A People of Resurrection

Join me in Confessing our Faith…

We believe in God, the Father almighty, Creator of heaven and earth.

We believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried;

He descended to hell. On the third day he rose from the dead; he ascended to heaven, sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty.

He will come to judge the living and the dead.

We believe in the Holy Spirit,

We believe in the holy catholic church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.

One of the most important proclamation of our faith is this: Jesus is Alive!

I remember the early Pentecostal hymns from early in my childhood at the church…”Because He lives, I can fact tomorrow…Because he lives, all fear is gone…Because I know, He holds the future…and Life is worth the living just because He lives.”

[I remember Rev. L. B. Collins would get fired up between the lines of the stanza…never knew what was going to happen in a Pentecostal church, but you knew when we sang that song somebody was going to be shoutin!!

There’s a reason why that excites the church… a reason why the church would break out into shouts…

We were a people in need of a Savior and our Savior has conquered death, hell, and the grave!

Two Pictures of Resurrection

And here is how we pictured that resurrection growing up….

[Picture of radiant Jesus stepping out of the tomb]

That is probably not exactly what a 1st century Jew would have looked like…but apart from that, Nothing wrong with that. He lives! He came out of the grave!

(My wife told me, “Don’t be messing with my picture of Jesus!)

Truth: Jesus is more than just a super-hero that came back from the dead. In dying Jesus has pulled us all up out of our graves and into Life Everlasting!

[Compare to this second picture of what happened between crucifixion and resurrected appearance: Anastasis (The Harrowing of Hell).

There is a lot to observe in this traditional icon of the church…

The two figures being pulled from their tombs are Adam and Eve, representing all of humanity.

The gate doors of Hell are unhinged and broken while Jesus stands over them.

You can see a very old and malformed figure, chained up in the darkness under Jesus. This is Death himself.

Hebrews 2:14 “Now since the children have flesh and blood in common, Jesus also shared in these, so that through his death he might destroy the one holding the power of death—that is, the devil—”

The garments of Jesus look to almost have a wind blowing them upward, signifying that He is ascending and he is taking humanity with him!!!

St. Marcarius the Great (Desert Father)

But when you hear that at that time the Lord delivered the souls from hell and darkness, and went down to hell, and did a glorious work…do not think only of visible ones; your own heart is a tomb.

When the prince of wickedness and his angels burrow there, and make paths and thoroughfares there, on which the powers of Satan walk into your mind and thoughts, are you not a hell, a tomb, a dead man towards God?

Well, then, the Lord comes into souls that seek after Him, into the deep of the heart-hell, and there lays His command upon death, saying, "Bring out the imprisoned souls that are seeking after Me, which thou detainest by force." So He breaks through the heavy stones that lie on the soul, opens the sepulchres, raises up the man that is dead indeed, brings out of the dark jail the imprisoned soul.

Easter Confession: Christ has died. Christ has risen. Christ will come again. (together)

Romans 6:9–11 “because we know that Christ, having been raised from the dead, will not die again. Death no longer rules over him. For the death he died, he died to sin once for all time; but the life he lives, he lives to God. So, you too consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.”

1 Corinthians 15:20–22 “But as it is, Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead also comes through a man. For just as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.”

We often get so fixated on “how” Jesus was resurrected [bursting out of the tomb in glowing radiance]…that we forget “why” he descended into death and what that means for the world today.

I remember my first pastorate job at Highway Pentecostal Holiness Church…I was tasked with the Easter “cantata”…I was young and wanted to show what happened at the grave…had two friends dress in soldier uniforms…got a strobe light and fog machine…

Now many of the good saints at the Highway PH Church felt that strobe lights and fog machines had no place in the house of God!! …but I wanted the church to get excited about Jesus coming out of the grave!

I don’t want you to get lost in the mechanics (timeline) of Jesus descent into hell, as much as the Church needs to know and proclaim the truth of his resurrection…

Jesus has overcome Death for all the world. Death no longer has victory. Receive this gift of Eternal Life and make it your life today!

What Tomb is Still Holding you in Chains Today?

Your Salvation may be in process, but your freedom from the grave is NOT in question!

1 Corinthians 15:55–57 “Where, death, is your victory? Where, death, is your sting? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!”

2. There is only one Universal Pattern: Surrender, Dying to Sin, Resurrection to New Life

Galatians 2:20 “I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

3. You don’t have to stay in that grave.

John 8:36 “So if the Son sets you free, you really will be free.”