JESUS Is Our Peace with God: Part V

The Resurrection of the Lord Jesus

Before He died, Jesus spoke these words:

"Truly, truly, I say to you,
an hour is coming, and is now here,
when the dead will hear
the voice of the Son of God,
and those who hear will live.

For as the Father has life in himself,
so He has granted the Son also
to have life in Himself.

And He has given Him authority
to execute judgment,
because He is the Son of Man.

Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming
when all who are in the tombs
will hear His voice and come out,
those who have done good
to the resurrection of life,
and those who have done evil
to the resurrection of judgment."

(John 5:25-29)

These would have been quite ironic words for someone to say if he was soon going to be dead himself. But, Jesus did not remain in the tomb. On the third day, God raised Jesus from the dead.

Not only that, but God gave Jesus the highest position of authority in heaven and on earth, to judge and to reign over all.

After He was raised, Jesus told the eleven men He was sending (the Apostles) to preach about Him:

“All authority in heaven and on earth
has been given to Me.”
(Matthew 28:18b)

And the Apostle Peter took this message to the people:

"Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain
that God has made Him both Lord and Christ,
this Jesus Whom you crucified."
(Acts 2:36)

Later, the Apostle Paul expounded further on the authority of the Lord Jesus:

Have this mind among yourselves,
which is yours in Christ Jesus,
who, though He was in the form of God,
did not count equality with God
a thing to be grasped,
but made Himself nothing,
taking the form of a servant,
being born in the likeness of men.

And being found in human form,
He humbled Himself
by becoming obedient to the point of death,
even death on a cross.

Jesus did what we could not and would not do, and His humility did not go unrewarded by God.

Therefore God has highly exalted Him
and bestowed on Him
the name that is above every name,

so that at the name of Jesus
every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue confess that
Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.

(Philippians 2:5-11)

Since Jesus humbled Himself beneath us all in His death, God exalted Him above all in His resurrection. Jesus, who Himself never deserved anything but perfect fellowship with God, suffered abandonment by God and absorbed God's wrath for our sins. So, God put Him in charge of us.

The Greek term translated "Lord" could equally be translated "Master," as in the master of servants. The last passage from Philippians states that "at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."

In other words, everyone must submit to the truth that Jesus, the One who paid for our sins on the cross, is not only the Savior but the Master of every person.

This is unusual.

It makes sense for God to be our Master, since He is our Creator.

It also would make sense for Jesus to be the Master of those who believe in Him.

But for Jesus, Himself a man, to be the Master of everyone who has ever lived seems extreme. However, since God is the One who gave Jesus that authority, I, for one, am not going to disagree with God.

The Apostle Peter proclaimed the following message to a group of Gentiles:

“Truly I understand that God shows no partiality,
but in every nation anyone who fears Him
and does what is right is acceptable to Him.

As for the word that He sent to Israel,
preaching good news of peace through Jesus Christ
(He is Lord of all),

you yourselves know what happened
throughout all Judea,
beginning from Galilee
after the baptism that John proclaimed:
how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth
with the Holy Spirit and with power.

He went about doing good
and healing all who were oppressed by the devil,
for God was with Him.

And we are witnesses of all that He did
both in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem.

They put Him to death by hanging Him on a tree,
but God raised Him on the third day
and made Him to appear,
not to all the people but
to us who had been chosen by God as witnesses,
who ate and drank with Him
after He rose from the dead.

And He commanded us to preach to the people
and to testify that He is the One appointed by God
to be Judge of the living and the dead.

To Him all the prophets bear witness
that everyone who believes in Him
receives forgiveness of sins through His name.”

(Acts 10:34b-43)

What is the significance of these things, and what do they have to do with Jesus being our peace with God?

I would say this: Not only is Jesus alive, but He holds absolute and final authority over every single person’s fate. Therefore, the issue of peace with God is not something only “religious” or “spiritual” people should be concerned with. Rather, we all must come to terms with who the Son of God is, or else we wait for judgment.

One of the passages above states that God "has given Him authority to execute judgment, because He is the Son of Man." Jesus knows what it is like to live a human life. He knows how hard it is to do what is right. He knows the pain and suffering. He knows hunger and weeping and weakness and betrayal. He understands it all. And this is comforting to Christians, for He sympathizes with us and can help us. But it is another reason for terror among unbelievers, for there is no excuse for rejecting Him if He went through the difficulty of a human life and did it perfectly—on our behalf.

Jesus stated:

"The Father judges no one,
but has given all judgment to the Son,
that all may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father.

Whoever does not honor the Son
does not honor the Father who sent Him.

Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears My word
and believes Him who sent Me has eternal life.

He does not come into judgment,
but has passed from death to life."

(John 5:22-24)

And the Apostle John, sent by Jesus, wrote this:

If we receive the testimony of men,
the testimony of God is greater,
for this is the testimony of God
that He has borne concerning His Son.

Whoever believes in the Son of God
has the testimony in himself.

Whoever does not believe God has made Him a liar,
because he has not believed in the testimony
that God has borne concerning His Son.

And this is the testimony,
that God gave us eternal life,
and this life is in His Son.

Whoever has the Son has life;
whoever does not have the Son of God
does not have life.

(1 John 5:10-12)

The only way to escape the judgment of God, which will be pronounced by Jesus, is to believe God. But believing God does not mean believing that God exists. Rather, we must believe that "God gave us eternal life, and this life is in His Son."

By believing God's testimony about His Son, we can have eternal life. After all, "this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent" (John 17:3b). To know Jesus and His Father now, and for all eternity, is eternal life, and peace with God.

Knowing this, what should we do? We must believe in Jesus. We must put our full confidence in Him, in His name, rather than in our imperfect attempts to earn peace with God.

The next few sections will go into more depth on these things. See you then, if the Lord Jesus wills.

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All emphases are mine.
All Bible quotes are from the English Standard Version (ESV).
All pronouns for God and the Lord Jesus Christ are Capitalized.

For the previous part of this series, go here.
For the next part of this series, go here.
To go to the beginning of this series, go here.