Focus: It's Absolutely Impossible!

Text: Acts 2:24

"Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it."

The Lord Jesus Christ is the only man who was born to die. The reason He was born human was for Him to die a vicarious death - death designed to free all men from death's tyranny. He came to die, and so He died.

One thing all men fear most is death. No one wants to die. The fear of death grips us. The Scripture says that Christ died to "deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage" (Heb.2:15). For fear of death man has been a slave to death all his life. 

Do you know that most decisions and actions we take are born out of fear?

We are afraid of virtually anything and everything. We do what we do because we are afraid some sinister evil might happen to us. For fear of hunger and poverty we work and do all kinds of stuff.

The Tower of Babel was a project embarked upon because of fear. It was an error of judgment, a decision and a move prompted by fear. The Scripture says, "And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, LEST we be SCATTERED ABROAD upon the face of the whole earth" (Gen.11:4). Fear of being scattered was behind the project. This was the first World Government or the first United Nations since the existence of humankind.

Most of the time we act out of fear we find ourselves going against the will of God. God told Adam to multiply and fill the earth. But here, they wanted to stay together or hang around themselves in one place. And even if they were to spread out at all, and disperse to everywhere, they would still have one ruling body binding them together forever. But did they succeed? The answer is no. They did not. 

Fear never succeeds ultimately. We read that God came down from heaven and scattered them by a confusion of language. All of a sudden they couldn't hear and understand themselves. So they stopped the project and went their separate ways. It was the first unfinished project in the history of the world. Fear caused it. Gen.11:8 says, "So the LORD SCATTERED them ABROAD from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city." What they feared came upon them.

A similar thing again happened in the book of Acts right after Pentecost. The Lord Jesus Christ said to His disciples, "But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in JERUSALEM, and in all JUDAEA, and in SAMARIA, and unto the UTTERMOST PART OF THE EARTH" (Act.1:8). The divine program was for them to take the gospel round the world, thereby establishing the kingdom of Jesus Christ. But they stayed back in Jerusalem, and it wasn't looking like they were going to spread as Christ instructed. Act.8:1,4, says, "And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all SCATTERED ABROAD throughout the regions of JUDAEA and SAMARIA, except the apostles… Therefore they that were SCATTERED ABROAD went every where preaching the word." By means of persecution they were scattered all over Judea and Samaria, and travelled everywhere preaching the gospel, while the apostles stayed back in Jerusalem. Paul also joined the church, and he went all over the then known world, preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Death is a terror to mankind, and Jesus Christ died to rescue man from the claws of death.

The resurrection of Jesus Christ is a mighty blow to death. Death has been decisively conquered by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Paul writes, "O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?" (1Cor.15:55). Death has lost its venom. Death died in the death of Christ.

Do you know that death is sin's master and projector, and behind sin and death is Satan, the gang or ring leader?

Paul says, "The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law" (1Cor.15:56). Death, from behind the scenes, has been releasing sin as its sting. Once Satan could get man to sin, then death is set to finish off from that point. God says to Adam, "For in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt SURELY DIE" (Gen.2:17). The moment man commits a sin, death is then set in motion. Death is the finisher. But what did the serpent say in order to get the man to sin? The serpent says, "Ye shall NOT surely die" (Gen.3:4). Sin is a tool in the hands of death. But we thank God for Jesus Christ, our Rescuer.

Here's my main point: Jesus Christ died, but death could not hold Him. He died, but refused to stay dead. It was impossible for death to keep Him in the grave. Why? Because there was no sin in Him.

According to the Scripture, He knew no sin, did no sin, nor was any guile found in His mouth. The Lord Jesus Himself said, "The prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me… Which of you convinceth me of sin?" (Jh.14:30; 8:46). He was sinless. The death He died was not for any sin that He personally committed, but for the sins of all men. So on the cross He conquered sin, death and Satan. The resurrection was God's vindication of Him. Paul says, "And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead" (Rom.1:4). Apart from the vindication, the resurrection of Christ is a declaration that our own resurrection is guaranteed by His own. His resurrection is the concrete evidence we have of our own future resurrection. Because He rose from the dead, we too shall rise again from the dead when the time comes.

Death could not take Jesus Christ captive or hindered from rising from the dead because there was no reason to. He was the Lord from heaven, not a slave of any force or influence. He was too heavenly to be held captive by the forces of hell and evil. He came from heaven and must return there. John says of Him, "Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he was COME FROM God, and WENT TO God" (Jh.13:3). 

He was constantly conscious of His identity and destiny, and He lived up to His Father's bidding and expectations.

Peter boldly declared, "Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death…" The word 'pains' speaks of throes or travails, a kind of birth pangs. What that means is that death and hell went into a three-day labor. The womb of hell and of death felt the intense heat of Christ's holiness and the immense pressure of His presence, and as a result, they could not bear to hold Him down. His holy presence and impeccable character made death and hell uncomfortable. In fact, on that resurrection morning, there was a mighty earthquake that shook the entire place, the effect of which was the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Death and hell bowed down to Christ and surrendered their powers.

Jesus Christ says, "I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have THE KEYS OF HELL AND OF DEATH" (Rev.1:18). Hallelujah! Christ was so full of God and heaven that no force under the earth could in any way stop Him from rising from the dead. It was absolutely impossible for death to hold Him a second longer than required.

Listen to me, with God in your life, failure can't keep you down. Sickness can't keep you down. The troubles of life can't hold you down. The forces of hell can't keep you down. God alone has the final say over your life. God has already declared you the winner even before the battle is over. You and God are headed in the right direction, and as someone has said, "Yes, God and I - That's the challenge of living! And that's the combination that meets the challenge - God and I!" Yes, you and God make an unbeatable company!

by Bishop Moses E. Peter