Flatwoods church of Christ

You are here: Home / Archives for Media

Resurrection and Glory

by 1 Comment

The resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is foundational to Christianity. This truth must be believed to become a Christian. Romans 10:9 says you must confess the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead in order to have salvation. Some among the Christians in Corinth, perhaps influenced by Greek philosophers (Acts 17:32), started to say that there was no resurrection from the dead (1 Cor. 15:13). To show the seriousness of such an error, Paul lists to the Corinthians the unacceptable logical consequences of this position, which would include the following: Christ would not have risen, our preaching is empty, your faith is empty, we are false witnesses of God, you are still in your sins, those who have died in Christ have perished, and Christians are of all men most pitiable (1 Cor. 15:13-19). The resurrection is that crucial to Christianity.

Photo by arquidis molina on Unsplash

When one is baptized, one becomes united with the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ (Rom. 6:3-5). Baptism saves us by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead (1 Pet. 3:21). God has begotten Christians to a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead (1 Pet. 1:3).

God has not only raised Jesus from the dead, He has also glorified Him (1 Pet. 1:21). Jesus is seated at the right hand of God with angels, authorities, and powers having been placed in subjection to Him (1 Pet. 3:22). To Jesus belongs the glory and the dominion forever and ever (1 Pet. 4:11).

The resurrection of Jesus gives Christians hope of a future resurrection. We have hope beyond the grave (1 Cor. 15:12-20). The dead in Christ will rise when Jesus returns (1 Thess. 4:16). However, we will not have physical  bodies; a change will occur (1 Cor. 15:51). Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God (1 Cor. 15:50). Paul makes a contrast between the body that dies and is buried in the earth and the body with which one is outfitted for eternity (1 Cor. 15:35-49). “For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality” (1 Cor. 15:53).

Notice these words: “For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself” (Phil. 3:20, 21). What exactly this will be like we do not know, but we with faith look toward it. “Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is” (1 Jn. 3:2).

Abraham did not know how God would fulfill the promise to make a great nation from his seed if he sacrificed Isaac (Gen. 21:12; 22:2, 18). He had an idea about what God would do, which was mistaken (Heb. 11:17-19), but nonetheless he followed God’s instructions by faith and was rewarded according to the promise (Rom. 4:13-22). We today must also follow in the steps of faith of Abraham (Gal. 3:7-9, 26-29). We may not have all the details figured out about what heaven will be like, but we must by faith follow God’s commands to inherit it (1 Pet. 1:4; Rev. 22:14).

Boldness and Evidence

by Leave a Comment

The Sanhedrin wanted to keep control over the people. They thought that putting Jesus to death would be the end of this disruption to their sway over the people. Yet, here stood a man before them who had been lame for over forty years now walking and leaping; they could say nothing against it (Acts 4:14). A miracle of God had been worked, and they could not deny it (Acts 4:16). Their decision was to threaten Peter and John commanding them to not speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus (Acts 4:17, 18).

Photo by Kid Circus on Unsplash

As apostles, Peter and John were witnesses of the resurrected Lord (Acts 1:22; 4:33). They both had spent time with Jesus during His public ministry (2 Pet. 1:16-18; 1 Jn. 1:1). The Sanhedrin saw the boldness of Peter and John, recognizing they had been with Jesus (Acts 4:13). Peter and John were fishermen who had not received the prestigious education as had the seventy-one men who made up the ruling court before whom they stood; however, they had the truth, undeniable evidence, and the promise that the Holy Spirit would guide them into what to speak when they stood before authorities (Lk. 12:11, 12).

Peter, being filled with the Holy Spirit, had already boldly proclaimed the gospel of Jesus Christ and held the Sanhedrin responsible for their sins, particularly those involved in putting Jesus to death (Acts 4:8-11). He had also clearly pointed out that salvation is found only in the name of Jesus (Acts 4:12). This Peter, who had denied Jesus three times when the authorities were orchestrating the Lord’s death (Mk. 14:66-72), now boldly preached to them and all in Jerusalem. Witnessing the resurrection had a profound effect on the apostles.  Now when commanded to not preach in the name of Jesus, they responded: “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you more than to God, you judge. For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard” (Acts 4:19, 20). They boldly stood on the evidence God had given.

While we today do not work miracles or have direct guidance on what to say as the apostles did in the first century (1 Cor. 13:8-10), we do have the truth of the gospel. We stand on the overwhelming evidence God has provided in raising His Son from the dead recorded for us in His word. If we have been given all the evidence we need, then we ought to be confident in proclaiming what we believe. As Paul requested prayer that he would open his mouth and speak boldly (Eph. 6:19), so we also pray and ask for the prayers of fellow Christians to the same end—to boldly speak the soul-saving message of the cross of Christ.

-Mark Day