The Resurrection: Heaven’s Declaration About the Finished Work
Rev. Aniekan "Mbomboyo" Okokon ·
He was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification. — Romans 4:25
If Jesus had died and stayed dead, we would have no way of knowing whether the Father accepted the sacrifice. The cross was the offering; the resurrection was the answer. Paul says He was raised for our justification - not only after it, but for it. The empty tomb is heaven's public declaration that the work was finished and found sufficient.
The receipt
A payment without a receipt is a claim; a payment with one is settled. God did not leave the cross as a claim. On the third day He raised the One who had paid, and in doing so He announced to every power in heaven and on earth that the debt was cleared and the Payer was righteous. Peter preached it that way at Pentecost: "God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it."
What the resurrection declares
- That Christ's death was accepted. Had it fallen short, He would not have risen.
- That sin's wages have been paid. Death had no further claim.
- That the One who died is Lord. Acts 17:31 says God gave assurance to all by raising Him.
- That those who are in Him are justified, because the verdict on Him is the verdict on them.
Assurance that is not a feeling
Believers often look for assurance inside themselves - in the strength of their faith or the warmth of their feelings - and find it fluctuates. The resurrection puts assurance outside you, in history, on a Sunday morning in Jerusalem. Your standing rests on whether He rose, not on how you feel about it today. He rose. The declaration has been made. Read it, believe it, and stand on it.