Reply To: Faith Discussion Board 1

[Wechie]

1 Corinthians 15:1-3
Christianity is centered around a message, good news, the Gospel, also referred to as the Gospel of Christ. Paul in writing to the Corinthian church was putting them to remembrance of the gospel he preached to them, what their faith rests on, what they received, what they stand on; in doing this he highlights 3 things;
1. Christ Died for our Sins
2. He was buried
3. He was raised on the third day
Paul here points us here to the message that brings salvation. It is safe to say the Gospel is centered around the death, the burial and the resurrection of Christ. However, one more event took place after the resurrection of Christ which brings us to no 4 – His ascension. Luke 24;50-51.
I believe Faith in the finished work of Christ entails; Faith in the death, burial, resurrection and ascension of Christ.
4 VITAL THINGS FAITH IN THE FINISHED WORK ENTAILS;
A. The Death of Christ; Christ died as our substitute; Romans 5:8,Galatians 2:20,Isaiah 53:5-6.
Substitution is the means by which we were reconciled: “For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, in order that he might bring us to God” (1 Peter 3:18). It is the means of expiation: “He made him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in him” (2 Corinthians 5:21) and “He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness” (1 Peter 2:24). And by dying in our place, taking the penalty for our sins upon himself, Christ’s death is also the means of propitiation.
We need no longer need to pay for sin. Christ has paid in full.
One way we can utilize this faith is by reckoning that we are dead to sin, by his death we have been freed from the hold of sin, we are no longer are slaves to the sinful nature. Roams 6:6-7. Anyone who has died has been set free from sin.
Also, sickness no longer has a hold on us, for by his stripes we were healed.

B. The Burial of Christ; The burial of the Lord is a part of the gospel. His burial was an assurance that His resurrection was a reality: for His Body was taken down by friends in the presence of foes who knew that He was dead, and deposited by them, not in a common tomb, but in a cave, hollowed out of a hillside, with a great stone rolled to block up the entrance, which was guarded by the soldiers of Pilate. Luke 23:50
We reckon that we were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. Romans 6:4

C. The Resurrection of Christ; Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life” (John 11:25), and in that statement claimed to be the source of both. There is no resurrection apart from Christ, no eternal life. Jesus does more than give life; He is life, and that’s why death has no power over Him. Jesus confers His life on those who trust in Him, so that we can share His triumph over death (1 John 5:11–12). We who believe in Jesus Christ will personally experience resurrection because, having the life Jesus gives, we have overcome death. It is impossible for death to win (1 Corinthians 15:53–57
The resurrection is the triumphant and glorious victory for every believer. Jesus Christ died, was buried, and rose the third day according to the Scriptures (1 Corinthians 15:3–4,1 Thessalonians 4:13–18
Why is the resurrection of Jesus Christ important? It proves who Jesus is. It demonstrates that God accepted Jesus’ sacrifice on our behalf. It shows that God has the power to raise us from the dead. It guarantees that the bodies of those who believe in Christ will not remain dead but will be resurrected unto eternal life.
We are not without Hope and a future.
D. The Ascension of Christ; “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven” (Acts 1:11).
Jesus’ ascension was a literal, bodily return to heaven. He is presented seated at the right hand of God. The fact that Jesus Christ is at the “right hand of God” was a sign to the disciples that Jesus had indeed gone to heaven. In John 16:7-15, Jesus told the disciples that He had to go away and He would send the Holy Spirit. So the coming of the Holy Spirit in the upper room on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:1-13) was proof positive that Jesus was indeed in heaven seated at the right hand of God. This is confirmed in Romans 8:34 where the Apostle Paul writes that Christ is sitting at God’s right-hand making intercession for us.
Jesus did not go to heaven after His earthly ministry and “take a break” from His role as eternal Shepherd to His people. “For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life” (Romans 5:10, emphasis added). If when humble, despised, dying, and dead, He had the power to accomplish so great a work as reconciling us to God, how much more may we expect that He will be able to keep us now that He is a living, exalted, and triumphant Redeemer, raised to life and interceding on our behalf before the throne (Romans 8:34). Clearly, Jesus is still very active on our behalf in heaven.
Christ alone is the God-man, and He mediates and intercedes between God and man (1 Timothy 2:5).

We utilize faith in the finished work by reckoning with all that Christ has accomplished on our behalf. There is no other kind of faith for the Believer. We need to engage with the Epistles, see ourselves in all Christ accomplished and meditate on these truths. We can only and truly live the victorious life we have been called into when we embrace all that God has provided for us in Christ.