Thursday, 7 October 2021

The Prophesy of Resurrection

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Yesterday we began speaking about how Yeshua fulfills prophesy found in the Psalms. Let's deal with another such instance.

Psalm 16:10 For You will not abandon my soul to Sheol nor let Your faithful one see the Pit.

This is the promise of a resurrection. The first one resurrected is Yeshua. 1 Corinthians 15:20 But now Messiah has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. We, who follow Him, follow Him in resurrection as well. What follows is this ... 1 Corinthians 15:21-22 For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead also has come through a Man. For as in Adam all die, so also in Messiah will all be made alive.

Jewish people historically have struggled with the idea of having an intermediary. My rabbi taught me that Jews don't need someone to make intercession for them like the Christians. He said, "We pray directly to God." Likewise, the rabbis teach that the idea of a "substitutionary death" is not found in Judaism.

My response to that line of thinking is that it ignores the preponderance of the Hebrew Scriptures. The entire sacrificial system is based on substitutionary death. The offeror would lay his hands on the offering and transfer guilt. Isaac, himself, son of Abraham, was spared by a substitutionary ram.

For that matter, all of the Aaronic priesthood is based on their role as intermediaries for the people. Yeshua is our high priest (our intermediary) based on better promises. Hebrews 8:6 But now Yeshua has obtained a more excellent ministry, insofar as He is the mediator of a better covenant which has been enacted on better promises.

When we see the term "better covenant," we are tempted to think (and most people do think) that this better covenant replaces the old one. God's covenants build on each other. The Covenant of Grace is an improvement of the Covenant of Law, but God's Law is still part of the Covenant of Grace. Otherwise, how would we know what being called to God's righteous standard actually means. In simple terms, how would we even know right from wrong?

We know by God's Law that we have fallen short of it. We need Yeshua as our advocate, but our calling is to continue to attain to it. Romans 6:1-2 What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may abound? May it never be! How can we who died to sin still live in it?

And, in case you are confused about what sin is, the Bible tells us. Sin is not what makes you feel bad or uncomfortable (like every unsaved sinner thinks). 1 John 3:4 Everyone practicing sin also practices lawlessness - indeed, sin is lawlessness. The Bible says breaking God's Law is sin.

So we thank God for the better covenant, the covenant that includes resurrection. We pick up where we left off in Romans 6 for our conclusion.

Romans 6:3-5 Or do you not know that all of us who were immersed into Messiah Yeshua were immersed into His death? Therefore we were buried together with Him through immersion into death -in order that just as Messiah was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have become joined together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also will be joined together in His resurrection.