Primacy of the Resurrection

Scripture: Now 'it was credited to him' was not written for Abraham alone, but also for us. It will be credited to us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. He was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification. Romans 4:23-25

Observation: In discussing how we are saved by faith - how just like Abraham was credited with righteousness just by believing the Lord, so we are considered righteous before God just by believing in Jesus - Paul invokes the resurrection as the key moment of belief. He explicitly says that it isn't just that we trust in the Lord because Jesus existed, but rather that we trust in the Lord because he raised Jesus from the dead. He adds that Jesus was crucified as the great sacrifice for sin, but it is the resurrection that creates the path to "justification" ... it is by believing in the resurrection that we are credited with righteousness.

This is an interesting element of Paul's teaching that it has taken me time to understand. Even Paul's shorter speeches lead to the resurrection, and it is actually that point - the 'raising of the dead' - that causes the most controversy among everyone when he talks. This explains why. It is belief in that event that truly justifies us before the Lord.

This also explains Jesus' behavior after the resurrection. He appeared to hundreds of people, but he could have walked into the crowded temple and presented himself to tens of thousands. He could have walked into a meeting of the Sanhedrin and forced Israel's leaders to proclaim the truth. Instead, he made sure those who believed in him now believed the resurrection, and made this a key matter of faith. Belief in Jesus brings salvation, but it is explicitly belief in the resurrection - not just historical fact that Jesus existed but that he defeated death - that is the key to salvation.

Application: I believe in the resurrection, it's that cut and dry. In fact, of all the things Jesus did ... the healings, the sermons, the miraculous acts ... I believe the resurrection is perhaps the best documented and proven, and even if it wasn't I would believe it because it was the only way by which scripture was fulfilled when the Lord said Messiah will both be tortured and killed, and rule forever.

I believe Jesus was crucified, dead, and buried, and on the third day he rose again. Going forward, more and more, I will remember that as not just a core belief but as the anchor point of faith.

Prayer: Lord, I thank you for the resurrection, the greatest act in history, and the inflection point of all human history. Amen.