Easter 2024: Death

Death

Ephesians 1:7–8 "In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding..."

Christian wisdom is cruciform—the eschatological mystery of Christ revealed by the Spirit; the Christ fulfills the Torah as the embodiment of wisdom, while the Spirit fulfills the Torah as the enablement for wisdom[1]

First Death Experience

Do you remember your first experience with death? Maybe it was your family dog or, far more seriously, your grandfather. It is natural to ask: Do dogs go to heaven? Where is Grandpa now? Sadly, since the COVID pandemic, we have experienced so much death. Most of us know someone personally who has died. At Christ Fellowship, we grieved our teammate Blair's death. Blair served on our staff for years by running sound for our services. His death still hurts.

Death raises so many questions. What happens when you die? Most people are generally uncertain about life after death and, more personally, unsure about their destiny. Do you fertilize the grass, get reincarnated, become a ghost, or go to heaven? I want you to be confident about your life after death. 

Jesus Christ died. He didn't merely faint. Experienced Roman executioners did not make that kind of error. And his death was not a mistake, as if some plan of God's had gone wrong. God did not say, "Oops."

Jesus died for a huge purpose: Jesus died for our sins. The Greek word translated "for" is hyper, which can mean: on our behalf. His burial proves the reality of Jesus' death. He was in the tomb, wrapped up in burial clothes.

Not only did Jesus die, but Jesus rose from the dead. It is common to hear people say that they respect Jesus as a good moral teacher, even a prophet, but they don't believe that he rose from the dead. They dismiss the resurrection as if it were mythology, impossible. Yet without the resurrection, Paul says our faith is in vain. Jesus Christ rose from the dead so that we could live forever by trusting in him to save us from our sins. 

  [1] Vanhoozer, Kevin J. et al., eds. Dictionary for theological interpretation of the Bible 2005: 845. Print.