Anastasis

By Sidharth Mohandas

If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men. (1 Corinthians 15:13-19)

What strong statements! Scripture points to the resurrection of Christ as the central reality of the Gospel (1 Corinthians 15:14, Acts 2:31, Acts 4:2, Acts 4:33, Acts 17:18, Acts 17:32, Romans 1:4). Why is it so important? Why did Jesus have to be raised from the dead? Why does resurrection justify us?

ELEMENTARY FACTS

My purpose in writing this article is to share with you some of the “why’s” in resurrection (This is not to write an exhaustive teaching on the subject of resurrection), but before that let’s see what resurrection actually means. The Greek word used for it is anastasis. Anastasis signifies “rising up again” (with a connotation of restoration). Rising up again of what? Of the dead! This is clarified by the Scriptures that use the phrase the “resurrection of the dead” (Hebrews 6:2, I Corinthians 15:12-13). So these are the facts concerning Jesus: He died and He rose from the dead to never die again.

Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that He was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures (I Corinthians 15:3-4).

It is the resurrection that separates Christianity from every religion and belief system in the world.

To understand the significance of resurrection, we need to understand the reason for His death. The above verse makes it very clear to us that He died for our sins.

DEATH REIGNS

Let’s trace back to where sin entered the human race. After man sinned he became disconnected from the source of life. And thus his whole being, that is, his spirit, soul and body then became subject to death. Death actively and progressively reigned over the human race. It is because of this that the sacrifice of animals was  temporarily introduced. Why? Because the life of a creature is in its blood (Leviticus 17:11), and therefore the sacrificed blood acted like a ‘covering of life’ over the death that was at work in man. But the problem was, death still remained underneath the blood covering! The blood of animals had no effect on death, because the sacrifice of animals  dealt with death only on the superficial, never going down into the deep, spiritual roots.

DEATH, THE LAST ENEMY

In I Corinthians 15, death is personified as the “last enemy” (I Corinthians 15:26). This means that when death is defeated, there is no enemy left. Jesus met with death triumphantly by rising from the dead in every sense, physically and spiritually, and having defeated death He was declared Lord (Romans 1:4). The word “Lord” (Greek: Kurios) simply means “supreme one”. In other words, to declare Him Lord, is to agree that even the last and final enemy, death, is subject to His reign. Which implies that there is nothing in heaven or earth that is not subject to Him. This is why Scripture says, “If you confess with your mouth “Jesus is Lord” and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved” (Romans 10:9).

All of us who come under His Lordship have been offered life. This is what justifies us. We are secure. We are saved. He is indeed Lord!

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