"Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that He should be holden of it." [Acts 2:24]
Imagine for a moment, if you will, that “the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to [the] gospel,” has come. [Rom 2:16] Yes, imagine that great and dreadful day when all shall stand before The King and give account has finally risen to its height as the noonday sun and as it says, “the judgment shall sit.” [Dan 7:26] Let us imagine too, though it shall not be such, (for in Christ “we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as [Jesus] is, so are we in this world,” and, “there is no fear in love.” [1 Jn 4:17-18]), but let us imagine that you are called to the throne to give account, and God booms with a voice and asks you: ‘why should I let you into my kingdom?’ What should be your defense? What shall you say, dear reader? Well, I suppose you may say as most, “for Christ’s sake!” Ah, yes, for Christ Jesus our Lord’s sake! Look not one second upon my righteousness nor merit, dear Father, but look only upon Jesus your Son’s! For it is in Him I find my all-in-all; it is in The Son of your Love that I find myself washed pure white, that I find myself loved and cared for, covered in that sweet, atoning blood. This would be a good answer indeed! For we read in Romans that glorious gospel truth,
“But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and prophets; even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that are believing: for there is no difference: for all have sinned, and are falling short of the glory of God; [and those believing are also] being freely justified by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus…” [Rom 3:21-24]
But let me ask you, dear reader: upon what pillar do you place such trust and rest that Christ’s righteousness shall hold you in that day? When the great hammer of God’s judgment, as it were, comes falling down – how do you know of a truth that Jesus’ righteousness shall protect you? How can we be certain that Jesus’ righteousness is God’s righteousness? How can we prove of a fact that Jesus’ life – not just His deeds and words which we have seen, but also His heart and thoughts which we have not seen – be accepted of God The Father? What if there was one miniscule, sinful thought in Jesus’ early life that was not recorded? How can we be absolutely sure there was not – how can you, dearest reader – be sure?!
Let us not fear, for our verse for today assures our hearts most clearly of Jesus’ righteousness, and its acceptance of God. And it does give us a firm, unfailing confidence that we too shall be accepted by our Father on that day. Let us read from Acts again,
“Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by Him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know: Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain: Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that He should be holden of it.” [Acts 2:22-24]
And let us also note Peter’s comment upon these things, when he says that “[David]…before spake of the resurrection of Christ.” [Acts 2:31] So we see that when Peter says, “whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death,” that he spoke of Jesus Christ, who was resurrected on the third day, “because it was not possible that He should be holden of [death].” To see the significance of such a statement, let us first remember what is written, “the wages of sin is death.” [Rom 6:23] And so we see, the wages of sin being death, that Jesus had no sin indeed. For it was “not possible” that Jesus should be captured and held by death. No, but because there was not one, single iota of sin in Jesus’ entire being – because Jesus our Lord, for every waking and sleeping millisecond of His thirty-some years on earth never sinned: no not in deed, thought, word, emotion, or any such thing – yes, because He had no sin, neither knew any sin, death could not hold Him. And just as it is written of Jonah, “[the fish] vomited out Jonah upon the dry land,” [Jon 2:10] so too the grave spewed Christ out of its mouth, for there was no sin for death to feed on, there was not one ounce of corruption in Jesus’ soul. Just as the belly of the fish rejected Jonah by God’s word, so too Jesus’ soul perfectly mirrored God’s word and so He was rejected by the grave. Praise God! For by this we can be certain, everlastingly certain, that Jesus had no sin: for He was resurrected! He was resurrected out from among the grave: and that, in a far different fashion than we shall be. For truthfully, all shall one day be resurrected. But the chief difference is that Christ was not resurrected generally, as we shall be, but specifically and uniquely, of His own accord, by His own power, through His own righteousness and not another’s.
My brethren, may all praise and honor be to Christ our King, of whom death could not hold Him. For because of Jesus’ great work, we can take to hear the triumphant promise,
“…Death is consumed in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin;; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” [1 Cor 15:54-57]
Because Jesus was resurrected, we too shall be resurrected; and because His righteousness was accepted of God, so too shall ours: for He is our righteousness, “The LORD our Righteousness,” [Jer 23:6] as it is written, “but of Him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us…righteousness;” [1 Cor 1:30] and, “in The LORD shall all the seed of Israel be justified, and shall glory.” [Isa 45:25] And even beyond a merely literal sense, we can have life presently. Even now we can experience the resurrection power and life of Jesus, for it is no longer possible that “the body of this death,” [Rom 7:24] should have dominion over us and submerge us into death and sin, for in Christ Jesus we have been given victory. As we read in Romans,
“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 up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have become untied with [Him] in the likeness of His death, we shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection: Knowing this, that our old man has been crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be annulled, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin.” [Rom 6:4-7]
Death and sin no longer have any power in our lives. The Righteous King who came to earth has conquered and prevailed, and offers the same to us. We are no longer under “the law of sin and death” but have been placed under a new law, “the law of The Spirit of life in Christ Jesus.” [Rom 8:2] And as such, in Christ Jesus we can always experience life, knowing assuredly that Jesus’ life was legitimate and acceptable to God, for He rose out from among the dead on the third day “for our justification,” and we are “saved by His life” [Rom 4:25; 5:10] both presently and in the time to come, for God has “delivered us from so great a death, and doth deliver: in whom we trust that He will yet deliver us.” [2 Cor 1:10]
Click here to see more posts in Daily Meditations on Jesus’ Glory, Vol III