Grace / Faith in Jesus
Why Jesus Died and Rose Again
God came to bring us back to Himself. Jesus's death and resurrection tell us what He's done to make that possible.
You may have heard that Jesus died for your sins a thousand times. You may even believe it without knowing quite what to do with it. What does His death have to do with whether God wants you? And why does it matter that He rose again?
God set out to bring us back to Himself. Paul says that God shows His love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. God knew what we'd done when He sent His Son. Our need for forgiveness was the reason He came.
You don't have to imagine a reluctant God whom Jesus somehow talked into being kind. God loved us and sent His Son. Jesus came willingly. His death is part of God's own work to save the people He loves.
God dealt with our sins
Sin does real harm. If you've hurt somebody, you know you can't go back and make it never have happened. You can apologize. You can try to repair what you broke. You ought to do those things. But you can't rewrite the past, and you can't make yourself innocent by doing something nice afterward. God took that seriously.
Colossians says Jesus made peace through the blood of His cross. People who'd been alienated from God were reconciled to Him through Jesus's death. To be reconciled is to be brought back into relationship. God wanted us near Him, and Jesus gave Himself to bring us there. ()
Paul goes on to say that God made us alive with Christ and forgave all our sins. He canceled the record of debt that stood against us, nailing it to the cross. ()
At the cross, the chief priests and the scribes mocked Jesus: "He saved others; he cannot save himself." They meant it as an insult, and it was exactly right. He didn't come to save Himself. He came to save others, and He gave His own life to do it. He stayed until the work was done. ()
When it was done, He said, "It is finished." In the ancient world, when somebody paid off a debt, the paper got a nail stuck through it and one word written on it, a word that meant "paid in full." That's the word Jesus said from the cross. ()
So when God offers forgiveness, He knows what He's forgiving. He knows the harm. He knows the cost. You can tell Him the truth about your life because the cross already tells you He's willing to deal with it.
That matters if you've spent years assuming God's one discovery away from being done with you. He knew the whole story when He came for you. You aren't going to surprise Him with the part you were afraid to mention.
Jesus has power over death
Forgiveness is wonderful news. We also need life. And Jesus's resurrection tells us something about the life He can give.
Before His own death, Jesus went to the home of some friends whose brother had died. Lazarus had been in the tomb for four days. Martha came out to meet Jesus and said what a lot of us might have said: if you'd been here, my brother wouldn't have died.
Jesus told Martha her brother would rise again. Martha believed in the resurrection at the last day. She could agree with that and still be grieving the brother she'd just buried.
Then Jesus told her something about Himself. He is the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in Him will live even though he dies. He asked Martha whether she believed it. She said she believed He was the Christ, the Son of God. ()
Jesus knew what He was about to do. He was going to call Lazarus out of that tomb. But when He saw the people He loved weeping, He wept too. Knowing how the story would turn out didn't make Him indifferent to their grief.
He cared about them. And He could help them. Jesus called Lazarus by name and told him to come out. The dead man came out.
That's who Jesus is. His promise of life comes with the power to give it.
His life means something for yours
Jesus Himself went through death and rose again. When Christians say He's alive, we mean He actually rose from the dead. The one we're trusting is alive now. Easter was something that happened, and Jesus is still risen.
And His resurrection means something for the people who belong to Him. Jesus gives us life with God now and a future that death can't take away. Paul looks forward to Christ transforming our bodies to be like His glorious body. There's more ahead for us than the frailty we see and feel right now. ()
That doesn't make a funeral painless. Jesus wept with His friends. We miss people because we love them. But we can grieve with reason to believe our loss won't have the final say. The person who belongs to Jesus still belongs to Him when this life ends. When people die in the Lord, we think they're dead. They don't think they're dead. They went to sleep in the econo-class body and woke up in first class.
God's offer is bigger than permission to stop feeling guilty. He forgives us, brings us near, and gives us life in His Son. We get to know Him, belong to His family, do some good while we're here, and look forward to being with Him.
Paul wanted to know Christ and the power of His resurrection. That power was already at work in his life while he looked forward to his own resurrection. We can know Jesus now, ask Him for help now, and learn to live as people who belong to Him. We don't have to wait until this life is over to begin life with Him. ()
When you believe in Jesus, you're trusting the one who did all this for you. He knows what you need. He wants you with Him. And He's able to bring you there.
— tobe