The apostles were witnesses of the
resurrection of Jesus (Acts 1:22). The
book of Acts is full of testimonies of
the Lord Jesus' resurrection. Death is
merely a process; whereas,
resurrection is the fulfillment.
Therefore, whenever the Bible
mentions the Lord's death, His
resurrection is also mentioned. The
Lord frequently told the disciples that
He was going to be killed. But He did
not stop there; He always went on to
say that He was going to be raised on
the third day. Resurrection is the
conclusion of death. Only in
resurrection can the work of death be
accomplished. The Lord Jesus died for
our sins on the cross. How do we
know that He accomplished what He
intended to accomplish? How do we
know that God accepted what He
accomplished? We know because He
was resurrected from the dead. This
can be likened to a criminal who is
sentenced to a certain term of
imprisonment. How do we know that
his term is fulfilled? We know because
he is released from jail. Resurrection
concludes death. Without death, there
is no resurrection. With resurrection,
death passes away. God has
"furnished proof to all by raising Him
from the dead" (17:31). The Lord
wants us to believe in His resurrection.
We cannot be saved by only believing
in the Lord Jesus' death. We must also
believe that the Lord Jesus has risen
from the dead before we can be
saved. Romans 10:9 says, "If
you...believe in your heart that God
has raised Him from the dead, you
will be saved."
Resurrection is an act of God. "And
the Author of life you killed, whom
God has raised from the dead" (Acts
3:15). Man had only seen death. If the
Lord had not been raised, everyone
would have thought that only an
ordinary man had been killed. But
God raised the Lord Jesus from the
dead in order to show them that "it
was not possible for Him to be held
by it" (2:24). He was the One whom
"God has exalted to His right hand as
Leader and Savior, to give repentance
to Israel and forgiveness of
sins" (5:31). "This is the One who was
designated by God to be the Judge of
the living and the dead...that through
His name everyone who believes into
Him will receive forgiveness of
sins" (10:42-43).
Believing in the resurrection is beyond
man's ability. Without the touch of the
Holy Spirit, man is not able to believe
that the Lord Jesus resurrected from
the dead. Just by saying, in a light way,
that one believes is of no
consequence. Without the work of the
Holy Spirit, it is impossible for man to
believe from the depth of his being.
"For by grace you have been saved
through faith, and this not of
yourselves; it is the gift of God" (Eph.
2:. Surely salvation is the work of
God. In the power of the Holy Spirit,
the apostles bore witness to the Lord
Jesus' resurrection. "And they were all
filled with the Holy Spirit...And with
great power the apostles gave
testimony of the resurrection of the
Lord Jesus" (Acts 4:31, 33).
The work of redemption was
accomplished by the death of Christ.
His death is the basis of our salvation.
However, we cannot believe only in
the death of Christ; we must also
believe in His resurrection.