Wednesday | 11 December 2019
The apostle Paul testified to King Agrippa concerning the hope of obtaining the blessing of sonship. During this encounter, Paul asked them, ‘Why should it be thought incredible by you [or by anyone] that God raises the dead?’ Act 26:8. Paul asked this question because the claim that Jesus was both Yahweh Son and the Son of the Father, who died the death of sin and was raised again in order to redeem His people and to give to them the blessing of Abraham, was a great scandal for the Jews. For them, it was beyond credibility. In fact, the proclamation of this message was the very reason why Paul had been arrested by the Jews and was on trial before Agrippa. Act 26:6.
Christ’s death on the cross was to redeem us and to give us a participation in His life. The life of Christ was not taken from Him on the cross. By the power of Eternal Spirit, He laid down His life, even beyond the death of the cross. The endpoint of His offering was not in Himself; nor was it the cross. The endpoint of His offering was in the hands of the Father. Act 10:39-41. The reproach that the Father laid upon the Son was the fullness and end of eternal judgement. Heb 13:12-14. This fullness went beyond the eternal dimension of the lake of fire. By this means, Christ became the full manifestation of reproach and eternal judgement. Joh 5:24. Joh 9:39.
When He was lifted up on the cross, Christ carried within Himself the judgement that belongs to all who reject the salvation of God. His torment, in the three hours of darkness from 12:00pm to 3:00pm, revealed the eternal torment that those who die in their sins will endure forever in the lake of fire. Amazingly, for those who turn to Jesus for eternal salvation, He exhausted eternal judgement by the power of Eternal Spirit, bringing it to an end in less than one day!
Further Study:
1 Corinthians 15:1-34
Daily Proverb:
References:
Act 26:8
Why should it be thought incredible by you that God raises the dead?
Act 26:6
And now I stand and am judged for the hope of the promise made by God to our fathers.
Act 10:39-41
And we are witnesses of all things which He did both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem, whom they killed by hanging on a tree. Him God raised up on the third day, and showed Him openly, not to all the people, but to witnesses chosen before by God, even to us who ate and drank with Him after He arose from the dead.
Heb 13:12-14
Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people with His own blood, suffered outside the gate. Therefore let us go forth to Him, outside the camp, bearing His reproach. For here we have no continuing city, but we seek the one to come.
Joh 5:24
Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.
Joh 9:39
And Jesus said, ‘For judgment I have come into this world, that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may be made blind.’