TOPIC:"God's Eternal Victories over Man's Evil Tragedies"
by Rev. Dr. Reg Dunlap
TEXT:Romans 1:1-7
"Jesus Christ our Lord...was declared to be the Son of God with power, according
to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead" (Romans 1:3, 4)
Of all the holidays that we celebrate as Christians Easter is without doubt the queen of them all. For it was at Easter that we witness the eternal victories of God over man's evil tragedies. Jesus Christ, our precious Savior has been raised from the dead and now nothing can stop Him from accomplishing God's divine plan for this wayward and wicked world.
Easter is nothing if it does not continuously remind us of the tremendous fact that God, far from being dead or absent from us, but is very much alive and active in the world in which we live in the person of His sovereign Son, Jesus Christ. The world tried to silence Him and get rid of Him by crucifixion, but God raised Christ from the dead in resurrection power. Easter shows us a world in which God has triumphed over man's tragedies. Let us now look at some of the victories of God as witnessed by the resurrection of our Lord.
I.
Consider, first of all, God's eternal victory of TRUTH over FALSEHOOD. According to our text the Apostle Paul states that on the basis of the resurrection of Christ He was "declared to be the Son of God with power." Notice again what God is proclaiming to men: " Jesus Christ" is "the Son of God." Easter is the voice of God declaring the truth that Jesus Christ is indeed God incarnated in human flesh.
But before the resurrection this truth about Christ was vigorously denied. To them He was the son of Joseph, but certainly not the Son of God. On one occasion when the Jewish leaders tried to stone Jesus, He asked them why they wanted to kill Him. Give ear to their answer: "Not for any good work, but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, have made yourself God" (John 10:33, NLT). When Jesus was on trial before the high priest He was asked, "Are you the Messiah, the Son of the blessed God" (Mark 14:6, NLT)? When Jesus answered that He was we read these words: "Then the high priest tore his clothing to show his honor and said, 'Why do we need other witnesses? You have all heard His blasphemy. What is your verdict?' And they all condemned Him to death" (Mark 14:63, 64, NLT).
Now the question: Who are we to believe? Those who said Jesus was only the son of Joseph or Christ who declared that He was the Son of God? Who told the truth? It must be one or the other. For if Jesus was . . .