DEATH COULD NOT HOLD HIM

“And this is his name whereby he shall be called,
THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS” Jer.23:6

     Who can measure the perfection of Christ? Who among men can match His standard of holiness? Who alone could defeat the power of death?

     GOD said in Ezekiel, "The soul that sinneth it shall die;" and Paul said, “The wages of sin is death.” The jurisdiction of death exists to confine every life-threatening sin: to hold under the dominion of non-existence all that threatens the safety of life. This is the sole function of death. Death has no other purpose or power. So, when Jesus Christ was forced into the grave at the hands of lawless men, having never united His will with sin, either by thought or deed, the grave had no legal right to hold Him: it had to set Him free! For death can only hold sin, of which Christ had none!

     In light of this grand reality the closer we come to our LORD and Saviour and witness the infinite glory of His love the less glory we will attribute to ourselves. For the reality hits home that among men there is only One who alone could fulfill the call of duty to save life from death. And that duty was to save you and me from everything and everyone that opposes what GOD ordained for both the dignity and eternal joy of life.

     At the outset of sin’s dominion GOD stepped in to ‘save the day.’ When the Creator made known to angels and men of His call of duty to lay down His Divine Life and sacrifice Himself for the sins of the human race, to bear their punishment, to bear the brunt of sin’s wrath—the buffeting hand of its cruel pride and hatred of all that is “holy, and just, and good,” “angels, that excel in strength, that do his commandments, hearkening unto the voice of his word” urged the LORD that He choose one from among them to take the wrath of sin instead of Him (Rom.7:12; Ps.103:20).

     But this could not be. In the legal framework of salvation, only the Father of Adam could save the children of Adam. And when men bound His hands (that blessed the little children) and His feet (that ever walked to where there was need), and nailed them to a tree, and then mocked Him while gloating over His suffering and death, the hardest command ever given to angels was to allow their Commander to die at the hands of luciferians.

     But this had to be. The depths of sin must be exposed that all can see its true character and the destination to which it leads: the destruction of heaven and earth.

     But through Christ's perfect obedience, “and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.” This deliverance from the pit of destruction is the Diadem of His Glory, as the prophecy foretold so long ago: “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.” Phil.2:8; Isa.9:6.

     On the day of Pentecost Peter said of Christ’s victory over the grave that “it was not possible that He should be holden of it” (Acts 2:24). And as Christ is the Father of Adam, the Creator of the human race, and the “first fruits” of this victory over sin and the grave, all His children are now to follow His path of resurrection from the dead (I Cor. 15:20,22,23). This is why Isaiah calls Him, “The Everlasting Father." Every man from Adam to the last is to be raised from the grave, to face one of two destinies: everlasting life or everlasting death: a life where every childhood dream for love's perfection be a daily experience vs. death from which there will be no resurrection: a death where life's breath has no place.

     This simple teaching, restoring man’s freedom to choose GOD’S deliverance: from sin’s condemnation of death, its power over our nature, and the very presence of devils in our lives lies at the heart of the message of salvation. GOD’S deliverance through Jesus Christ is the most glorious doctrine ever given to men! The Bible calls this, “the power of His resurrection.” Said Paul, “As in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.” And those who repent of sin and simply ask for the Presence of the Holy Spirit, and by faith receive Him into the heart: to teach, to lead, to comfort—these will receive the promised inheritance.

     And the promise is sure: “But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you. Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.” Rom.8:11-15.