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• What a Day!

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 What a Day!

In our societies it is usual to have various anniversaries, which for one reason or
another we consider as important. So for example, we consider as special the last day of
the second world war. The same may also be true for the first day of this war. Also, in
our personal lives such days as our birthday, our marriage anniversary etc. are usually
marked as special days. However, although there are many anniversaries a careful
examination shows that most (if not all) of the corresponding events that are
commemorated: i) affect only a specific group of people (some friends (birthday), a
country (national anniversaries), or a group of countries (e.g. the end of the second world
war)), ii) affect different people differently and in many cases the effects are rather
indirect and iii) as the time passes, the effects of the corresponding event become weaker
and weaker. Really, many events that were considered as significant some decades ago
are no more so today.
In contrast to all these events, today we are going to see an event that although
happened almost 2,000 years ago, affects ALL people in the world, in the SAME degree
and these effects didn't and will not decline at all through time. Really, these effects are
so tremendous today as they were 2,000 years ago. This event is no other than the
resurrection of Jesus Christ. The resurrection is indeed not just a historical event. As
we will see, its effects are so ALIVE today as they were then.

1. Resurrection: the facts.

To see the witness of the Word of God regarding the resurrection, let's go to the
gospel of Mark. There it says:

Mark 16:1-6
"when the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome
bought spices, that they might come and anoint him. Very early in the morning, on the
first day of the week, they came to the tomb when the sun had risen and they said among
themselves, "Who will roll away the stone from the door of the tomb for us?" But when
they looked up, they saw that the stone had been rolled away - for it was very large. And
entering the tomb they saw a young man clothed in a long white robe sitting on the right
side; and they were alarmed. But he said to them, "Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of
Nazareth, who was crucified. HE IS RISEN! HE IS NOT HERE"

They went there to anoint him with spices and oils. They expected to find him in
the same position as when he was buried. They wondered about the stone. However, God
relieved them from all these: He raised Jesus Christ from the dead. The women found an
angel, that told them what happened: "HE IS RISEN. HE IS NOT HERE". Jesus Christ
was raised from the dead. All the other that died saw corruption. However, Jesus Christ
didn't see corruption. He was raised from the dead. He lives forever. Acts 13 tells us:

Acts 13:34-37
"And that he (God) raised him from the dead, no more to return to corruption he has
spoken thus: "I will give you the sure mercies of David". Therefore he also says in
another psalm "you will not allow your holy one to see corruption". For David after he
had served his own generation by the will of God, fell asleep, was buried with his
fathers, and saw corruption; BUT HE WHOM GOD RAISED UP SAW NO
CORRUPTION"

Everyone else, except Jesus Christ, has seen corruption. All the various famous
people that lived through the centuries saw corruption. All the founders of the various
religions are dead. They saw corruption. However, this didn't happen to Jesus Christ.
That's one of the reasons that makes Christianity so much different. Its leader is alive
NOW and HE WILL BE ALIVE FOREVER.
2. Resurrection: the eyewitnesses

Although we saw the witness of the Word of God regarding the resurrection, there
are also many eyewitnesses of this monumental event. I Corinthians 15 gives an account
of those that saw the resurrected Jesus Christ.

I Corinthians 15:3-8
"For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins
according to the scriptures and that he was buried and that he was raised again the third
day according to the scriptures, and that he was seen by Cephas (it is another name for
Peter, see John 1:42) then by the twelve1. After that he was seen by over five hundred
brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen
asleep. After that he was seen by James, then by all the apostles. Then last of all he was
seen by me also"
(NKJV-NIV)

I have emphasised those that saw the resurrected Jesus Christ. Even if no-one had
seen him, the witness that God gives in His Word would be enough to believe it. You do

1 When the Word of God says twelve it means twelve. People have been troubled with that
scripture for the reason that tradition teaches that Judas hanged himself before the crucifixion of
Jesus Christ. However, this cannot be true since here the Word says "twelve". Really, a careful
examination of the gospel records shows that Judas was alive and saw the resurrected Jesus
Christ. Without wanting to get into much detail, which I will probably do in another issue, Luke
24:33-36 referring to the first post-resurrection appearance, that happened at the evening of "the
first day of the week" (see Luke 24:1, 13, 29, 33, 36), speaks for "eleven" disciples (verse 33).
However, it does not say who was the missing one. This can be found in John 20, where an
account of the same appearance, that happened "at the evening of the first day of the week" (see
John 20:19), is given. There, it is also stated who was the missing disciple. The missing one was
not Judas but Thomas: John 20:24 says: "But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was
not with them when Jesus came". The appearance to the twelve that I Corinthians 15 is referring
to happened eight days after the appearance to eleven (with Thomas be the missing one): John
20:25 "And after eight days again his disciples were within (these are the disciples of John
20:19, which are the eleven of Luke 24 since both John and Luke speak for the first same
appearance) and Thomas with them (So we have: eleven + Thomas = twelve): then came Jesus,
the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you". This is the
appearance that Paul is referring to in I Corinthians 15.
not believe something because someone else or you have seen it but because the Word of
God says it. However, in the case of resurrection, the Word of God refers hundreds of
eyewitnesses. Also a look in the gospel records shows that the disciples touched Jesus in
his resurrected body and that he "ate and drank" (Acts 10:41) with them. As it says in
Acts: Jesus Christ "presented himself alive after his suffering by MANY INFALLIBLE
PROOFS" (Acts 2:3). For forty days Jesus Christ was presenting himself alive by many
(not just one or two but many) infallible proofs.
In a court, the witness to whom is given critical importance is the eyewitness.
There are several hundreds that saw Jesus Christ in his resurrected body. THEY are the
eyewitnesses of his resurrection. Today, even two eye witnesses would be enough to
establish a fact. Here, there are hundreds of eyewitnesses and still we have unbelieving
people coming after two thousands years and saying: "Come to me. I will tell you what
happened that day". How do they know? Were they there? I doubt it. I prefer the witness
that God gives in His Word. He certainly knows what happened.

3. The effects of the resurrection

Having seen what the Word of God says about the resurrection of Christ, we will
continue to examine what are the consequences, the repercussions of the resurrection. As
it was said, differently from other events whose importance decline through time, the
resurrection of Jesus Christ has the same tremendous effects on the lives of people today
as it had when it happened.

3.1 Resurrection: prerequisite for our justification.

To see the results of the resurrection let's start from Romans 4:25. There it says:
Romans 4:25
"who (Jesus Christ) was delivered for our offences and was raised for our justification"
(KJV)
 Jesus Christ was delivered for our offences and was raised for our justification.
The fact that you are now righteous before God is based on that Jesus Christ was raised
from the dead. Without resurrection there will be no justification. It is as simple as that.
We saw in a previous article that to be righteous requires to believe in Jesus Christ.
However, this condition (believe in Jesus Christ and you are righteous) was made
available because Jesus Christ was raised from the dead. How wonderful is to be
righteous before God. And all this because of the resurrection. Resurrection is not just a
historical fact. Its implications continue to be the same today as they were 2,000 years
ago.

3.2 Resurrection: prerequisite to be born again

Having seen that it is because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ that we are
righteous after believing in him, let's go to I Peter 1:3. There it says:

I Peter 1:3
"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who according to his abundant
mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ
from the dead"

God has begotten us to a living hope. Today, when one believes in Jesus Christ he
is born (begotten) again. However, see that this was made available "through the
resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead". If Jesus Christ had not been raised from the
dead then we couldn't be born again. You can probably understand better the great
effects of the resurrection to millions of people that believed, believe or will believe in
Jesus Christ, when you see the result: each one of them is born again, son or daughter of
God. However, the effects of the resurrection do not stop here.
3.3. Resurrection: prerequisite for the sending forth of the holy spirit.

One more of the effects of the resurrection is given in Acts 2. The passage refers
to the day of Pentecost, where for first time holy spirit was made available. Peter is
speaking to the Israelites that were there, amazing for the fact that the apostles were
speaking in tongues (see Acts 2:1-13). He said:

Acts 2: 22-23, 32-33

"Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested by God to you by
miracles, wonders and signs which God did by him in your midst, as you yourselves also
know, him being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you
have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death;.........This Jesus God has
raised up, of which we are all witnesses. THEREFORE being exalted to the right hand of
God, and having received from the Father the promise of the holy spirit he poured out
this which you now see and hear"

What did they "see and hear"? They saw and heard the apostles manifesting the
holy spirit by speaking in tongues. The proof that holy spirit was poured out was that
they saw and heard them speaking in tongues. However, see that FIRST Jesus Christ was
raised from the dead and THEN he received the promise of the holy spirit and made it
available. This "therefore", which I capitalised, tells us that what follows, is a
consequence of what precedes. The fact that holy spirit was made available is because
Jesus Christ was raised from the dead. Without resurrection we could not have this
"therefore" and what follows it (the pouring out of the holy spirit). However, Jesus Christ
WAS raised from the dead. The same spirit that was manifested in the day of Pentecost
IS available today to everyone that believes in him. In addition, as in the case of the
apostles, where speaking in tongues was a proof that the spirit was given, which in turn
happened because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, so today when someone speaks in
tongues or operates the other eight manifestations of the spirit (see I Corinthians ch. 12,
13, 14) this is not only a proof that he has holy spirit but also a proof that Jesus Christ
has been raised from the dead. For had he not been raised from the dead, he couldn't
make available holy spirit and consequently you couldn't manifest it. So if one needs a
proof of the resurrection, here is one more: the nine manifestations of the spirit.

3.4. Resurrection: We were raised with him!!

To see another of the effects of the resurrection let's go to Ephesians 2: There it

says:

Ephesians 2:4-7
"But God, who is rich in mercy, because of his great love with which he loved us even
when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive TOGETHER WITH CHRIST (by grace
you have been saved), AND RAISED US UP TOGETHER, and made us SIT
TOGETHER IN THE HEAVENLY PLACES in Christ Jesus."

According to this passage, when God raised Jesus Christ from the dead, we also
were raised with him. When Jesus Christ was made alive, we also were made alive with
him. When Jesus Christ sat in the heavenly places, we also sat there with him. These
have not been materialised yet. They will, when Jesus Christ comes back. However, see
that from God' point of view, it is something that was accomplished in the day that He
raised Jesus Christ. That is what all these "together" mean. If Christ hadn't been raised
from the dead nothing of these could possibly happen. BUT Jesus Christ WAS raised
from the dead. Because of this event, you also are considered as raised from the dead, as
alive and as sitting in the heavenly places. That's some of the tremendous effects of the
resurrection.
3.5. Resurrection: Can our believing be in vain? NO!

To see another of the effects of the resurrection, let's go to I Corinthians 15. As it

will be seen there, there were some false teachers in Corinth that taught that there is no
resurrection. Thus God had to face this. How did He face it? He gave His Word. That's
how the wrong teaching is faced: with the Word of God rightly divided i.e. with right
teaching. So let's start from the beginning of the chapter:

I Corinthians 15:1-2
"Moreover, brethren I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you
received and in which you stand by which also you are saved if you hold fast that word
which I preached to you - unless you believed2 (pistis in the Greek) in vain"

Many Christians have been troubled about what this "believing in vain" means.
We know from other scriptures that when you believe in Jesus Christ you are saved (see
for example Romans 10:9 and Ephesians 2:1-10). There is no case to believe in Jesus
Christ and not to be saved. Also, as it can be seen from the above verses, the Corinthians
had accepted the gospel that Paul preached and which is contained in Paul's epistles.
Therefore, they had believed in Jesus Christ and in his resurrection from the dead and
according to the corresponding scriptures they were saved. What is this "believing in
vain" then? One thing that you must be very careful when you study the Bible is not
to take things out of the context where they belong nor to ignore other references on
the same topic. All the Bible fits together when it is rightly divided. So in our case
let's continue to examine the context of our passage. Verses 3 to 8 gives us a small
summary of the gospel that Paul preached:

2The words "believing" and "faith" are actually a translation of one and the same Greek word:
the word “pistis”. In Greek there is no discrimination between "faith" and "believing".
I Corinthians 15:3-8
"For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins
according to the Scriptures and that he was buried, and that he was raised the third day
according to the Scriptures and that he was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve. After
that he was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain
to the present, but some have fallen asleep. After that he was seen by James, then by all
the apostles. Then last of all he was seen by me also..."
(NKJV-NIV)

See in this passage, the importance that Paul, by revelation, puts on the
resurrection of Christ. He states specifically the eyewitnesses of the resurrection. We will
see in a minute why he does that. In the second half of verse eight a parenthesis is
opened where Paul speaks for himself. This parenthesis closes in verse 10. So verse 11
brings us back to our topic:

I Corinthians 15:11
"Therefore , whether it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed"

The Corinthians had believed what Paul and the others preached. However this
didn't happen for all. For it says:

I Corinthians 15:12-17
"Now if Christ is preached that he has been raised from the dead, how do some among
you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the
dead then Christ is not risen. And IF Christ is not risen then our preaching is empty and
YOUR FAITH (pistis) is ALSO EMPTY (the KJV translates the corresponding Greek
word for empty as "vain"). Yes, and we are found false witness of God, because we have
testified of God that he raised up Christ, whom he did not raise up - if in fact the dead do
not rise. For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen. And IF Christ is not risen,
your faith (pistis) is FUTILE (the corresponding Greek word (mataios) that is translated
as "futile" here means "vain" and it is always rendered so in the KJV); YOU ARE STILL
IN YOUR SINS!"

Only in one hypothetical case could someone believe in Jesus Christ and his
believing be in vain. This would happen IF Jesus Christ hadn't been raised from the
dead. In that case your most honest believing would not be able to save you. You see,
resurrection was needed to be saved. Without the resurrection there would be no
salvation. Without the resurrection our believing would be in vain, empty, futile. Look
what else would happen if Christ was not risen:

I Corinthians 15:17-18
"And if Christ is not risen.......then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have
perished."

If Christ was not risen, then all those believers that died believing in him they
would perish. For what do they have to expect if there is no resurrection? However, all
this would happen only in that hypothetical situation. For:

I Corinthians 15:20-23
"BUT NOW CHRIST IS RISEN FROM THE DEAD"

The word "but" makes a contrast between what is going to be said and what was
said. The word "now" brings us back, from the hypothetical situations described in
verses 12-19 to reality: "but now Christ is risen from the dead". This is the reality. Our
believing is not in vain. It would be in vain, IF (and only if) Christ was not risen. But
now "HE IS RISEN". We are not still in our sins. Those that died believing in Christ and
putting their hope in his return they will not perish for:
I Corinthians 15:20-22
"Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen
asleep. For since by man came death, by man also came the resurrection of the dead. For
as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive."

See this "shall" there. It does not say that they are alive but that they shall be
made alive. When? Verse 23 gives us the answer:

I Corinthians 15:23
"But each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ's
AT HIS COMING"

Jesus Christ will come back and then all those that have died believing in him will
live again. But observe that it is because of the resurrection that these will be made alive.
Truly, the day of resurrection was a day of monumental importance. It affected,
affects and will affect million of people in a unique way. It is because of the resurrection
of Jesus Christ that righteousness, salvation, new birth, sitting in heavenly places, holy
spirit were made available. Surely there is much to say: What a Day!!

Tassos Kioulachoglou