THE RESURRECTION PRINCIPLE

8th April 2012 Eltham

No. 372

When Jesus rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had driven seven demons. She went and told those who had been with him and who were mourning and weeping. When they heard that Jesus was alive and that she had seen him, they did not believe it. Afterward Jesus appeared in a different form to two of them while they were walking in the country. These returned and reported it to the rest; but they did not believe them either. Later Jesus appeared to the Eleven as they were eating; he rebuked them for their lack of faith and their stubborn refusal to believe those who had seen him after he had risen. He said to them, Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well. After the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, he was taken up into heaven and he sat at the right hand of God. Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it. Mark 16:9-20

This Easter we remind ourselves again of how Jesus rose from the dead and changed the world forever. Notice that Jesus exhorts us to believe, and mentions this 6 times in the verses above. Our Lord could have just died on the cross for the sins of the world so that we could all be forgiven and thats it, and left the resurrection part out of His plan. The problem is, if thats all there was, we wouldnt have a Saviour that was still with us today. We would be like the Buddhists or Muslims whos God is dead. Buddha and Mohamed died hundreds of years ago and you can visit their grave if you want and their followers dont profess to have the spirit of their God with them today like we do. If Jesus didnt rise from the dead on the 3rd day then how could we have confidence in Him that He could raise anyone from dead let alone all of us at the Resurrection? Jesus demonstrated how He had the power over death when he raised Lazarus from the dead in the 11th book of John. This was a foretaste of things to come. Again He says, if you only believe.
Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. Take away the stone, he said. But, Lord, said Martha, the sister of the dead man, by this time there is a bad odour, for he has been there four days. Then Jesus said, Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God? So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me. When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, Lazarus, come out! The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face. Jesus said to them, Take off the grave clothes and let him go. John 11:38-44

We later see His followers raising dead people too. Jesus told his 12 disciples to raise the dead in Matthew 10:5-10. After Jesus had died and poured out of His Spirit the Apostles also raised the dead as we see in the ministry of Peter.
In Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha (which, when translated, is Dorcas), who was always doing good and helping the poor. About that time she became sick and died, and her body was washed and placed in an upstairs room. Lydda was near Joppa; so when the disciples heard that Peter was in Lydda, they sent two men to him and urged him, Please come at once! Peter went with them, and when he arrived he was taken upstairs to the room. All the widows stood around him, crying and showing him the robes and other clothing that Dorcas had made while she was still with them. Peter sent them all out of the room; then he got down on his knees and prayed. Turning toward the dead woman, he said, Tabitha, get up. She opened her eyes, and seeing Peter she sat up. He took her by the hand and helped her to her feet. Then he called the believers and the widows and presented her to them alive. This became known all over Joppa, and many people believed in the Lord. Acts 9:36-42

Jesus told us too that even in our day we would know the power of His resurrection in our daily lives if we too believed.
I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead. Philippians 3:10-11

This resurrection principle is alive and well but Jesus requires His followers to believe in its power. Paul prayed that we might know Christ and in so doing that we would experience the power of His resurrection.
I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms,.. Ephesians 1:18-20

There is a day coming when Gods people will understand the power of Christs resurrection in a very real way. It was prophesied by the Prophet Hosea that in the 3rd day, Gods people would believe, know Him, and be raised up into a whole new level of ministry.
Come, and let us return to the Lord; For He has torn, but He will heal us; He has stricken, but He will bind us up. After two days He will revive us; On (in) the third day He will raise us up, That we may live in His sight. Let us know, Let us pursue the knowledge of the Lord. His going forth is established as the morning; He will come to us like the rain, like the latter and former rain to the earth. Hosea 6:1-3

The Bible says that one day with the Lord is as 1000 years. 2 Peter 3:8. If this is so then the first day would have been from the birth of Christ 0-1000AD, the 2nd day would have been from 1000 2000AD. We are now in the 3rd day which is from 2000 - ? AD, when Christ will do some powerful stuff in the Church, so start believing it and pray for it to happen. It says He will come to us like the former and latter rain. Thats a double portion. The days of ignorance are over, Y2K has come and gone and we are now in the 3rd day, the Day of His Power. We are not waiting for Him anymore; He is now waiting for us. Its a sure thing, just as sure as Jesus promise of rising from the dead on the 3rd day. There are many things in our lives right now that may appear to have died. All may seem lost but as Christians we are encouraged never to accept those thoughts of defeat. Maybe Muslims and Buddhists can think that way but not us, for we are told to believe that there is a power resident in all who believe, the same power that raised Christ from the dead. Other religions are not taught this like we are. God wants you to know that your health can be turned around, your finances, your marriage, your children, and your ministry or work situation. There is nothing that cant be raised from the dead as it were. There have been a couple of times in my life and ministry when it looked like all was lost. The Devil was whispering in my ear and saying that I had blown it and no way could God get me out of this mess. In 1988 we came back to New Zealand because I was homesick and wanted to get out of Africa with all its problems. God granted me my request and did bless us here but I felt like I had done the wrong thing and eventually God told me that if I wanted His best for my life I needed to go back. We eventually returned but I had no ministry anymore, no money and Zimbabwe was in big trouble. There was no dole there either and no work for me and I had a wife and 2 boys to look after. The Devil was really giving me a hard time and I spent many hours in panic mode and cried out to God day and night. Fortunately we were able to stay with Bernices parents on the farm in Bulawayo for some of that time. I laid hold of Gods promises, like Jeremiah 29:11 which said that Gods plans were good and that He had a future for us. Romans 8:28 was also a comfort to me for it says that everything (both good and bad) were working together for our good. Amen. Slowly but surely things worked out during this very difficult time. The best thing of all was a visitation from God that changed my life forever. I had nothing but the Lord to lean on when I went back and He didnt fail me. I couldnt lean on the government or my resources and it looked like I had ruined everything and had made a big mistake in the eyes of the wise and even my friends. I still have vivid memories of the despair that overwhelmed me on many days and nights. There were times of weeping like I have never had before or since. Psalm 30:5. I now realise that if God could raise Jesus from the dead then it was nothing for Him to raise me up again into a new life. I believe that if a similar situation arose again that even in my old age He could still raise me up again, for the resurrection principle still exists and it works in all of us. Amen. http://ghotter.blogspot.com