Resurrection Proves Deity and Sufficiency of Christ

[Christ Jesus] was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead.
—Romans 1:4

The resurrection of Jesus Christ verifies two things. First, it verifies the deity of Christ, that Jesus really was the Son of God. Romans 1:4 says Jesus Christ “was declared the Son of God with power.” How? “By the resurrection from the dead according to the spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord.” The resurrection was the stamp on Jesus Christ that He really was who He claimed to be. The resurrection proves the deity of Christ.

Second, the resurrection validates the sufficiency of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of our sins. Look at Romans 4:24-25: “But for our sake also, to whom it will be credited as those who believe in him who raise Jesus our Lord from the dead; he who was delivered over because of our transgressions and was raised because of our justification.” Here is what Paul says: The signal proof that Jesus Christ’s death was a sufficient payment for your sins was the fact that He was raised from the dead. Had Jesus remained in that grave, it would’ve meant that Jesus died for His own sins and not for our sins. But the fact that God raised Him from the dead was the sign that Jesus’ payment on the cross was accepted, that we had been justified—declared not guilty—before God. Jesus was delivered over for our transgressions but He was raised up for our justification. The way we can be assured that we are not guilty before God is by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

The only way somebody can pay for your sins is if they’re sin free. And the only reason Jesus could pay for our sins is because He was sinless. The fact that God raised Jesus up from the dead was God’s way of saying that our sins are paid in full. His payment covered our debt. He was raised up from the because of our justification. Paul is saying that Jesus’ resurrection proves that His death was sufficient to provide for the forgiveness of our sins.

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Today’s devotion is excerpted from “Simple Answers to Sincere Questions,” by Dr. Robert Jeffress, 2011.
Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1960,1962,1963,1968,1971,1972,1973,1975,1977,1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.