But it is Far From Over
by Keith Bassham
“…WE BELIEVE ON HIM THAT RAISED UP JESUS OUR LORD FROM THE DEAD; WHO WAS DELIVERED FOR OUR OFFENCES, AND WAS RAISED AGAIN FOR OUR JUSTIFICATION.”
ROMANS 4:24-25
On the cross, Jesus died for sins. That’s what the phrase from the Epistle to the Romans means when it says he was delivered for our offences. We are sinners, and the teaching of the Bible is that Jesus atoned for our sins by his death. And just as he was dying on the cross, the Gospel of John declares, “… he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.”
Other texts in the New Testament elaborate on those simple words, “It is finished,” so we may know what is meant by them.
“Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:28)
“Christ died for the ungodly.” (Romans 5:6)
“Christ died for our sins.” (1 Corinthians 15:3)
“I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20)
Clearly some type of exchange is in view here. Jesus gives His life as a ransom, He dies for the sinner, He gives himself for me — all these point to some type of payment. And not only that, but the Epistle to the Hebrews, comparing the repetitious offerings of the animals of the Old Testament with the single offering of Jesus on the cross, says what Jesus did was “once for all.” A major lexicon tells us that in the time of Jesus, receipts for payments in that part of the world were often introduced with the word tetelestai, an ancient counterpart to something like our phrase, “paid in full.” All these point to some type of transaction taking place with the death of Jesus Christ on the cross.
There are those in Christendom who are uncomfortable with the notion of God visiting wrath on His Son for the sins of others, but I honestly cannot read these texts (and many others) with clarity any other way. So, what was Jesus saying in His dying moments? I think He intended us to understand that He had accomplished, fully accomplished, some great thing — the sin problem was taken care of. When the veil in the temple split, the great sin barrier that separated God and man was taken down. Sins were forgiven, the debt was paid in full, and the way to God was open by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. “It is finished.”
But it is far from over. And that is why the gospels run on another chapter or two after the cross narrative, and why the Book of Acts opens with events that take place seven weeks later, why the epistles explain the implications of living in the light of the knowledge of what was finished, and why the New Testament ends not with the death of Jesus, or even the resurrection of Jesus, nor even with the establishment of the church, but the glorious and triumphant return of Jesus at the end of the age.
So why is it not over? That is what we will explore together for the next few minutes.
THE EASTER STORY REALLY DID HAPPEN
It is finished, but it is not over because we must go on defending the truth of the resurrection today. “Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen: And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain.” (1 Corinthians 15:12-14)
First of all, people have a problem with a literal understanding of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Some do not believe it at all, and strangely enough, even many of those who believe in the death of Jesus do not believe in the resurrection, nor do they understand why it is important. So we begin here. It really did happen.
I remember reading Josh McDowell’s Evidence that Demands a Verdict in Bible college. And in particular, I recall this section. He writes:
I had a debate with the head of the philosophy department of a Midwestern university. In answering a question, I happened to mention the importance of the resurrection. At this point, my opponent interrupted and rather sarcastically said, “Come on, McDowell, the key issue is not whether the resurrection took place or not; it is ‘do you believe it took place?’” What he was hinting at (actually boldly asserting) is that my believing was the most important thing. I retorted immediately, “Sir, it doesn’t matter what I as a Christian believe, because the value of Christian faith is not in the one believing, but in the one who is believed in, its object.” I continued that “if anyone can demonstrate to me that Christ was not raised from the dead, I would not have the right to my Christian faith.”
Examine that chain of logic. Paul says if Jesus is not risen, your faith is in vain, and McDowell (rightly, I think) says that if Jesus is not really risen, you have no right to Christian faith.
I wrote about this in the Tribune apologetics series a couple of years ago (those issues are available in the Tribune archives at www.tribune.org). Christianity is part of God’s story, but it is not a made-up story. It is locked in time and space. You and I can visit the sites where the episode occurred. Archeologists and historians, while not always unanimous in their details and conclusions, have shown again and again that the people and place names mentioned in the Bible were there when and where they were supposed to be.
Archeology has confirmed many of the details given in the Gospels (and the Bible generally), many of which were doubted at some point, especially beginning in the Enlightenment Age. Some recent discoveries include items concerning Pontius Pilate, Caiaphas, James (the brother of Jesus), and fishing boats in the region of Galilee (that is the body of water Jesus walked on). And then there are the many other contemporary figures whose existence and whereabouts are easily placed within the Gospel narrative. See for instance F. F. Bruce’s Jesus and Christian Origins Outside the New Testament for references to the Roman emperors, Judean rulers, and high priests. Everyone is where he or she should be, and place names are accurately used in the Gospels.
The Bible believer has no need to fear an honest investigation into the facts of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
One of the unique aspects of Christianity is its dependence, not on philosophies or mystical teachings, but upon objective truth. Henry Morris, in Many Infallible Proofs, wrote, “Christianity (including its Old Testament foundation) is based upon historical acts and facts. Other religions are centered in the ethical and religious teachings of their founders, but Christianity is built on the great events of creation and redemption.”
To see the importance of this statement, take a look at the content of the gospels themselves. There you find the story of the historical Jesus all right, but you discover something else. We actually know very little about his life as a whole. Only two of the Gospels tell us anything about the ancestry and birth. It appears that he was 30 years old when he began his public ministry, but we know almost nothing about those 30 years. In fact, the gospels have four chapters covering events of those earlier years, but fully 85 chapters are devoted to his last three and one half years on earth.
And where do the Gospel writers really get down to business? Twenty-nine chapters are spent describing Christ’s last week of life, and of those, 13 chapters are devoted to the 24-hour period beginning at sundown the day before the crucifixion: the last day. The events of the last day take up the space of a full 579 verses, 218 describing the betrayal, arrest, and trials, and 361 covering the time spent in the upper room, the Supper, the discourse on the Mount of Olives, the prayer in Gethsemane, the crucifixion, His death, and His burial.
The remainder of the gospels deals with the Lord’s resurrection and appearances afterward. The point is, Christianity is based not on the philosophy of Jesus, but upon who He was and what He did, but there is more. All we know and believe about the Jesus of the Bible stands on these historical records subject to objective examination. If Jesus was not who He said He was, and did not do what the Bible declares Him to have done, then Christianity is not only not unique, it is a sham! That is why McDowell responded the way he did.
Suppose Paul the Apostle had a squishy take on religion when the subject of the resurrection of Jesus Christ came up in 1 Corinthians 15. Can you imagine him saying something like, “Well, you know, I just think that Jesus lives in my heart, and that’s my truth. You, of course, may have a different view, and I can respect that.”
No. According to Paul, Jesus died and was buried and rose again in real history: “For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures: And that he was seen …” (1 Corinthians 15:3-5)
Don’t miss that last phrase. It does not read, “And his presence was felt,” or “And the disciples were moved by his life and death,” or “And he continually abides with us in spirit.” It says, “And he was seen …” Clearly, it was not over at the cross.
WHAT FOLLOWED THE CROSS WAS NECESSARY
Second, it is not over because the Easter story reveals who Jesus was and why He came.
I have to be careful here not to be misunderstood. The death of Jesus on the cross, His life given for us, the shed blood of redemption — these are definitely not side issues as the gospel information cited above shows. However, if we confine our preaching and witnessing to the facts contained in the doctrine of atonement we are not proclaiming the gospel.
Adrian Warnock, author of Raised with Christ: How the Resurrection Changes Everything, writes:
It is interesting that most Christians talk about the Cross often, and yet we seem to only speak about the Resurrection at Easter. I have also noticed that there is a big contrast between our preaching today, which tends to assume the Resurrection while emphasizing the Cross, and the preaching of the book of Acts, which does the exact opposite, speaking far more about the Resurrection and how it has saved us. Charles Spurgeon noticed this neglect in his day as well, and argued that if our preaching better matched the book of Acts, we would see more people become Christians.
I was bothered when I read that, and checked it out. I think Mr. Warnock is on to something. I have already pointed out the gospel passage in 1 Corinthians 15:3-5, and I do note that many preachers, when wanting to give a capsulated gospel tend to stop at the end of verse 4. But remember there were no verse divisions in the original letter, and observe the conjunction and phrase in the next phrase: “and he was seen.” Sin atoned for on the cross is good news indeed, but the news of the risen Savior is what got the early Christians in the most hot water.
And the Corinthian passage is not the only place where resurrection is included in the definition of the gospel. The Epistle to the Romans opens with these words:
Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God, (Which he had promised afore by his prophets in the holy scriptures,) Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh; And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead:
Here, Paul says the gospel is something promised by the prophets in the scriptures, and that gospel concerned his Son Jesus Christ, a son of David by human birth, but who was demonstrated to be the Son of God by the resurrection from the dead. A good example of the Cross + Resurrection approach is seen in Acts 17:1-3, where we read that He went to a synagogue (“as his manner was,” in other words it is what He did all the time) and for three successive Sabbaths, argued “that Christ must needs have suffered, and risen again from the dead; and that this Jesus, whom I preach unto you, is Christ.” He even argued the resurrection on Mars Hill in Athens, and before Agrippa at one of his hearings before going to Rome. Near the end of his life, Paul writes, “Remember that Jesus Christ of the seed of David was raised from the dead according to my gospel.” (2 Timothy 2:8)
And going back to the gGospel texts, God and Jesus hung everything said and done in the Gospels, all the claims made and all the promises given, on the resurrection. In his trials, Jesus was mocked by Romans and accused of blasphemy by Jews because of his claims. When God raised him from the dead, he was “justified (vindicated) in the Spirit,” as 1 Timothy 3:16 says. Jesus was declared to be the Son of God by the resurrection as Paul stated in Romans 1. Had Jesus remained dead and in the grave, he was not who he said he was at all.
But I think the most gripping evidence for the need to reemphasize the resurrection in our gospel witness is found in one of our favorite witnessing passages, Romans 10:9. How does one become a Christian? According to the text …
That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
Two things you need to see here: the Lordship of Christ, and the fact of the resurrection. Any part of Christendom in which Jesus is seen as something less than the Lord of the universe or in which the resurrection is in doubt is representing something that is not Christian. What followed the cross was necessary to vindicate God and Jesus Christ, and it should be emphasized as a critical part of the gospel.
IT’S NOT OVER BECAUSE WE ARE NOT OVER
So, it is finished but not over because we continue to defend the resurrection, because the resurrection gives us a true picture of who Jesus was and why He came, and finally, it is not over because the resurrection defines what we are to be about as well.
Time and again our own lives are defined by Christ’s resurrection in the New Testament. Just as His death is treated as our own (as punishment for our sins), we are identified with the risen Christ in Romans 6:4 (“like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life”), Ephesians 2:5-6 (“Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ … And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus”), and in Colossians 3:1-2 (“If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth”).
But those are not abstract ideas limited to a future existence. Those who believe in Christ are new creations (creatures in the King James Version). In other words, what God is doing when He saves us as individuals is to bring his future will and purpose back to right here in the present in bits and pieces. This is the language N. T. Wright (all of whose views I cannot espouse) uses to describe what God is doing today, and I think he is right on this particular detail. We have, after all, been given a taste of “the powers of the world to come” (Hebrews 6:5), and while no human or group of humans has the power to build the ultimate kingdom of God on earth, you and I, having tasted what God is going to do, can bring bits and pieces of that future kingdom into our homes, into our families, our churches, and our communities. Perhaps those around us will begin to hunger for what we have tasted by embracing the resurrected Son of God and the life He offers.
We are made witnesses, after all, by One whose authority and power derive from His resurrection — “All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen. “
“It is finished.” But it is far from over.