Oras Ng Pag-aaral 4th Qtr. | Ang Tagumpay Ni Kristo Laban Sa Kamatayan | Lesson 7

LESSON 7/ 4th Qtr, November 5-11, 2022

by Don Leo M. Garilva, DMin

CHRIST’S VICTORY OVER DEATH

Memory Text “When I saw him, I fell down at his feet like a dead man. He put his right hand on me and said, ‘Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am the One who lives; I was dead, but look, I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys to death and to the place of the dead.’ ” Rev. 1:17, 18, NCV

INTRODUCTION: No matter ALL the EMPHASIS we put on CHRIST’S DEATH, and how IMPORTANT it was, it really does us NO GOOD apart from HIS RESURRECTION. That’s how CRUCIAL the RESURRECTION of JESUS is to the entire CHRISTIAN FAITH and the PLAN of SALVATION.

1. CHRIST IN THE TOMB (SUNDAY) CHRIST’S MISSION seemed to have ENDED with HIS DEATH on the CROSS. Now JESUS was LYING in a TOMB hewed out of a ROCK, closed with a large SEALED STONE, protected by ROMAN GUARDS (MATT. 27:57-66), and watched by invisible DEMONIC POWERS. Using the EASTERN INCLUSIVE LANGUAGE—in which a FRACTION of a DAY stands for a WHOLE DAY—JESUS mentioned that He would “be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth” (MATT. 12:39, 40, NKJV).

JESUS underscored that He would be KILLED but on the THIRD DAY He would RISE AGAIN (MATT. 16:21; MATT. 20:17-19). The CHIEF PRIESTS and the PHARISEES were aware of those STATEMENTS and took MEASURES that they hoped would PREVENT His RESURRECTION. All SECURITY MEASURES taken to keep JESUS LOCKED in the TOMB only made HIS VICTORY over DEATH and over the HOSTS of EVIL even more NOTICEABLE. The PRIESTS and PHARISEES surely had HEARD of the MIRACLES of JESUS.

They had SEEN some of HIS MIRACLES too. And yet, they THOUGHT that a GUARD over the TOMB could stop JESUS, the one who was ABLE to do so MANY MIRACLES, from being RESURRECTED. They also put a GUARD around the TOMB in case the DISCIPLES might STEAL the BODY and then CLAIM that JESUS had been RESURRECTED from the DEAD.

2. CHRIST IS RISEN (MONDAY, TUESDAY & WEDNESDAY) The VICTORY of CHRIST over SATAN and his EVIL POWERS was SECURED on the CROSS and CONFIRMED by the EMPTY TOMB. ELLEN WHITE writes, “When he saw Christ come forth in triumph, he knew that his kingdom would have an end, and that he must finally die.” DA 782.4. And though CHRIST’S HUMANITY DIED, HIS DIVINITY did NOT DIE. In HIS DIVINITY, Christ possessed the POWER to BREAK the BONDS of DEATH. ELLEN WHITE contrasts those who were RAISED by JESUS during HIS MINISTRY with those RAISED at HIS RESURRECTION: “He had raised the son of the widow of Nain, and the ruler’s daughter and Lazarus.

But these were not clothed with immortality. After they were raised, they were still subject to death. But those who came forth from the grave at CHRIST’S RESURRECTION were RAISED to EVERLASTING LIFE. They ascended with Him as trophies of His victory over death and the grave. . . . These went into the city, and appeared unto many, declaring, Christ has risen from the dead, and we be risen with Him. Thus was immortalized the sacred truth of the resurrection.” DA 786.2, 3. Here’s how the people REACTED when they FIRST MET the RISEN CHRIST.

The TWO ANGELS at the EMPTY TOMB told MARY MAGDALENE and some OTHER WOMEN that JESUS had RISEN (LUK. 24:1-11). But soon JESUS HIMSELF appeared to them, and they WORSHIPED HIM (MATT. 28:1, 9, 10). He appeared also to PETER (1 COR. 15:5) and to the TWO DISCIPLES on their way to EMMAUS, whose HEARTS were BURNING while HE was SPEAKING to them (LUK. 24:13-35). When Jesus came into the UPPER ROOM, the DISCIPLES were initially TERRIFIED and FRIGHTENED, but then they were FILLED with JOY and MARVELED at what had happened (JN. 20:19-23).

A week later, JESUS came again into the same room without opening the doors, and then even THOMAS believed in HIS RESURRECTION (JN. 20:24-29). 3. CHRIST THE FIRST FRUITS (THURSDAY) In 1 COR. 15:20, PAUL refers to the RISEN CHRIST as “the FIRST FRUITS of those who have died” (NRSV). Theologian WAYNE GRUDEM says, “in calling Christ the ‘FIRST FRUITS’. . . PAUL uses a METAPHOR from agriculture to indicate that we will be like Christ. Just as the ‘FIRST FRUITS’ or the first taste of the ripening crop show what the rest of the harvest will be like for that crop, so Christ as the ‘FIRST FRUITS’ shows what our RESURRECTION BODIES will be like when, in GOD’S FINAL ‘HARVEST,’ he raises us from the dead and brings us into HIS PRESENCE.” SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1994), 615.

CONCLUSION: The CROSS is CHRIST’S VICTORY over SIN, DEATH and the DEVIL; and HIS RESURRECTION is the CULMINATING triumphal EVENT. CHRIST’S RESURRECTION is CRUCIAL. Because of HIS RESURRECTION, the RIGHTEOUS can be RESURRECTED too. HE has, and is, the KEY to UNLOCKING ALL the other TOMBS! As through ADAM came DEATH, so through JESUS CHRIST “came also the resurrection of the dead” and in HIM “shall all be made alive” (1 COR. 15:21, 22).