The victory of Jesus Christ became the worldwide message of the apostles. Those men who were scattered in fear when Jesus was taken prisoner and hid themselves lest they too should be taken, became dynamic, fearless and vital preachers. No longer were they like timid mice in their holes, afraid lest the cat should appear. Instead, they stood forth boldly in the heart of Jerusalem, proclaiming with joy and fearlessness:
“This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses” (Acts 2:32). “(Ye) killed the Prince of life, whom God hath raised from the dead; whereof we are witnesses” (Acts 3:15). ” . . . (They) preached through Jesus the resurrection from the dead” (Acts 4:2). “Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead . . . ” (Acts 4:10).
This was the basis of their teaching. The living Christ was God’s assurance of everlasting life for all who would desire it. There was to be no other way. There were some, even a short time after these events, who declared that the resurrection was not as important as the apostles made it out to be. To these mistaken men and women the apostle Paul penned one of the most powerful chapters in all the Bible. With the power of inescapable logic he drove home the tremendous truth:
Now if Christ be preached that he lose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain ye are yet in your sins Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished (1st Corinthians 15 12 14 17, 18).
Let us not miss the lesson ourselves Paul knows that the resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth from the dead is the keystone to our faith To deny it is to destroy the faith which Jesus preached To accept it is to believe in the only way to forgiveness of sins and to immortality Look at it this way Paul tells us that the resurrection of Jesus is the guarantee that all believers who die will themselves be raised from the dead Jesus is the first of many He is the pattern for others to follow He is God s deposit, guaranteeing the purchase of the entire number of the saints of God Take away the resurrection of Jesus and the whole house collapses in ruins.
But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive But every man in his own order Christ the first fruits, afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming (1st Corinthians 15 20 23).
Here is the complete picture By natural birth and by our own sinfulness we are Adam s children, and that brings death In Christ we are related to the resurrection of the dead, and, should we die before Christ comes back, we shall be raised from the dead at that second coming We need now to ask the question what does Paul mean when he talks about being in Christ? ‘ What is it to be in Christ? Quite clearly it is the opposite of being in Adam We can not help being in Adam because that comes to us by birth and natural habit Is there a way in which we can be ‘in Christ and thereby related to everlasting life? Surely there is, and the New Testament makes it very plain
There is a great difference between Adam and Christ, not simply the difference between life and death, but the difference between living for one s self and living for God Being in Christ means that a man has decided to change the course of his life It is as though he had been heading for rocks in a small boat, driven en by a gale and with no hope of escape, when suddenly a strong hand takes the helm, and, despite the apparent impossibility of it, takes the ship to sea on a new and different course Being in Christ means that Christ is Master. We have heard of Him learned of Him and decided we want to serve Him This change of mind is known as repentance A man confesses his hopelessness, a sinner without chance of escape from eternal death, and he takes hold of the lifeline of the promises of God made firm in Jesus Christ.
Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart and ye shall find rest unto your souls For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light (Matthew 11:28-30).
This is no light decision to make Jesus makes it clear that it is the decision of a lifetime It is the greatest choice a man can make It is as though a man had been walking in pitch darkness to ward the edge of a cliff and Jesus had laid His hand upon the man’s shoulder and turned him around The change is even greater than that It is not simply choosing between life and death it is choosing between everlasting life and everlasting death.
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoso ever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).
Adam pulls us down to the grave, Christ alone can bring us out We need faith in Him, in the things concerning Him and concerning the kingdom of God If we truly desire these things, if we recognize the love of God in Jesus and the love of Jesus in His life and death, and wish to be tree from sin and all its consequences, then we flee to Christ for safety We seek to be in Him But how do we take refuge in Him How can He cover us in safety? Jesus tells us quite simply.
He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved (Mark 16 16).
If we believe in Christ and His teaching, then we can be baptized into Him Baptism is a burial in water in the name of Christ of a man who truly believes in the things concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ When a man does that, then God receives Him and covers him with the name of Jesus He becomes Christ’s servant, he is in Christ. The apostle Paul describes it in this way.
For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ (Galatians 3 26,27)
Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death that like as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life (Romans 6 3,4).
This is the great change When a believing man goes into the watery grave of baptism he buries with Jesus his old way of life, his sins are forgiven in Jesus Christ and he comes forth a new man, newly born into the family of God No longer does he bear the name ‘in Adam,” for he is in Christ’ One of the punishments which Christians were made to bear during the persecutions of the first century was to have the corpse of a dead man hung around their necks They had to carry it, and drag it around with them until they, too, died Being in Adam is like that, we are tied to sin and death By Christ we are cut free and united with Christ Himself All His saving work takes effect in us We are new creatures in Christ The watery grave of baptism buries our old life and we are new men in Christ.
Think about your own life Are you tied to Adam united with death? Or are you with Christ, sharing the joy of the hope of life everlasting in God s coming kingdom? Christ calls to every man.
Enter ye in at the strait gate, Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life (Matthew 7:13,14)
Read Romans, chapter 6
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One