There is a plan for a man to be born once and die once. But we are not merely physical, as for the spiritual element of our being, there is a complication. That complication or conflict is called sin. Sin was the consequence of a defiant choice to disobey God and eat of a tree which was restricted. That consequence resulted in eternal separation from God. In other words, we are spiritually dead. So now, we are born once and die twice. This act of disobedience was not a surprise for God.
Throughout the Old Testament, God establishes the blood offering for atonement from sin. This was preparing the way for the ultimate sacrifice through His son. “For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam, all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.” 1 Corinthians 15:21-22
Praise God. Jesus came into the world, suffered, was crucified and was resurrected from the dead. Wow! What an incredible, great story. The beautiful reality for Christians who are “born again” and walking out their faith, is this is not merely a story. It is the pinnacle of our Christian faith. Without the resurrection we have no hope. That is why the chief priests and Pharisees went to Pilate and made their concerns about Jesus known: “We remember that while he was still alive that deceiver said, After three days I will rise. So give the order for the tomb to be made secure until the third day. Otherwise, his disciples may come and steal the body and tell the people that he has been raised from the dead. This last deception will be worse than the first.” Matthew 27:63-64
What was Pilate’s response to that? “Go, make the tomb as secure as you know how. So they went and made the tomb secure by putting a seal on the stone and posting a guard.” Matthew 27:65-66
After the resurrection Jesus had revealed himself to Mary Magdalen and the other Mary. He told them to go to Galilee and tell his disciples. “While the women were on their way, some of the guards went into the city and reported to the chief priest everything that had happened. When the chief priests had met with the elders and devised a plan, they gave the soldiers a large sum of money, telling them, you are to say, ‘His disciples came during the night and stole him away, while we were sleeping.’ If this report gets to the governor, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble. So the soldiers took the money an did as they were instructed. And this story has been widely circulated among the Jews to this very day.” Matthew 28:11-15
This may be the first example of fake news. There is no way Jesus’ followers could have over run the Roman soldiers. If so, don’t you think those soldiers would have been reprimanded (killed). No record of any of that.
According to Paul’s recollection in 1 Corinthians 15:6, “After that he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen sleep.” In other word’s Jesus was seen in his resurrected form by many witnesses. These and many more facts associated with the resurrection of Christ are available in forms. One of my favorites is the New York Times Bestselling author, Lee Strobel. I encourage you to check out Lee Strobel’s writings: “A Case for Christ” and “A Case for Faith.” This guy’s story and ability to articulate the facts about Jesus is amazing.
Not often does a man give up his life for a righteous man. But we were not righteous when Jesus died for us. “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8
What a Savior! Tell someone about your story. Tell someone how they too can discover a God who loves them so much, that he sacrificed his only son, who was resurrected and sits on the right hand of our heavenly father, intervening on our behalf. If you have surrendered your life to God through Jesus, you will not die that second death. Now your born twice and die only once. Oh, what a Savior. Happy Easter!