Gtcotr/fs112121
Key Scripture: Revelation 1:18 I am He who lives, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.
1. Jesus died on the Cross at Calvary with and for sin.
2. The plan of God was to get His Son down into death.
3. Jesus defeated principalities and powers and took the keys of death
and hell.
4. Jesus was raised to life again on the third day.
5. The Resurrection of Jesus is God’s seal and heaven’s sign that Jesus is the Messiah.
God had a plan to destroy the power of sin of which Satan was unaware.
It was necessary that Jesus go down into death in order to defeat him who held the power of death.
But … how could God get Jesus legally down into
death?
·
Sin required death … but … death required sin!
·
Only the sinless, pure, perfect blood sacrifice
could save mankind.
· How could Jesus remain sinless, pure, and perfect and still be welcomed down into the chambers of death?
The Truth:
2 Corinthians 5:21 For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
The Process:
Hebrews 2:9-14
We see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death … that He, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone … that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil …
Commentary:
Immediately following the death of Jesus His
body was taken and buried in a tomb, which belonged to a friend, in a garden
near Mount Calvary, outside the walls of Jerusalem. As the followers of Jesus
mourned, the religious leaders convinced the Roman government to seal the tomb
and station guards outside the entrance so that no one could steal the body and
lay claim to the prophecies concerning Messiah. King David had 1000 years
earlier written that God would not leave His soul in hell nor suffer His Holy
One to see corruption. They feared any credible claim that Jesus had been
resurrected from the dead would further identify Him as Messiah, Savior of the
world and indeed the Son of God.
Early in the morning on the third day,
although armed guards stood around the entrance, there came an earthquake by
the hand of God as angels were dispatched to roll the stone from the door of
the tomb. The angels appeared like lightning and their clothes were white as
snow. The angel of the Lord sat upon the stone and when the guards saw him,
they were afraid, began to shake, and fell down as though dead. Jesus was
raised to life again by the power of the Holy Spirit, victorious over death,
hell, and the grave. Jesus triumphed over sin and Satan making a show of him
openly and took possession of the keys to death and hell.
In order to destroy him who had power over
death, that is the devil, Jesus must needs have gone down into death Himself.
Only in the chambers of death, ruled by the prince of death, could death be defeated,
and captives set free. The resurrection of Jesus is proof that death lost its
sting and the grave its victory.
No other religion lays claim to, or has as its
leader, one so raised from the dead who appeared alive to more than 500 of His
followers and was received up into heaven 40 days thereafter with the voice of
angels declaring He would return again. This Jesus of Nazareth is not only the
Lamb of God sacrificed for the sins of the world, but He is also the lion of
the tribe of Judah, risen savior and coming King.
