The Resurrection: Power of God Over Sin
The Resurrection has an entirely different meaning. It is the demonstration of the power of God in Jesus Christ over sin and sin's fruitage—death. When Adam was created, he was the son of God. It was the plan of the all-wise Father that God should be incarnate in the flesh of man; but man yielded, and sin became incarnate, infleshed. As man's heart, soul, mind, yielded when the flesh was yielded, the mind became carnal, at enmity with God. Rom. 8:7. Into this citadel of the enemy came the Son of God, born Jesus in Bethlehem, “made of the seed of David according to the flesh” (Rom. 1:3), yet living triumphantly over sin the life of the Son of God. By “prayers and supplications, with strong crying and tears” unto God He was heard and saved and “learned obedience by the things which He suffered,” and was “made perfect,” “the author of eternal salvation” “unto all them that obey Him.” Heb. 5:7-9. He conquered that we in Him might conquer. He “emptied Himself,” and God came in and filled Him. Phil. 2:7; 2 Cor. 5:19. When the same mind is exercised in us, and we renounce self, Christ will come into us and dwell, so that by the power of His life we shall live for Him above the sin. Phil. 2:5; Luke 14:33; Gal. 2:20. This power in Christ Jesus is resurrection power. Men counted Him only man, of the seed of David. Living without sin in God's sight, well-pleasing to Him who judges perfectly, He died adjudged guilty of blasphemy by His own people, and of sedition by the world. He was buried; but on the dawning of that first-day morning He arose from the grave, because He could not be holden of it (Acts 2:24); and that resurrection from death, the ripened fruit of sin, “declared Him to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness.” Should There Not Be Memorials?—“Is it not right that the Christian church should have a memorial of that power? And what is more appropriate than the day on which He rose from the dead?” These are the questions which are raised in behalf of the Sunday and the Easter celebrations, solely because they are existing institutions. If we did not now find them in general vogue, no Bible believer would offer a word for their introduction. To reply to the questions: It is right that there should be remembrancers of our Lord's death and resurrection, because He has given them. It is not a good thing to use a day for that purpose, (1) because God has designated no such thing in His Word; and (2) because the observance of a day has nothing befitting such an event or has anything in common with it. As to Christ's death, He has given us a memorial of that in the Lord's Supper; for “As often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye proclaim the Lord's death till He come.” “This do in remembrance of Me.” 1 Cor. 11:23-26. The Memorial of His Resurrection means more than a day. The resurrection was the manifestation of a life which the world knew not, a life in which was power over sin and death. That life the children of God must live; for “he that hath the Son, hath the life; he that hath not the Son of God hath not the life” (1 John 5:12), whatever his claim to the contrary. This is the essential thing in Christianity. Listen: “I count all things to be loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord; that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection.” Phil. 3:8-10. Again the apostle prays for God's children as the very climax of their needs. “That ye may know the . . . exceeding greatness of His power to us-ward who believe, according to that working of the strength of His might which He wrought in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead, and made Him to sit at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion and every name that is named.” Eph. 1:18-21. Normally, regularly, the beginning of this manifestation to the world is at the Christian's baptism, in his marriage with Christ (Gal. 3:28; Rom. 7:4); but it must continue all through his life of service, else his baptism is a mere mockery of form: “All we who were baptised into Christ Jesus were baptised into His death.” “We are buried therefore with Him through baptism into death; that like as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we also might walk in newness of life.” Rom. 6:3,4. For that new life, Bible baptism stands. The memorial, the only memorial of His resurrection is His regenerate, renewed believers, living above the world, overcoming sin. Such life speaks louder than a million Easters, “Christ is risen indeed.”