Translate

Thursday, April 5, 2012

The Resurrection proves Jesus perfect humanity

1 Corinthians 15:21-22 For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead. 22For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.

In yesterday's blog we saw how the resurrection of Jesus Christ demonstrates His identity as the Living God.  We concluded yesterday's thoughts with this simple logical argument:

1. Major Premise: The Living God of the Old Testament raises the dead
2. Minor Premise: Jesus Christ raised from the Dead
3. Therefore: Jesus Christ is the Living God

The Deity of Jesus Christ is a fundamental doctrine of the Christian faith.  Today we want to understand what the resurrection of Jesus Christ proves with regards to Christ's sinless humanity.

What if Jesus had remained in the tomb?
In order for salvation to be accomplished, Jesus Christ had to be a sinless Savior.  But what if He had remained in the tomb following His crucifixion?  As One writer notes - Christ could not had been both Just and Justifier, since His own righteousness (His ability to please God on His own merit) would had been in question.  If Jesus Christ had even a hint of sin, the work on the cross would had been rendered void. (compare Romans 3:26)

If Jesus had remained in the tomb, he would had been no different than any other man
The Bible states in Hebrews 9:27 - "And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment."  The overwhelming conviction of scripture is that those who die physically and remain dead do so because they were not sinless.  Unbelievers, sadly, when they physically die, go to Hell to await final judgment.  Even Christians, whose sins are forgiven by grace through faith, though going immediately into the presence of God at death, are awaiting for the resurrection of their physical bodies at the end of time. (2 Corinthians 5:1-6)  The curse given to Adam and Eve brought about the physical death of all people.  Unless a person is sinless, all others will not be resurrected until the end of time. (Daniel 12:2-3)

Jesus Christ did raise from the dead, showing He was a sinless man
But Hebrews 9:28 reveals concerning Christ - "so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him".   Peter points out that because God did not allow Christ's body to suffer corruption, the resurrection proved He was sinless, just as he had claimed. (Acts 2:27)

The Logic of resurrections proves Jesus Christ to be the sinless Savior
When we consider the Logic of scripture, as it pertains to the resurrection's implications about Christ's humanity, we can note the following:

1. Major Premise: Any person who had sinned even once remains physically dead until the end of history
2. Minor Premise: Jesus Christ raised from the dead
3. Therefore: Jesus Christ was a sinless human being