“He tasted death for every man…” Hebrews 2:9
(The following was published in bulletin at St Charles Bible Church – April 16th, 2017, St Charles MN)
I am often asked what I preach about in a worship service at Assisted Living, or to the elderly and infirm at Golden Living. We only keep them for a half hour, so I try to blend in three hymns (they love to sing), and a central thought for the day. Last week, of course, I tried to remind them of their “blessed hope”—the resurrection. I told them, “The Bible says, 100 per cent of people on this earth will die, and 100 per cent of people will rise. The question is not, ‘Will you come back from the dead?’ It is, ‘Where will you spend eternity?’”
Mankind has sought an answer to THIS question since the FIRST funeral. In fact, the oldest book of the Bible records that Job asked it long ago when he said, “If a man dies, will he live again?” (Job 14:14) Because Jesus is the RESURRECTION… we know that the answer is “Yes!” It is possible for us to experience life after death… Two days ago, we remembered the final words of Jesus, “It is finished!”He DIED on the cross for our sins. Jesus EXPERIENCED DEATH…and then came back to life…
Now, some doubt this. They say that Jesus never really died on that first Good Friday. A woman once wrote Dr. J. Vernon McGee and said, our preacher said that on Easter, Jesus just swooned on the cross and that the disciples nursed Him back to health. “What do you think?” McGee replied, “Dear sister, beat your preacher with a leather ‘cat-of-nine-tails’ with 39 heavy strokes. Nail him to a cross. Hang him in the sun for six hours. Run a spear through his heart. Embalm him. Put him in an airless tomb for three days and see what happens!”
This foolish preacher was wrong. Jesus DID actually die and, because He did and then rose again conquering death, the Bible teaches that we will as well. In Romans 6, Paul said, “For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, He cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over Him.”And, as Jesus promised Martha in verse 25, “He who believes in Me will live even though he dies.”
Jesus “tasted death”. He ‘sampled”’ its poison. He says to His disciples: “The prince of this world is coming. He has no hold over Me.” (John 14:9). There is no better proof of His sinless life than His certain resurrection.
Pastor Jim B
’47 / ’56 St Charles MN
1 Peter – “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation…”
“Holy,” at its core, means “set apart and pure.” We are to be different from the world around us. A “holy nation.” When you think about another nation, there is a certain strangeness to it. A different language or money or custom or architecture that feels “foreign.” That is how our lives ought to look in comparison to those who don’t know Christ. We will have different values, customs, and priorities. This is not to say that Christians ought to be “weird.” We are in the world even though we are not citizens here. Rather, we ought to not fully belong because we are following God’s call to “be holy.”
Addison R
’89 / ’13 Willow Street PA