Living and Dying vs Dying and Living

The crucifixion of Jesus Christ is, without doubt, the most salient event contained in the Biblical record. It has had immense effect on both religions that are the concern of the Biblical narrative. Jews religiously reject it's significance although they were the instigators of it. Christians celebrate it as God's predetermined method of offering salvation to a sinful mankind.

Christians worldwide, however nominally associated with New Testament practices they may be, commemorate the crucifixion through music, paintings, statues, trinkets and more, to the extent that the cross, as a symbol of the Christian religion, is probably one of the most iconic symbols in the world. Jews must surely despise the cross as it stands in opposition to their very existence as a religion and a reminder of the Jewish attempt to end Jesus of Nazareth and his followers.

Christianity is a simple and straightforward religion having only two symbolic acts in which its adherents engage. One of these acts is baptism, and the other is the observance of the "Lord's Supper." Both of these acts are symbolic of the same event, the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.

In baptism the burial in water is a reenactment of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus. Romans 6:3, "as many of us as were baptized into Christ were baptized into His death." In communion the unleavened bread represents Christ's broken body on the cross, and the fruit of the vine represents the blood Christ shed on that cross. 1 Corinthians 11:23-25, and notice vs 26, "For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death till He comes."

Not all that long ago, both of my parents, in their mid 90's, died within 4 days of each other. It seemed fitting that neither of them had to spend any meaningful amount of time without the other. They were within six months of their 75th wedding anniversary, and in those (almost) 75 years they had rarely been apart for as much as a week at a time.

But aside from the longevity of their lives and the constancy of their companionship, there's nothing remarkable in this revelation of their lives. What they did is something most people do. Partly, it's something everybody does. We are born, we live, and then we die. It's the way of the world - the physical world, that is.

What would be remarkable is if this happened the other way around. We die, and then we live. Again. That doesn't happen. Except it did. Once. Christ rose from the tomb never to die again. And that is a wonderful thing.

In Genesis 3:15, God was speaking to the serpent who had successfully tempted Eve to sin. This is what He said, "I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed. He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel." This is figurative language. The serpent will bruise, or do damage to, a heel, not even a foot, just a part of a foot. The seed of the woman will bruise, or do damage to the head of the serpent.

The seed of the woman is Jesus Christ. The serpent is satan. The head bruise represents a serious, life-ending wound. The heel bruise represents a temporary setback. This is the first prophecy in the Bible of a coming Messiah and the battle between God and satan for the souls of men. The temptation of Eve was the first skirmish in that ongoing battle. God is telling satan how this whole situation is going to play out. Satan will have some insignificant victories but Jesus will decisively win the war.

The most outstanding thing about the crucifixion of Christ was not the crucifixion of Christ. It was the resurrection of Christ. The crucifixion of Christ may seem like a victory, but in reality it was just satan unwittingly implementing God's plan.

It was necessary for the son of God to suffer and die to redeem the souls of man. This theme is echoed throughout the Bible. One such place is Ephesians 1 in which Paul speaks of God's plan, in existence before the world was created, to save mankind through Jesus. In verse 7 he writes, "In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace."

So satan's victory wasn't even a victory of any sort. But Christ's resurrection was a triumph of epic proportion. 1 Corinthians 15:55-57, "O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." Satan had just played his trump card and it was all for naught. His greatest play was death. But Jesus showed God's power over death. He rose from the tomb and satan was powerless to do anything about it.

If Jesus had not come forth from the tomb, He would have done what every other man before him has done and what every other man after him has done. And the spiritual profit for us would have been the same amount of profit we have gained from the deaths of all those other men. That amount is exactly zero, 1 Corinthians 15:14, "And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty."

But in coming forth from the tomb, He gained a victory over death and satan that we can now share in. He did all the work. He graciously bestows on us all the benefits.

I remember Clark Sims speaking at a youth event in 2004. One thing he said that stuck with me was was an allusion to the Super Bowl that had been played that year. The New England Patriots had beaten the Carolina Panthers by the score of 32-29. He said, in that inimitable Clark Sims Southern drawl, "You'd have to be a mo-o-ron to bet on the Panthers now. That game is over and the Patriots won."

The question is why are so many people betting their eternal souls on satan? That battle is over. Jesus Christ has already claimed the victory.