Proclamation:
“I am The Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive
for ever and ever! And I hold the keys
of death and Hades.” Revelation 1:18
(NIV)
Explanation:
These are the words of Jesus, The Christ, which were
revealed to and recorded by the apostle John under the influence of The Holy
Spirit of God. John was told to write
down the things that he had seen during his out of body experience. (Revelation
1:10-11 and 1:19) John had a vision of
Christ. (Revelation 1:12-16) Upon seeing
Christ, John fell down at His feet and He spoke these words to him. (Revelation
1:17-19)
Application:
With respect to the death, burial, and resurrection of
Jesus, The Christ, we know the events which happened on Good Friday and the
events which occurred on Resurrection Sunday.
But what is not clear is what happened on Saturday while the body of
Jesus lay in the grave. I remember being
taught that after He gave up His life on the cross, He descended into hell and did
something before He returned and rose early Sunday morning. This verse says that Jesus holds the keys to
death and hell in His hands. This speaks
to the sovereignty, the power, and the authority of Christ over death and hell. However, Jesus raised three individuals from
death before He was crucified. He raised
Lazarus from the grave, (John 11:41-44) the synagogue leader’s daughter (Matthew
9:23-24) and the widow’s son. (Luke 7:11-15)
So clearly Jesus had the power over death while He was alive on
earth. I know that He has all power in
heaven and earth. (Matthew 28:18) I do
not know what happen on Saturday but, as the song says, “We will understand it
better, bye and bye.” One day we will
all be “… absent from the body …” and “… present with The Lord.” (2 Corinthians
5:8) Until that day comes, I will praise,
and worship, and serve The Lord.
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