Monday, April 13, 2009

Christ has Risen


Jn 11:25 Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes s in me will live, even though he dies. Jn 11:25.

The angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified.
He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay.

Mt 28:5-6.

Christ, the Lord, is risen today, Alleluia!
Sons of men and angels say, Alleluia!
Raise your joys and triumphs high, Alleluia!
Sing, ye heavens, and earth, reply, Alleluia!

Love’s redeeming work is done, Alleluia!
Fought the fight, the battle won, Alleluia!
Lo! the Sun’s eclipse is over, Alleluia!
Lo! He sets in blood no more, Alleluia!

Vain the stone, the watch, the seal, Alleluia!
Christ hath burst the gates of hell, Alleluia!
death in vain forbids His rise, Alleluia!
Christ hath opened paradise, Alleluia!

Lives again our glorious King, Alleluia!
Where, O death, is now thy sting? Alleluia!
Once He died our souls to save, Alleluia!
Where thy victory, O grave? Alleluia!

Soar we now where Christ hath led, Alleluia
Following our exalted Head, Alleluia!
Made like Him, like Him we rise, Alleluia!
Ours the cross, the grave, the skies, Alleluia! (Hymn Christ the Lord is Risen Today, Charles Wesley)

Let us remember the ancient liturgy, Christ has died,
Christ has risen.....



HE IS RISEN

CHRIST THE LORD OF HEAVEN AND EARTH HAS RISEN FROM THE DEAD!!!!!

DEATH IS VANQUISHED!

OUR KING LIVES FOREVERMORE!!!!!

That's right, cults and false teachers may deny this truth, but regardless, their statements cannot change this very fact.

He is risen!!!!!

Who has risen?????

CHRIST HAS RISEN!!!!!

CHRIST HAS RISEN INDEED!!!!!

This day our salvation was paid for. This day, when Christ was raised from the dead he proved, once and for all, not only that he was God. he also proved God, the three-in-one Triune God of Scripture has power over sin and death.

Christ rising from the dead is the same Resurrection in store for all of us on the lat day.

Christ was indeed dead. He did not pass out on the cross, nor did he fake being dead as some critics claim. Check out the following passages. The first is a description of his death.

I'll take you back a little ways. Because the next day was to be the Sabbath, the Jews did not want anybody hanging on the cross because it was unlawful. to follow their Sabbath laws, they had asked that the condemned legs be broken. This was a common practice in Roman crucifixions to speed up death. If not done, the criminal could languish for days.

But when they came to Jesus and found that he was already dead, they did not break his legs.
Instead, one of the soldiers pierced Jesus’ side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water.
JN 19:33-34.

Notice the "sudden flow of blood and water" the blood was beginning to separate. This is what happens when a body dies. Christ was already dead when the Roman solider thrust his spear. Now, look at Christ's own words where he himself says he was once dead.

Rev 1:18 I
am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! i And I hold the keys of death and Hades.

Get that? "I was ONCE DEAD and am alive FOREVERMORE. I love our Lord's last words....."And I have the power over death and Hades" Sorry Christian Scientists, you'll have to go somewhere else if you want to prove your false notion that death is only an illusion.

Not only did Christ literally die and raise from the dead, but his Resurrection was BODILY. The Resurrection account is not symbolic nor did Christ raise as a "spirit being" Here is an example of Christ breaking bread with two on the road to Emmaus.

Lk 24:30 When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them.

Last I checked, spirits don't break nor eat bread. Christ was a resurrected body. Here is another passage of Christ appearing to the disciples.

Lk 24:36 While they were still talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, "Peace be with you."
Lk 24:37 They were startled and frightened, thinking they saw a ghost. d
Lk 24:38 He said to them, "Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds?
Lk 24:39 Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; e a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have."
Lk 24:40 When he had said this, he showed them his hands and feet.
Lk 24:41 And while they still did not believe it because of joy and amazement, he asked them, "Do you have anything here to eat?"
Lk 24:42 They gave him a piece of broiled fish,
Lk 24:43 and he took it and ate it in their presence.
Lk 24:44 He said to them, "This is what I told you while I was still with you: g Everything must be fulfilled h that is written about me in the Law of Moses, i the Prophets and the Psalms."
Lk 24:45 Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures.
Lk 24:46 He told them, "This is what is written: The Christ will suffer l and rise from the dead on the third day,
Lk 24:36-46

Notice, Jesus said himself he was not a ghost. His body is a glorified body that is different (and ours will be too) than the shell we inhabit here on earth. Also, last time I checked, spirits cannot hold nor eat fish. Here is the famous "doubting Thomas" passage where Christ actually asks Thomas to TOUCH his body.

Jn 20:24 Now Thomas q (called Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came.
Jn 20:25 So the other disciples told him, "We have seen the Lord!" But he said to them, "Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it." s
Jn 20:26 A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you!"
Jn 20:27 Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe."
Jn 20:28 Thomas said to him, "My Lord and my God!"
Jn 20:29 Then Jesus told him, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; w blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."

How can somebody touch nail and spear marks if the deceased is a ghost? Thomas was seeing Christ in his BODILY form. Sorry Jehovah's Witnesses, you'll have to look elsewhere to prove your false teaching that Christ rose as a spirit and not a body from the dead.

I find it amusing that many who deny every supernatural facet of Holy Scripture want to then cling to the name of Christ. You can't pick and choose. Just like Christ's Virgin Birth and the miracles, The Resurrection is part and parcel of the Gospel message.


1Co 15:12 But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection x of the dead? y
1Co 15:13 If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised.
1Co 15:14 And if Christ has not been raised, z our preaching is useless and so is your faith.
1Co 15:15 More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. a But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised.
1Co 15:16 For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either.
1Co 15:17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. b
1Co 15:18 Then those also who have fallen asleep c in Christ are lost.


If you follow Christ but deny the Resurrection, you're an idiot. Think I'm being too harsh? Check out the scriptures. The Bible also tells us that our having Eternal Life is tied DIRECTLY to Christ raising from the dead. Christ conquered death by himself raising from the dead. Because he conquered death, he has conquered it for us. Check out where Paul continues to explain this. It's long but lays out the case for The Resurrection nicely.

1Co 15:19 If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men.
1Co 15:20 But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits f of those who have fallen asleep.
1Co 15:21 For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man.
1Co 15:22 For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.
1Co 15:23 But each in his own turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him.
1Co 15:24 Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power.
1Co 15:25 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.
1Co 15:26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death.
1Co 15:27 For he "has put everything under his feet." 45 Now when it says that "everything" has been put under him, it is clear that this does not include God himself, who put everything under Christ.
1Co 15:28 When he has done this, then the Son himself will be made subject to him who put everything under him, u so that God may be all in all.
1Co 15:29 Now if there is no resurrection, what will those do who are baptized for the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptized for them?
1Co 15:30 And as for us, why do we endanger ourselves every hour?
1Co 15:31 I die every day —I mean that, brothers—just as surely as I glory over you in Christ Jesus our Lord.
1Co 15:32 If I fought wild beasts in Ephesus z for merely human reasons, what have I gained? If the dead are not raised, "Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die." 46 a
1Co 15:33 Do not be misled: b "Bad company corrupts good character." c
1Co 15:34 Come back to your senses as you ought, and stop sinning; for there are some who are ignorant of God —I say this to your shame.
1 CO 15:12-34.


Other leaders of great religions are dead and gone but Christ is alive and has defeated death.

HE is risen.....
WHO is risen.....
CHRIST is risen.....
Christ is risen indeed
.....

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I love this ““false teaching” that Christ rose as a spirit”. Please read 1Pet. 3:18. Did Jesus ascend to heaven with his “body of flesh” 1 Cor. 15:50. Do angles have the ability to become flesh like the ones who visited Abraham? How about the disobedient angles just before the flood? Please read your Bible people.

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Mark said...

Thanks for stopping by.

I did read 1 Pet 3:18. Taken out of its context and by itself it would appear Christ did indeed raise as a spirit. However, taken in its context, it says NOTHING about Christ raising as a spirit.

Christ died in the body, but because he is fully human and fully divine he did not die spiritually. While his body died, his spirit, did not. If Peter says Christ was raised as a spirit, he would contradict the events in the Gospels where Jesus himself says he is not a spirit. Furthermore, he would contradict the eyewitnesses that saw the Resurrected Christ in his bodily form.

So, what did Jesus do if he was raised as a spirit? Did he visit those in Israel like the Gospels say, or preach to the spirits in prison? It looks like while Christ's body was indeed dead, He preached to those in prison, then rose in bodily form on the third day.

As for 1CO 15:50. Paul is telling us that in our current physical condition (current bodies) we cannot inherit the Kingdom of God. Something has to change. If you look up and start at V. 35, and take verse 50 in its context, Paul is talking about our new resurrected bodies. This is the glorified body we are promised by God. In fact. V 42 says ".....The body that is sown is perishable, but it is raised imperishable"

Now, going from v 50, after Paul established we will receive new bodies he goes on to tell us that not all who are to be glorified will die. Christ will descend with a shout and those who are still living will be transformed. Those who have already died will be raised and, in a moment, changed. Death will foreverbe defeated. (1 TH 4:14-17)

Sometimes it appears God may give the angels physical attributes. If you read of the angel who freed Peter from prison it appears he stuck Peter and woke him. (Acts 12:7)