December 27

Revelation 1:18
“I am He that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death” — Revelation 1:1818I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death. (Revelation 1:18).
THE gospel of Christ (Rom. 1:1616For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. (Romans 1:16)) is the glad tidings of the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus (1 Cor. 15:1-41Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; 2By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. 3For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; 4And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures: (1 Corinthians 15:1‑4)). To believe and proclaim the death of the Son of God is not enough. It is the resurrection that tells us that His propitiation has been accepted, and God can now justify all who put their trust in Him (Rom. 4:2525Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification. (Romans 4:25)). Everywhere that the apostles of the new dispensation went, they preached Jesus and the resurrection (Acts 2:24, 32; 17:18, 3124Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it. (Acts 2:24)
32This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses. (Acts 2:32)
18Then certain philosophers of the Epicureans, and of the Stoicks, encountered him. And some said, What will this babbler say? other some, He seemeth to be a setter forth of strange gods: because he preached unto them Jesus, and the resurrection. (Acts 17:18)
31Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead. (Acts 17:31)). This implies nothing short of the actual resurrection of the physical body of our Saviour. And so-called spiritual resurrection is a denial of the truth revealed in Scripture. If Christ be not risen, our hope is vain, we are yet in our sins (1 Cor. 15:1717And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. (1 Corinthians 15:17)). But thanks be unto God, He has indeed been raised from the dead and become the first-fruits of them that slept.
The witnesses to the resurrection, as given in the Gospels and in 1 Corinthians 15, were many and varied. There was no possibility that so many people were deceived or suffered from hallucinations. Moreover, the change that came over the apostles and the new spirit of boldness infused into the members of the early Church all bore witness to the certainty of the disciples that their Lord had overcome the power of death.
“If through the darksome vale at death
We pass, we need not fear;
Our Saviour, He who gave us breath.
Brings light and triumph there.
Surely Thy sweet and wondrous love
Shall measure all our days;
Thy Father’s house, our home above,
Where dwells eternal praise.”