Who Raised Jesus From The Dead & Why Does It Matter?
Dear Saints,
Who raised Jesus from the dead? And why does it matter to us?
We are encountering more questions in our study of 1 Peter that demand answers.
Listen to Apostle Peter in 1 Peter 1:20-21:
“He [Jesus] indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you 21 who through Him believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.”
Here, Peter said God raised Jesus from the dead.
Now, in 1 Peter 3:18 we read,
“For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit.”
Here, the Holy Spirit is the one that raised Jesus Christ from the dead, that is “made alive.”
And then, we hear directly from Jesus Christ:
“Jesus answered and said to them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” 20 Then the Jews said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?”
21 But He was speaking of the temple of His body. 22 Therefore, when He had risen from the dead, His disciples remembered that He had said this to them; and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had said.” John 2:19-22.
In the guise of unity and let's get along, the goal is to blend so much as to erase/deny the deity of Jesus Christ as God the Savior. Of course we want to live peacefully with everyone but not at the expense of denying our faith in who Jesus is as the Son of God and part of the triune Godhead.
How can this be a one-true religion when Islam plainly says that "God has no Son" and has inscribed such on their dome of the rock in Jerusalem? 1 John 4:15 says, "Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God—God remains in him and he in God."
Islam also teaches that Jesus was just a prophet and that he was not crucified on the cross, was not buried and did not rise from the dead.
We also know Judaism's belief that the Messiah has not come and that Jesus Christ is not the Messiah.
You often hear, “We are all worshiping the same God.” That’s a lie. We do not. My God is a triune God - God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. The three persons in One God – coeternal, coexisted, and coequal.
Even within the giant umbrella of Christianity, the Jehovah's Witnesses (JW) and the Mormons serve a different God and not the triune God. Jesus Christ is a created human and not the CREATOR for the JW.
If Jesus is a created being, then he cannot be God and would be imperfect to be a perfect sacrifice for our sins.
The Mormon Jesus is also a created son and spirit brother of Lucifer (aka Satan), born by God and his wife.
“They [Mormons] believe that God the Father is greater than Jesus. Thus, Mormons do not believe in the accepted view of Christ of the trinity that is coeternal and coequal with God the Father and the Holy Spirit in the triune godhead.”
“The [Mormons] belief that all people are gods, because they are the spirit sons and daughters begotten of God and his wife.” What blasphemy and idol worship! Does God have a wife? Very silly!
We have learned from the study of 1 Peter and all through Scripture that Jesus never sinned but instead took on our sins to save us from the wrath of God. 1 Peter 3:18.
Jesus Christ is God. He is a God-man. Jesus Christ on earth was fully God and fully man; that is why He can raise Himself from the dead. The triune God raised the Son of God from the dead. Without the resurrection of Jesus Christ, we have no HOPE. Our faith, hope, and salvation rest solely on the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ.
Oh, friends, the people of this world tell us that Jesus was a good moral, kind man. But they refuse to accept that Jesus Christ is God. If Jesus is not God, he is not my Jesus. What about you? Is Jesus Christ your "Lord and your God" as Thomas the disciple confessed? See John 20:28.
If Jesus is not your perfect creator of all things, then you are worshiping a false Jesus, and you are on your own to satisfy the demands for everlasting death for all sinners. The judgment of God is coming soon. Those who believe will not be condemned. John 3:16-18:
“16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.
18 “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”
Jesus said, “Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last. 18 I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death.” Revelation 1:17-18. This is my Jesus Christ, who has no beginning and end. He is my God. He has paid all penalties for my sin forever and has conquered forever death and eternal hell, which is the penalty for sin. "The soul that sinneth, it shall die" according to God’s decree.
Is Jesus Christ, God the Son who raised Himself from the dead, your God? Believe Him and trust Him today and forever; you shall be saved from everlasting hell and receive eternal life in Christ. Amen.
Please don’t stop believing and don’t keep this most fantastic news to yourself. You don’t want to wish hell even for your worst human enemy. Today and always, please tell someone the Gospel, for it is the power of God to salvation for all who believe. Amen.
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