HE IS NOT HERE, FOR HE IS RISEN

Shepherd’s Guidance 6/2020

11 April 2020

He Is Not Here, For He Is Risen.                                                         

“For  I delivered unto you first of all that which I also  received, how that Christ  died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:” (1 Corinthians 15: 3-4).

Christian faith rises and falls with the doctrine of resurrection of Christ. We cannot be Christians without believing this truth. The world rejects the fact that Christ died for our sins, the world hates the truth of Christ’s substitutionary death. Not only that, they also do not believe in the resurrection of Christ. This is the way of natural man. They reject anything that does not fit into their natural thinking. 

The church of our Lord Jesus Christ faced the challenge of unbelief long ago. Those who glorified their intellect questioned this truth. The unbelief of the Jews and Gentiles contributed to shaking the faith of Christians in the city of Corinth. The Apostle Paul had to remind them of the importance of the gospel truth. The resurrection is very important to the gospel  teaching. He  received and preached this gospel. This gospel is authoritative  religious teaching, it is not a human tradition. 

The death of Christ and the resurrection of Christ are physical. Christ did die for our sins physically on certain date in the history, and Christ also was risen from the dead on certain day in the history. Both were real happenings. People saw the crucifixion of Christ outside Jerusalem. The disciples of Christ and the Roman soldiers who were guarding the tomb of Christ witnessed the empty tomb. 

Hundreds of  early Christians witnessed the appearances of Christ in different places and at different time in the 40 days before Christ ascended to heaven. Christ appeared to His followers around ten different times based on Scriptural records. Apostles like Peter,  James and John had personal invitations of Christ to eat at the seaside of the Sea of Galilee. The menu was grilled fishes and bread. The breakfast was prepared by the Lord Himself. They could not help but testified this truth. 

We cannot be Christians if we disbelieve the truth of Christ’s resurrection. This is as simple as that. There is no two way about the essentials of the gospel. Either you believe or reject it. The former self-righteous Jewish leader Saul had an encounter with the resurrected Christ on his way to Damascus. As a result, he was converted from a persecutor of His church to a preacher of His gospel. Saul was a learned Rabbi who was well versed in the Old Testament Scriptures and understood the humanistic philosophies of his days. He was not swayed by the unbelief of the Jews and Gentiles alike. In verse 14 of 1 Corinthians 15, we read “and if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain,and your faith is vain.” Verse 17 says “ ye are yet in your sins.” These are the serious consequences of unbelief in Christ’s resurrection.

Indeed Christ had risen from the dead. Because of this, those who repented towards God and having faith in Christ as the Saviour have been justified freely. God the Father had approved the sacrifice of Christ for our sins. Praise the Lord. Christ our Lord is praying for us at the right hand side of God the Father, He is ever mindful of His covenant people. One day, He will come in the midair to receive His own to heaven for the joyful reunion. The saints who are asleep in Christ shall be raised from the dead first to meet the Lord. Then those who are alive will be caught up immediately. This is the blessed hope of all Christians. Blessed Easter Lord’s Day. 

Rev. Lee Kim Shong