Jesus is Alive

Acts 1:3 “He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God.”

The Lord Jesus Christ has paid with his life for one very important reason which is the Church to mature according to His divine will. The first churches had grown really well in terms of life, fruits and that produced great leaders who considered their lives nothing so that they could gain Christ as a real bride should do. To learn to mature in this path, we are going to study the book of Acts of the Apostles and ask God to give us many hints and methods to follow so that we would also be like the early churches.

The first message that we receive here is that Jesus presented Himself alive before leaving us. This is the foundation of the Church which serves a living Husband. Jesus had to take efforts so that we could understand that He is not just a spirit but was with flesh and had a hundred percent risen from death. There was no portion of Him that was in the grave. A living husband has expectations every day and requires the bride to communicate and commune with him. Unless a wife learns to listen and speak with the husband, the marriage will not work. The encouragement here is that a new bride will keep a distance but as they live together, their relationship matures so that they would raise children together and share responsibilities. The first foundation of the Church is that it serves the living Christ.

In Revelation 1:5 we read that Jesus was the first born from the dead. This places Him not only at the receiving end but the origin of life. If He is the first born, it is important that it should be followed by other outcomes. He was seeded so that many other fruits could grow up. We can also compare this with a body coming out of the womb where the head comes out first followed by the body. This process should happen otherwise, the death of Christ becomes vain. Psalms 16:10 says that He does not allow his Holy One to decay which means, even death can affect Him and us, but we will not end up in death but rise up. Death was victoriously overcome by Jesus Christ. Romans 4:25 says that He was raised up so that we should be justified.

The verses in Luke, Revelation and many more say that Christ rose “from the dead”. We can also read that Paul was blind for three days before being redeemed. There are many other similar instances like Jonah in the Bible. God wants us to completely realize how grave we are in sin and then rise up. We cannot be forgiven while we are in sin and have no intentions of coming out. Being dead to sin is the mandatory requirement for being justified.

Jesus was constantly proclaiming the Kingdom of God before and after his resurrection. That’s why Luke insists that here in the first verses. The reason is that we do not die here and rise up in that kingdom. But we have to die here and rise up here so that we could be transferred to that kingdom with a new body. If we read the following verses (Acts 1:6,7,8), we can see that the promise of Holy Spirit to be witnesses was given to them as an answer to restoration of the earthly kingdom. Jesus clearly says “You should not know when God would give you the kingdom”. But know that your current responsibility is to know that I have risen from the dead and be witnesses that the first born has victoriously come out of death and we have to follow Him into resurrection.

In Revelation 1:18 we read that Jesus is living is holding the key to death and hades. This means that the victory over death has given Him complete authority over death. In the previous verses, John fell at His feet as being dead to submit himself for death. But Jesus encourages and says that I hold the key to death and hades or I decide if you should really die. But I am living forever more and you need not worry. But in Mathew 16:17, Jesus gives us the key to heaven which shows how honored we are as if we just keep following Jesus being His disciples we already possess the authority to enter the Kingdom of God. But Jesus takes the responsibility of deciding our death and condemnation. The death we see is not death at all. We die when we sin and submerge into it. As soon as we saved, we rise up from the dead and then when we physically die, we are just transferred to another body in heaven. 1 Cor 15:17-19.

In Luke 24:47, we read that “repentance and the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in His name to all nations. You are witnesses of these things”. Jesus needs us as witnesses for the nations that we, the Church are forgiven and living a justified life.

Amen.