Wednesday, April 27, 2016
1 Corinthians 15:3-4 For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: 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...
THESE ARE THE THE FACTS: CHRIST HAS FULFILLED WHAT THE SCRIPTURES FORETOLD!
In Psalm 16:10 the Messiah prophecies through the psalmist, "You will not leave my soul in Sheol [the pit or the grave], nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption." The fact is that when Christ paid for sin He did not stay in the grave. He stayed there only long enough to fulfill the Scriptures and to show that He has power over death, for He had said of Himself, "Destroy this temple [my body] and in three days I will raise it up" (John 2:19). And again, "As Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth" (Matthew 12:39).
Having fulfilled His prophecy, the Lord Jesus, as we know, "...rose again according to the Scriptures..." Had Christ remained in the grave Easter morning, the Scriptures would not have been fulfilled, and furthermore, if Christ did not rise from the dead, as the apostle Paul points out, "...you are still in your sins. then those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished" (1 Corinthians 15:18-19). But he goes on to point out, "But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the first-fruits of those who have fallen asleep" (1 Corinthians 15:20).
The fact is that, according to the Scriptures, we have eternal life in Christ! Jesus says, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die" (John 11:25-26). From Scripture we know that when we die our souls enter into eternal life, as Jesus told the penitent criminal on the cross, "Assuredly I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise" (Luke 24:43). Because Christ lives bodily we also know that our sins are forgiven and so we too shall live forever bodily. As Jesus promises, "Because I live, you will live also" (John 14:9).
