
There is power in the resurrection of Christ from the dead. A power that brings victory over death to the believer and a power that is secure because it is found in Christ and not in our own good works or our own will.
Like Paul, I desire to know the power of the resurrection. Not to know it in a simply academic or intellectual capacity, but to know it in an experiential way. I want to know that power in a way that influences and changes my life!
This week as we remember the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ may we seek to know by experience that power that the resurrection contains. God has offered freely his grace to those who simply trust and place their faith in the gospel (gospel = good news) of Jesus Christ, not only crushed for our sins, but risen again to give us life!
Soli Deo Gloria! Glory to God Alone!
