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Death and Resurrection
Death and resurrection
is a central theme in the gospel of Jesus Christ. But why is it such a
central theme? Since sin leads to death and everyone wants to live, a theology
that will show the beauty of death and resurrection has a chance to appeal to
people. And if it also happens to be the truth... 23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal
life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Rom 6:23) When Jehovah,
later known as Jesus, created the world, he knew that man would not be able to
obey all the commandments that he would give unto them. He knew that even the
most committed and holy humans would fail from time to time, and that was all
right with him. Of course it was not all right to sin, per se. But since Jehovah had a backup plan for
the rescuing of the truly penitent,
the odd sin would not have to be a disaster. According to eternal law, every sinner
would be committed to death by his own sins.
In fact, it would be more correct to say that he/she is committed to death...
and to death, since there seems to be two deaths that the sinner will suffer. The first death is the obvious one, the one when respiration ceases, the heart halts,
and all brain functions stops. But there is another death made obvious in the scriptures; the one where man is being cut off from
the presence of God; 6 For to be carnally minded is death; but
to be spiritually minded is life and peace. 7 Because the carnal mind is enmity
against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. 8 So then they that are in the flesh
cannot please God. 9 But ye are not in the flesh, but in
the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ,
he is none of his. (Rom 8:6-9) Jehovah knew, before the foundation of the
world, that man would not be able to keep the commandments, and since he could not create mortal (imperfect) beings, he used our
first parents, even Adam and Eve, as proxies, to give us our first
transgression, so that we could be born into mortality with the Original Sin.
Since sin has brought death... and another
death, it must follow that a complete resurrection from the dead is the return
to life... and life! Or said in another
way; since sin has brought the death of the body, and the alienation from God,
a complete resurrection must mean that the body will rise again, and that we
once again can enjoy the presence of God. From the passage of scripture we just
read, it appears that the spiritual death can be overcome in this life, by
being "in the Spirit". Talking about the
death and resurrection of man, Isaiah points out that sinful man is lawfully
and justly imprisoned by 'the mighty', and prey to 'the terrible'. The
terrible, with the right to devour us, and the captor who rightfully keeps us
locked up, is no other than Lucifer, the old Serpent. 24 Shall the
prey be taken from the mighty, or the lawful captive delivered? But thus saith the LORD, Even the captives
of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the terrible shall be
delivered: 25 But thus saith the LORD, Even the captives
of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the terrible shall be
delivered: for I will contend with him that contendeth with thee, and I will save thy children. (Isa 49:24-25) In captivity
and in the jaws of the terrible, things looks bleak indeed... but we have the
promise! How can such a promise be fulfilled? Jesus gave his life.
Let’s recap a
couple of vital points of this page:
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