Big Deal, Jesus Knew He’d be Resurrected

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@AsmodeusDemon in Twitter tweeted to me concerning my article; “Did Jesus die for our Sins or did He just Die?” the following: “He didn’t do either given he knew he’d be resurrected. And also because he simply never existed.”

Most likely is that @AsmodeusDemon didn’t even read the article I wrote which he/she replied. If @AsmodeusDemon had read that article he/she would have seen in it that I directly addressed his/her second statement. Again, the typical atheist has apathy towards actually reading and learning about God.

Did Jesus Exist?
Let’s first address further than the article did @AsmodeusDemon second statement concerning Jesus existing. Even ardent atheists such as Richard Dawkins admit that Jesus actually existed… yet expected as an atheist also claims that Jesus isn’t God. Watch Richard Dawkins himself admit Jesus existed: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5EjA-JNiVk

Agnostic Bart D. Ehrman researched Jesus’ existence and finds that the historical Jesus of Nazareth did exist. Read Ehrman’s book: Did Jesus Exist?: The Historical Argument for Jesus of Nazareth https://books.google.com/books?id=hf5Rj8EtsPkC&hl=en

Also, almost all scholars of antiquity agree that Jesus existed, but scholars differ on the historicity of specific episodes described in the Biblical accounts of Jesus, and the only two events subject to “almost universal assent” are that Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist and was crucified by the order of the Roman Prefect Pontius Pilate. Elements whose historical authenticity is disputed include the two accounts of the Nativity of Jesus, the miraculous events including the resurrection, and certain details about the crucifixion. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historical_reliability_of_the_Gospels

Note that @AsmodeusDemon admitted knowing Jesus existed per his/her first statement; “He didn’t do either given he knew he’d be resurrected.” The Bible teaches us that everyone knows God exists yet many chose to ignore God (Romans 1:20-22).

So @AsmodeusDemon the burden is on you to prove to your fellow Atheists that Jesus as you put it, “simply never existed.”

Jesus Knew He’d be Resurrected
Yes, Jesus knew that He would be resurrected prior to His being tortured, nailed to a cross, and dying. The point that @AsmodeusDemon makes about Jesus knowing that he would be resurrected is moot. The point that @AsmodeusDemon made about Jesus knowing that he would be resurrected is moot because the resurrection of Jesus was the very reason Jesus came to earth: to die for your and my sins and resurrect from death to provide to you and me the means into Heaven (John 14:6). So of course Jesus knew that he would be resurrected, it was part of God’s original plan to provide to people entry into Heaven.

The Real Point is that Jesus Came and Took Away Our Sins
You know that He [Jesus] came to take away sins, and in Him there is no sin. 1 John 3:5

But we see Him [Jesus] who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone. Hebrews 2:9

For the grace of God has appeared [Jesus], bringing salvation for all people, Titus 2:11

And which now has been manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, 2 Timothy 1:10

He [Jesus] himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By His wounds you have been healed. 1 Peter 2:24

For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. 1 Peter 2:21

[Jesus] Who gave Himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time. 1 Timothy 2:6

We were buried therefore with Him [Jesus] by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. Romans 6:4

Now to Him [Jesus] who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, Jude 1:24

For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, 1 Peter 3:18

And He [Jesus] is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. Colossians 1:18

So what, Jesus Took Our Sins?
Jesus coming and taking away your and my sins is the point due to Jesus being perfect and without sin!

He [Jesus] committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. 1 Peter 2:22

For our sake He [God the Father] made Him [Jesus] to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him [Jesus] we might become the righteousness of God. 2 Corinthians 5:21

You know that He [Jesus] appeared to take away sins, and in Him there is no sin. 1 John 3:5

You and I cannot come close to thinking of just how intensely painful and demeaning it was for Jesus (who was sinless) to take upon Himself my sins, let alone your sins and everyone who ever lived and will live sins!

Prior to being put on the Cross in the Garden of Gethsemane (Matthew 26:36-46), Jesus was so distressed and worried that He sweat blood. This is a rare phenomenon called hematidrosis[1] that can actually occur; it has been shown to happen to soldiers in battle, and in other stressful situations. Just try and think of how much more intensely distressed and painful it was for Him when Jesus while on the cross took your and my sins?

Jesus had been human since birth, and had never sinned nor felt sin. And all of a sudden while on the cross, Jesus was feeling all of my and your sins and everyone who ever lived and will live sins! Sin from one person might feel painful enough, but from all of us from all throughout all time? You and I cannot even comprehend that. Jesus, at this point, was still feeling all the physical pain of being tortured and being nailed on a cross, and all that emotional pain from taking your and my sins away… all while He was still fully human at this point!

Through Jesus’ taking your and my sin upon Himself and through His resurrection, Jesus provided to everyone the narrow path and gate to Heaven to be forever with God (Matthew 7:13-14; Luke 13:24).

Why would Jesus who is perfect and without sin chose to take your and my sin away from us? He loves us and wants us to love Him (John 3:16).

What Should I Do?
God is the supreme Judge of all the earth (Psalm 96:13; Genesis 18:25), and a good judge cannot let a guilty criminal go unpunished. God does not compromise justice, so He must punish those who do evil, as we see in the next verse of Psalm 5: “Pronounce them guilty, O God! Let them fall by their own counsels; cast them out in the multitude of their transgressions, for they have rebelled against You.” (Psalm 5:10)

This is justice. Everyone (including you and me) stands guilty before God, and if He were to condemn all of humanity, that would be just—because we all (you and me) deserve punishment of eternal death in hell.

Now think about how many times you have boasted, lied, or been unfaithful or have done worse. These are things God hates, because He is perfectly good and cannot ignore sin. Sin means to “miss the mark,” and Scripture tells us that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). None of us can attain to God’s standard, because He measures us against Himself—the ultimate standard of good (1 Peter 1:16).

Remember, God does not send anyone to Hell nor does He take pleasure in having people go there. “… ‘As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live. Turn! Turn from your evil ways!…’” (Ezekiel 18:23; Ezekiel 33:11) Yet God loves you and doesn’t want to impose Himself on you and thus only those people who chose to not be with God go to Hell per their own choice to not be with God. I suggest that you be wise, chose to be with God.

In John 3:16 we learn that, “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him won’t perish but will have eternal life.”

We see how in Romans 5:8 “God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ Jesus died for us.”

We know from Romans 6:23 that, “the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Hebrews 10:1-39 teaches us that no one can follow the Jewish Law enough to pay the wages of sin to have eternal life with God. It also teaches us that none of the Jewish sacrifices which were offered continually year by year, make anyone perfect so to pay the wages of sin to have eternal life with God.

In fact, Hebrews 10:1-39 teaches us that only the sacrifice of Christ Jesus’ blood and His death is sufficient to cover the wages of sin you and I each owe God. And it lets us know that only the sacrifice of Christ Jesus’ blood and His death is sufficient to have God see you and me as perfect through Christ Jesus.

You may be saying something like, “I’m happy with my life and I don’t need Jesus. You Victor, may need Jesus but I don’t.” You are thinking short term thoughts and thinking about this today but what about tomorrow? You may not live to even finish reading this article, thus not making it to live tomorrow. Have you even seriously and honestly sought the truth?

No, really. Have you really seriously and honestly sought the truth? Be truthful with yourself. Surveys show that One out of every One person dies. Why not chose to repent of your sins and accept Christ Jesus as your Savior today?

Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. Ephesians 5:1-2

For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” Romans 10:13

Footnotes
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hematidrosis

1 Comment

  1. Even more significant than his unacquaintance with sin, was his eternal communion with the Father. I had a dear friend, who has since died in his 30s, ask why the crucifixion was so bad when He knew he would rise. I did not have a good answer but God showed me one years later: His Communion within the Trinity was perfect and eternal, of infinite worth. This called him out to pray each morning and for many hours at a time. His fellowship with His Father was infinitely sweet and good. It was severed at the Cross. This was an infinite loss. It matters not if it was suffered for 3 days or an instant, it was an infinite loss. The resurrection restored the fellowship and He sits at the Right Hand of Glory even now, but the loss was real. It was not nullified any more than his blood was restored. It was an infinite loss that divided eternity into two eternal threads. By this I think I could have answered my friend and your questioner. It was not like a man going to sleep only to wake up forgetting the time lost. This was an Eternal Person losing His Eternal Communion. The loss was real, felt, infinite and excruciating. It’s darkness blocked the sun.

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