Jesus, The Prince Of Life

Acts 3:14 But ye denied the Holy One and the Just, and desired a murderer to be granted unto you;

15 And killed the Prince of life, whom God hath raised from the dead; whereof we are witnesses.

This phrase “the Prince of life” only appears here in the Bible. The Apostle Peter, who spoke these words, was preaching to thousands of unbelieving Jews in the Jerusalem Temple. Peter's words were powerful, direct, and impromptu.

When someone speaks off the cuff like this the hearers usually get a clearer glimpse of the personality and raw beliefs of the person behind the words. That was surely the case that day. Peter's unprepared words give us insight into his core beliefs which were also the commonly held beliefs of all early Christians. They believed Jesus was the Prince of Life.

So what is the meaning of the words Peter chose to describe Jesus? The word “prince” is a beautiful and unique word. There really isn’t a full English equivalent to this word. In modern English prince is usually defined as the son of a king, but that is not in the definition of this word translated Prince.

The word literally means “furnishing the first cause”. This is used for a founder or originator, and it is a word that carries with it the honor of being the first to pass through or to begin something great.

It is translated in Hebrews 2:10 with the word “captain” in the phrase, “captain of our salvation.” He is the chief leader of all the saved and the originator of their salvation. It is translated in Hebrews 12:2 with the word “author” in the phrase, “author and finisher of our faith.” There would be no saving faith if Jesus had not come and secured our salvation. He furnished the first cause of our saving faith.

By using this phrase Peter declared that Jesus is the originator, the author of life. But he wasn't just crediting Jesus with the creation of the world. Peter was giving the honor to Jesus of being the first to pass though the front lines of death coming out on the other side as the Victor. He defeated death and through this victory gives life everlasting! He is the leader of a great army of victors who shall also pass through death into everlasting life because they have trusted their eternal souls into His Gospel care. He Is The Prince Of Life!

Jesus, God's Dwelling Place

John 4:14 But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.

15 The woman saith unto him, Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw.

21 Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father.

Jesus was revolutionary in more ways than some may realize, and here is one of the most revolutionary truths.

Ancient religion was about places. Places where the gods or god dwelt. Every religion had a sacred place, a temple where the people went to meet with God. The Jews had theirs in Jerusalem, and the Samaritans had theirs on Mount Gerizim.

This same way of thinking exists in religions today. The Muslims have Mecca, Hindus have Varanasi, Buddhists have Lumbini. Many Christians mistakenly look for God in places… but, what we are taught in the New Testament is God is found in a man: Jesus Christ. Jesus never built a temple or required one be built.

The water of life flows from Him to His people. The incarnation changed the world, and the way the world should think. The center of the kingdom of God moved from a place to a person. He has risen from the dead... He is alive... worship Him.

Resurrection Song

When Jesus returns the dead in Christ shall rise from the grave with a new and different kind of body. 1 Thessalonians 4:16, 1 Corinthians 15:52 They will all know by experience what it means for a believer to die. They’ve been through it. Their resurrection song is quoted in 1 Corinthians 15:54-57:

Death is swallowed up 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, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

So here we have a glimpse of one of the greatest hymns ever. It will be first sung on a day like no other: resurrection day. Couples who married young, raised a family, then were separated in death after painful struggles will look into each others eyes again... and shout with joy. Mothers, who had their children robbed from them by death, shall find their agony forever replaced in the rapture of this moment. Car accidents, war deaths, explosions, fire, storms, disease, crime... all now permanently defeated!

People who went to the grave secure in the Gospel--still clinging to Jesus--will know instantly, as their lungs fill with that first breath, and their eyes open to a world they left so long ago, the reality of truth and the fulness of God's gospel promises. And they will shout this victory hymn with streaming tears of joy. Jesus... has defeated death by His death and resurrection, and fully answered the demands of the law!

The Bible teaches us that all of us will consciously exist forever. Death and life are only different states of conscious existence. You will never reach the end of you. Will you sing this victory song on that day when life returns in its fulness to those who have had their sins freely forgiven through Jesus Christ's Gospel work? Or will you remain among the conscious dead... never to sing the victory song? The Gospel is the door to eternal life, and we walk through it by faith.

The picture is from http://pointsoflight.blogspot.com/

Absolute Proof - Beyond Any Doubt

Acts 1:3 To whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs,

In US courts we have various standards for decisions made by jurors. In criminal cases a verdict of guilty cannot be returned unless the juror is sure of guilt “beyond a reasonable doubt”. This means that the evidence presented to the juror has established a particular point to a moral certainty, and it is beyond dispute that any reasonable alternative is possible. But “beyond a reasonable doubt” does not mean absolute proof or the absence of any doubt.

In civil cases there is the standard of “proof by clear and convincing evidence.” This is a lower burden of proof than reasonable doubt. It is a decision by the Juror that there is high probability that “a fact sought to be proved is true.”

In the language of the New Testament a word of evidence and decision making was used in this verse. It is translated “infallible proofs”. The Greek scholars in Friberg’s Analytical Greek Lexicon defined this word as: “evidence that removes doubt.” This is the highest level of proof: these people witnessed the same reality over, and over, and over again, to the point that they could not mistake the truth of what they had witnessed. The proof was absolute. This word was used here by Luke concerning the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

A Monday Thought: The Death Of Death

Matthew 4:23 And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people.

Revelation 21:4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. 5 And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.

The events we read about in this passage in Matthew happened many years ago. And it was amazing! Can you imagine being there to watch the shackles of the curse of the Mosaic covenant fall from the condemned! How rapturous it must have been to be delivered from the pain of physical and mental illness by the simple word and touch of the great physician.

But there is a greater day coming! It will begin with the chains of death, the ultimate disease, being shaken from believers who have suffered its frigid captivity. Death... the ancient enemy, has broken our beautiful, brilliant, and beloved. It has blighted with age those who have longed to remain productive for their Savior. It has silenced the most gifted voices mankind has ever heard.

But it cannot and will not hold them, for death is swallowed up in the victory of the Cross. Full atonement has been made. The redeemer has paid the kinsman’s price, and He will take His people home. The great Physician has defeated death, and the final victory is near.

The Death And Resurrection Of A Family

Michael, Betsy, Nathan, Heather
Carol, Larry
Collin, Cory, Nora, Tyler

There was death in the waiting room of that hospital... Carol lay unconscious on a cold table in another room as a surgeon removed her life's dream. The disease had forced her to decide between the death of her body or the death of her dream: a radical hysterectomy at 23 years young. In her grief she thought it God's judgment upon her. And indeed it was, just as all death is the result of His justice. But He is also the God of resurrection.

Carol is the only child of Mary and Forrest. Two parents who had love enough for a house full of children, but, as God willed it, they gave their house full of love to her. Now that singularity seemed forever fixed... there would be no grandchildren. Dreams died.

Carol and I had just been married for four short years. Having been raised in a broken home, it was my dream to have an intact family--to be a faithful husband and father--but the second half of that dream was over... ending that day in that waiting room. Death came.

It is through death that the heart of Jesus is placed in the risen soul. It is life from the dead. We must know the pain and loss of death before we can experience the rapture of resurrection. And in resurrection He changes our hearts and our eyes. I am raised a different person than I ever would or could have been before death. We are born through death into His image, and He is, among other things, the Father of the Fatherless.

It is a choice He makes. He chooses who will bear what reflection of His image in this world. And this resurrection wasn't for Carol, Larry, Mary, or Forrest. It was for them-- the fatherless. Our death was necessary for them. Did you think resurrection was about you... about us? Death is about us... resurrection is about them... others, it's always about others.

There was life from the dead a few years later in the hallway of that hospital. Carol, Larry, Mary, and Forrest stood looking through the nursery window at Nathan's face. Resurrection! At birth Nathan became parent-less, but the Father of the Fatherless had resurrected a family for him. It was life in another hallway a few years later when Betsy--sweet Betsy-- was first placed in Carol's arms. For us it was and is heaven on earth.

It is life from the dead to hold our grandchildren. It is more than our dreams. It is life from the dead to hear the children at Amazing Grace Children's Home sing in the morning. It is resurrection when they crowd around us in a group hug, and look at us with eyes of love. You may not believe me... but Carol and I agree: death was worth it. We would not change a thing. Thank you, Lord, for taking us through that shadowy valley.

Doctrine Matters

I Corinthians 15:20 But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.

The City of Corinth was one of the most culturally mixed cities in the world. It was strategically located on a major shipping lane between Spain & Italy to the west, and Turkey to the east. Its location gave rise to a complex, multicultural populous.

The church at Corinth mirrored the population, and this complexity spilled over into the church’s belief system. It seems the church was plagued by division. It may seem odd to say, but this division has been a blessing to every Christian since that time, because it gave us the Apostle Paul's response to doctrinal error. We have both the example of how to deal with error, and his clear statement of vital truth.

If it doesn't matter what a church believes then 1st and 2nd Corinthians would have never been written. And I am not speaking of the doctrinal confession of a church, even though that is of great importance, but the belief system of the people. Paul wrote these letters to the people not just the ordained leadership. The notion that professed Christ followers can believe anything and everything without accountability is invalided here. Belief systems matter.

In the case dealt with in this chapter, various groups in the Corinthian membership contended for the false notions that there is no resurrection of the dead, or the resurrection of Christ had not happened yet. So we are blessed with the Christian answer on this issue. Paul responded by stating that the resurrection:

• is a vital part of the Gospel, I Corinthians 15:1-4
• was testified to by witnesses, I Corinthians 15:5-10
• was preached and professed at the founding of the Church in Corinth, I Corinthians 15:11, 12
• was a required belief, I Corinthians 15:12-19, 31-34
• is vital to every other Christian doctrine, I Corinthians 15:16-18, 20-28
• is the hope and glory of all Christians. I Corinthians 15:51-58

Based on this chapter we know that faithful Christ followers must believe in the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. I affirm this truth... I believe, without any reservation, that Jesus has risen from the dead, and He is alive in a physical body at this very moment.

Resurrection - Another Existence

1 Corinthians 15:20 But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits...

The resurrection of Jesus Christ was the beginning of a parallel existence. It was not just an optional continuation of the same existence… it marked the beginning of another world. It was the first breath of a new life. The resurrection accomplished something no amount of mortal labor or ingenuity could ever pull off: it made death a temporary event instead of a permanent state. For believers Jesus’ resurrection moved death from the fixed headline of eternity to the fleeting margin of a moment.

Resurrection isn’t just a road built to extend the cul-de-sac of our lives… it is a new road without any intersection with our old crumbling dead-end existence. I know this sounds unreasonable, but we can’t just make a turn and get there… by faith we must begin there. “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” 2 Corinthians 5:17

I realize our struggles sometimes make us think we are on the old road, but that sensation will only last until we breeze past the mile-marker of death. You see, Jesus is waiting for us at that mile marker, and He will control things there until the last of the saved pass by… “then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.”