March 2002 New Horizons

"Do You Believe This?"

by Robert B. Strimple

Just how good is the good news of the gospel that you believe? Is it so good that, frankly, it seems at times almost too good to believe? I would invite you to pause and read again the account of the raising of Jesus' friend Lazarus in John 11:17-45. "Do You Believe This?" As he himself tells us, John has not recorded all the signs that Jesus performed in the presence of his disciples. But those which he has recorded, he has written down in order that we might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God—and that, by believing, we may have life in his name (John 20:31). That is very clearly the purpose of this marvelous eleventh chapter of John, and the reading of this account will not have achieved its purpose unless it has produced in us a fresh response of faith, of whole-souled commitment to him who declares himself to be the resurrection and the life (John 11:25). The question that our Lord addressed to Martha, he addresses now to us by his Spirit: "Do you believe this?" (vs. ... Read more

What Jesus' Resurrection Meant for Him

by Rowland Ward

Jesus' resurrection was not a resumption of the same kind of life he had before, as was the case with Lazarus (see John 11). Lazarus was raised to resume his old life and to die again. Christ was raised and death no longer has any hold on him. The life of the age to come has been realized in him. Let us explore further what Jesus' resurrection tells us about his person and work for us. What the Resurrection Proves The New Testament certainly emphasizes that the Resurrection is the Father's vindication of his Son. He had claimed to be the Messiah, the promised Anointed One, who would deliver God's people from their sins. That claim seemed to be baseless when he was condemned. How could a convicted blasphemer be the Messiah? But the one whom the people rejected was accepted by God. Jesus' claim to a unique relationship to the divine Father as the equally divine Son was vindicated when he was raised. However, the Resurrection should not be thought of simply as a proof of the deity of Christ. Indeed, ... Read more

Declared to Be the Son of God by His Resurrection

by Jack J. Peterson

Resurrection! What is it? You haven't experienced it, at least in the physical sense. Many of you have experienced it in a spiritual sense, though—and you know that resurrection is a radical transformation. You have been raised from being dead in sin to being alive in Jesus Christ. You have been transformed from being a sinner to being a saint. What Is Resurrection? If you are a child of God, you are anticipating your own resurrection, and you expect a rather radical transformation. It is not just that you will get rid of your glasses. You will also be able to get rid of the upper and lower plates, as well as those aches and pains. But resurrection is more than just coming back to life—there is a difference, a distinction. Between what? Between resuscitation and resurrection. The contrast is seen in Lazarus: he was brought back to ordinary, physical life—resuscitated—but he wasn't really resurrected. Some time later, undoubtedly, he died again. But there is a radical ... Read more

Psalm 16 and Jesus

by George W. Knight III

At this time of year, we generally remember in a special way the death and resurrection of one whom the angel Gabriel told Mary would "be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end" (Luke 1:32-33). That promise reflected what God had said long years ago to the great King David, that on his throne descendants would rule—yes, even eternally. David and his son Solomon believed God's promise. They conducted their lives in the light of that wonderful truth (see 1 Kings 8:25-26). This great truth was also known to the Jewish leaders, who, when asked by Jesus whose son the Messiah would be, replied immediately, "The son of David" (Matt. 22:41-42; cf. Mark 12:35; Luke 20:41). The expectation that the promised Messiah would be the son of David provides the key to understanding that Psalm 16 identifies Jesus as that Davidic Christ and does so by predicting his ... Read more

If Christ Be Not Risen...

by Martin L. Dawson, Sr.

The doctrine of the resurrection of the dead is a cardinal doctrine of the Christian religion. For twenty centuries, the church has confessed, as part of the Apostles' Creed, "I believe in ... the resurrection of the body." The resurrection was prominent in the apostles' preaching. They startled the world by preaching that their religion was based upon the resurrection of the dead—the rising of dead bodies to life again. The proof was that Jesus Christ, the Lord of heaven, became man and was put to death for the sins of his people, and then rose again on the third day for their salvation. No other religion had such a doctrine. By some common grace or common understanding, people in virtually every tribe and nation, bearing the image of God, have some idea that there has to be more than this life. So the ancient Egyptians built their pyramids, expressing the hope that the pharaohs entombed in them might live appropriately in the next world. In the Eastern religions, we see the doctrine of ... Read more