The FACT the Christ rose from the Dead CONFIRMS our faith, and give us concrete hope in the future and assurance that God will be faithful in His promises towards us.
Many Christians seem content to leave Jesus on the cross, while the resurrection often suffers from neglect. That the cross receives so much attention, however, is not without warrant. After all, the event was the �one act of righteousness� that led �to justification and life for all men� (Rom. 5:18). That is to say, the one Man�s act of righteousness is the climactic act of Jesus� life-long fidelity to His Father�s will and purpose, when He offered up His life for His people. Taking it one-step further, many of us are inclined to say that we will live under the public disgrace and outrage of the cross until Christ�s return, that it defines the age in which we now live. Since we live in a suffering world, as the thinking goes, the crucifixion provides the perfect revelation of God�s empathy with His creation. Yet the whole reason that the one act remains pivotal is precisely because Scripture deems it the decisive victory by the One who hung dead upon it. But what kind of victory would have Christ hanging upon it still? Wherein lies the triumph in the story of a disillusioned Galilean who could not get God to establish His kingdom on earth? There is none. Without the resurrection, the cross is foolish indeed.
All of this to say that the cross itself is entirely inseparable from God�s other redemptive acts through Jesus in history � His life, death, resurrection, ascension, and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost � all of these form a unified front upon which the age of sin and death met its match. And never was the defeat of those two horrors more boldly proclaimed than on Easter morning. The resurrection stands as the single, most powerful declaration by God that this truly human Jesus �delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God,� was also �the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness� (Acts 2:23; Rom. 1:4). Jesus and His mighty works were vindicated when God raised Him from the dead, exalting Him as �both Lord and Christ� (Acts 2:36), no longer lowly and limited, now Messiah of His people and Ruler of the entire world.
If the resurrection did not happen, then we followers of Jesus, along with Saint Paul, �are of all people most to be pitied� (1 Cor. 15:19). In other words, if Christ has not been raised we are the most wretched, unhappy, sorry lot the world has ever seen, because we have believed the cruelest deceit � the hope of a glorious salvation when all we are truly left with is sin, weeds, and death. But happen it did, and it is believed, for Jesus Himself said, �Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed� (John 20:29). This was, of course, the very reason the apostle John wrote the gospel: �These are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name� (v. 31). The resurrection is part and parcel of that Gospel message of life in Jesus� name. It is non-negotiable. One cannot consider himself or herself in line with �apostolic Christianity� without affirming the bodily resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth. This is the clear testimony of the New Testament writings, captured most succinctly in Romans 10:9: �If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.� Those who would deny it, while being treated with �gentleness and respect� (1 Peter 3:16), must not be countenanced at the table of fellowship; their professed �Christianity� should not be acknowledged.
The question that faces us, however, is not about its evidence; rather, it is about its meaning. What significance does the resurrection of Jesus have in God�s redemptive plan?
In simplest terms, the resurrection overturned the curses of the Fall (sin, weeds, and death). Not just the resurrection itself, however, for included in that event is that which led up to it: both the obedience of Jesus to His Father�s will (sometimes called �active� obedience) and His obedience unto death (�passive� obedience). In the former, Jesus� role as the second Adam is clearly displayed. This Messiah sent from God defeated the sin of Adam�s disobedience with His own perfect obedience to what Israel had collectively failed to do, namely, keep the covenant.
When Adam disobeyed the divine command, God sent Abraham and the nation of Israel after him to usher in the light of the Gospel of God�s salvation (see Isa. 41:8�9; 49:3�6). Failing this, Jesus came as Israel�s representative; He could do this because He was sent as the Christ (�anointed one�). In Israel, the anointed one, or king, was both the representative of the nation to God, as well as God�s chosen representative to the nation (for example, 2 Sam. 19:43; 20:1). As such, like Israel (see Isa. 63:16), the king was God�s son: �I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son� (2 Sam. 7:14; also Ps. 2:6�7). The king of Israel, of course, was not deified like the Pharaohs of Egypt (unlike Jesus, who is the God-man). Thus for Jesus, being the Christ meant that He so closely identified with His people that whatever can be said of Him can, at least in principle, be said of them.
For Christians (both Jews and Gentiles, see Rom. 9:4�8), then, this means that they participate in God�s covenant, becoming by faith heirs of His promises, faithful to His will and purpose, precisely because Jesus already was. The apostle Paul meant nothing less when he wrote that we have been �baptized into Christ Jesus� (see Rom. 6:1�14). Finally, the gift that flows from this perfect fidelity on Jesus� part is the gift of life itself (�the last Adam became a life-giving spirit,� 1 Cor. 15:45), and brings us back to what Saint Paul described as the �righteousness [that] leads to justification and life� (Rom. 5:18).
It is in Jesus� obedience unto death that the contrast between the first and second Adam amplifies. �The free gift is not like the trespass� (Rom. 5:15). Indeed, it is far greater; the abundant grace of God completely overshadows the trespass of Adam. But how would that grace come? The charge from God to Israel, as stated above, was to live in covenant with Him as a means for them to defy the curse and destruction of Adam�s fall. But in this matter the apostle said, �For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing� (Rom. 7:19). That is, �the good� keeping of the Law always gave way to �the evil� breaking of the Law as long as Adam remained Israel�s representative. And so they failed. Still, the necessity of the Servant�s work remained if sin was to be conquered and the old Adamic man redeemed (see Isa. 53:11). Who has delivered us from this body of death? The answer? �Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!� (Rom. 7:25). Jesus came and perfectly fulfilled the will of God, even unto death. In so doing, He reversed the faithlessness of Adam, starting in His resurrected life a new family of God that would bear His characteristics instead, and turned a fallen, corruptible world on its path toward renewal (see Rom. 8:21�22).
So, one major point of all this today is that, being baptized into Christ Jesus, we too share in His victory and exaltation (Rom. 6:1ff.). Not only was sin defeated by the perfect obedience (right through to the resurrection) of Jesus, death was destroyed as well. For death received its sting from sin. It is as if death had the rug pulled right out from under its feet, subsequently powerless to keep Him in the grave. Along with this came the guarantee that those who die once, if they are in union with Christ, will never die again. The pre-eminent resurrection, in other words, was the �first fruits� of the great resurrection to come (see 1 Cor. 15:12�33; 51�57). In this way, the ransomed Christian partakes of Christ�s exaltation, being put right with God and His law, reckoned righteous before the holy Judge.
Thus the third day, Easter morning, witnessed the dawn of a new day. Yet it was not just a new day unlike any other preceding it; rather, it was a day that carried within it the very future to which it pointed. The old war-analogy comes to mind: victory has been proclaimed, the war is nearing its end, though sin and death have yet to hear the news, and we battle them still. But they are not to be feared; we are their slaves no longer. The victor, Jesus, has destroyed the yoke of sin and death, having had that burden laid upon Him. The story of Jesus� literally empty grave not only confirms the hope to which we cling, it simultaneously offers even now the future resurrection life to each person found in Christ. The uncertainties and chaos of this world, while at times oppressive, must not give us constant despair. There is no room for that in the life of the one who believes in God�s victory through the exalted Christ Jesus. As hard as it is, amid the mourning and empathy of tragedy, we are to thank God in light of the promise: the new creation, heaven on earth. Thus we routinely proclaim the faith each Lord�s Day: �Christ has died; Christ is risen; Christ will come again.� There will come a day when the weeds will be choked-out by the sweet grape vine, true justice will reign, and once-wretched sinners will do naught but live resurrected, perfectly and humbly in the presence of the Almighty.
Hey, I was going to message you, however I am not in your age range....forget about that.....I am not even in your gender range...Lol!
:ROFL:
Anyway I'll post it here for you to read.
As you are well aware of, we do Not agree on the finer points of the doctrines of grace, hopefully I have made my position clear enough that you realize I do not totally fit in the Arminian camp either. The only Scripture in my opinion that comes close to giving the doctrine of election any credibility is Romans 9. It is enough to make me see there is something else going on, but not enough to convince me of election as outlined in the doctrines of grace.
This has caused me to research, looking for exactly what is going on. I did post a topic on this awhile back. It is the Scripture on the Wheat and Tares. This Scripture combined with others is troubling. The Tares come from the enemy that actually plants bad seed among the good seed God has planted. So it isn't just a matter of God choosing some to save, there is actually bad seed planted by the enemy that looks like us!
Now what is really troubling is that going back through all the Scriptures clear to Genesis I am beginning to look at a doctrine which I have always viewed as not only heretical, but one held by crackpots!
So what do you know about the Serpent Seed Doctrine? I haven't found any Scripture to refute it, rather to me it has become more of a terrifying glimpse into a previously unseen world.
Serpent Seed Doctrine is a whacked out doctrine of the devil. This doctrine believes African Americans are directly descended from Satan himself as some �serpent seed� race, as a result of Eve and Satan having sexual relations. Some believers of this doctrine include the Jews as well as other races. These races of people are unredeemable because they are the products of Satan. For this reason alone, I can't believe that messed up doctrine. The bad seed planted by the enemy are false teachers, false prophets, etc., who look like ministers of righteousness from the outside, but as Paul says, if Satan can transform himself as an angel of light, so too can those who are deceived by him.
For such [are] false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore [it is] no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works. -2 Corinthians 11:13-15
Yes, I have ran across what you posted, that is NOT what I am talking about. What you posted is a perversion of the serpent seed doctrine, (as I understand it).
This does not involve Blacks, Jews etc... but involves the Nephilim and the races like the Rephriam (sp?) Such as Goliath and his brothers. It has to do with the offspring of fallen angels, with the corruption of human flesh. I wouldn't even be looking into it if I could find a good reason to debunk it, but so far Scripture seems to support it.
I thought there was only one kind of Serpent Seed Doctrine??? The deal with the Nephilim is called Serpent Seed Doctrine as well? Anyways, I've always found the Nephilim theory[?] interesting. Lots of questions though. While it's Scriptural that Satan can transform as an angel of light, can angels take on a totally human form or body no different than ours, to include procreation? Aren't they spiritual beings that can't be seen in the natural? And if so, then how do they put on a body and get all the parts to father children? Any ideas?
I have lots of questions also and am currently looking for answers. The question of taking human form really hasn't bothered me as we see in Scripture, Angels taking human form and eating with Abraham. And remember Sodom when the men wanted to have sex with them.
And read Jude 6 "And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their own home...."
In the Old Testament "the sons of God" always refer to angels, Job 1:6 "One day the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came with them."
Gen 6:2 "the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful, and they married any of them they chose."
Two, It's not the angels putting on human 'form' that bothers me; it's the putting on of 'flesh' part. Wouldn't they have to have flesh and pretty much the same systems that humans have in order to 'mingle' with humans?
I know that the sons of God refers to angels, but they also refer to us as believers...But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, [even] to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. -John 1:12-13
I think this is where I struggle most with the Nephilim thing. As sons of God, we are not born of blood or the will of the flesh; we become spiritual beings in Christ, right? So were the angels created the same? Meaning no blood and no will of the flesh? Spiritual beings? My mind just can't figure how they can become human enough to procreate.
