Today’s devotion comes from Acts 26:19-23 which continues Paul defense before King Agrippa.
“19 “So, King Agrippa, I did not prove disobedient to the heavenly vision,
20 but kept declaring both to those of Damascus first, and also at Jerusalem and then throughout all the region of Judea, and even to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds appropriate to repentance.
21 For this reason some Jews seized me in the temple and tried to put me to death.
22 So, having obtained help from God, I stand to this day testifying both to small and great, stating nothing but what the Prophets and Moses said was going to take place;
23 that the Christ was to suffer, and that by reason of His resurrection from the dead He would be the first to proclaim light both to the Jewish people and to the Gentiles.”
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What is the meaning of Christ’s resurrection? Why is it so important to us?
“20 But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep.
21 For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead.
22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.
23 But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christ’s at His coming,
24 then comes the end, when He hands over the kingdom to the God and Father, when He has abolished all rule and all authority and power.
25 For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet.
26 The last enemy that will be abolished is death.
27 For HE HAS PUT ALL THINGS IN SUBJECTION UNDER HIS FEET. But when He says, “All things are put in subjection,” it is evident that He is excepted who put all things in subjection to Him.
28 When all things are subjected to Him, then the Son Himself also will be subjected to the One who subjected all things to Him, so that God may be all in all.” 1 Corinthians 15:20-28.
We learn at least two reasons in 1 Corinthians 15:20-28 why Christ’s resurrection is so important. First, we learn that “in Christ all will be made alive”. In other words, we too experience resurrection in Christ. Second, we learn that the resurrection is one more example of things, death in this case, put in subjection to Christ. In other words, God’s sovereignty is completed.
Here is what The Heidelberg Catechism states:
“Question 45. What doth the resurrection of Christ profit us?
Answer. First, by his resurrection he has overcome death, that he might make us partakers of that righteousness which he had purchased for us by his death; secondly, we are also by his power raised up to a new life; an lastly, the resurrection of Christ is a sure pledge of our blessed resurrection.
