4/1/18 Easter
John 12:31-33
Judgment is upon the world, The Innocent is to die (has died) for the guilty, being lifted up on the cross.
In no other way could all men be drawn to Him in the way necessary or for the right purposes. There is no news of any conquering "hero" in all of history that compels people to follow that leader now.
Jesus still compels to come and follow Him. And those whose hearts are not hard, do. And in doing so, they are made new.
Man’s plan and explanation of Jesus’ resurrection was to come up with a story: ‘say you were negligent in your jobs and the disciples took the body while we slept on the job’, no less. Then, said disciples who supposedly took the body to propagate a hoax, would watch thousands of innocents tortured and killed for believing their report, all in order to perpetuate their hoax… and then they themselves would all be tortured and killed, also in order to perpetuate their hoax? I don’t think so. {Matthew 28:11-15} Considering the power of God and the nature of man, this takes a far bigger leap of faith to believe than God raising the dead. Some stop listening when resurrection is mentioned. It’s nothing new. {Acts 17:30,31} But Jesus’ resurrection furnished proof of two things. One is that the day of final righteous judgment has been fixed and the One appointed to carry out that judgment is none other than the One raised from the dead. Death could not contain Him because He was indeed righteous. Death, the result of sin, cannot rule over a righteous life.
Secondly, it shows God making all things new {Revelation 21:5}. It is the ultimate goal of this plan, along with the “in the meantime” goal as well.
There is nothing more “new” than a glorified resurrection body, prepared to exist in the very presence of the Living God. {1 Timothy 6:16}
In that realm, all things must be new.
Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. {1 Corinthians 15:50-57} We will all be changed. And since this earth and its heavens are passing away we must all be changed to survive it. The real question is, will you survive what comes next?
The final judgment, and the second death. {1 Corinthians 15:23,24; Revelation 20:1-21:5}
What kinds of questions do you have about life after death?
