The very essence of Christ having resurrection power was to show that we, as Christians, are not to be stagnated in our walk with God. Jesus did not lie deteriorating in the tomb; rather, He overcame death, hell, and the grave and He did it in only three days.
The Bible plainly tells us that
“…there was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it” (Matthew 28:2).
The proof wasn’t in the pudding, nor was the proof lying in the tomb, but the proof was in the fact that the angel said,
“He is not here: for he is risen, as he said” (Verse 6).
We get so surprised by Jesus being the Son of God. We know He will always do what He says He will do. We know that His Word never lies. We know that He will one day defeat evil once and for all, but we still get surprised when He works in our lives. He obtained a higher level on that third day when He came back from the dead. As the kids say, “He leveled up.” He wasn’t found decaying or lying waste in the same place.
The angel says to Mary and Mary,
“Come, see the place where the Lord lay” (Matthew 28:6).
Think about that, come, see the place where He lay; not is laying. We cannot be found lying around either. Level up, Church. When Christ rose again, He demonstrated the power we can have when we too rise to this next level. When we read the events of this story, we find that Jesus wanted His disciples to obtain this same level of ministry by giving them the Great Commission before His departure back to the Father. The Bible says,
“18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. 19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: 20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen” (Matthew 28:18-20).
Let’s turn our attention to the place where Jesus went before His disciples to give the Great Commission. It says,
“Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them” (Matthew 28:16).
Notice the place was into a mountain, or a higher level, or on higher ground. There is something about the mountain. Jesus preached His sermon on the mountain, Jesus organized the Church on Mount Hattin, A.J. Tomlinson prayed and uncovered the Church on Burger Mountain.
We should be able to see the advantage we have when we are on higher ground. We can see clearly above the turmoil in the city. Our problems don’t seem so big when we are up where we belong. Our thoughts are on Him when we are on that higher ground. Our prayer should be like the old hymn by Johnson Oatman, Jr. which says, “I’m pressing on the up-ward way, new heights I’m gaining every day; Still praying as I’m onward bound, Lord, plant my feet on higher ground.” And the chorus says, “Lord, lift me up and let me stand, by faith, on Heaven’s tableland, A higher plane, than I have found; Lord, plant my feet on higher ground.”
Even Paul felt it necessary to
“…press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:14).
Rest assured that this high calling of God rests on Christ Jesus, that Solid Rock, the one and only High Priest.
Today is the day for God’s people to rise and to reach the power of His resurrection, and the best way we can attain a higher level is to get to know Him in His fullest measure. Jesus says in the book of John,
“…I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly” (John 10:10).
In other words, He is saying that He wants you to know life in its fullest measure, because to know Christ in His fullest measure is to have life more abundantly, or to have life in a higher level.
When we know Christ, we are first acquainted with His death and resurrection, but to fully know His death is to fully know His purpose for shedding His own blood. Paul told the Ephesian elders,
“27 For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God. 28 Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood” (Act 20:27, 28).
On that third day He was to get up with all power, demonstrating the power that will be shared with those who will be willing to attain a higher level in Him. Truly knowing Christ in His abundance through the power of His resurrection, entitles us to be part of something for which He has shed His own blood—The Church of God. Here again He describes the disciples (the Church) as
“…A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid” (Matthew 5:14).
So, ask yourself, “Today, am I rising or am I sinking? Am I deteriorating in a tomb or am I bursting forth and running up the mountain? Am I an overcomer like Jesus or am I cuddled up on a couch of fear, doubt, and self-pity?”
“And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain” (1 Corinthians 15:14).
“51 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. 53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. 54 So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. 55 O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? 56 The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord” (1 Corinthians 15:51-58).
It is high time for The Church of God to be Overcomers and rise up and reach the power of His resurrection!!!!
