Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know. This man was handed over to you by God’s deliberate plan and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross. But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him. David said about him: “‘I saw the Lord always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest in hope, because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead, you will not let your holy one see decay. You have made known to me the paths of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence’ (Acts 2:22-28).
Every day we see death and decay around us. The inescapable truth is that we will all die. Death cannot be bartered or reasoned with. However, despite the Lord Jesus Christ experiencing the horror of death it did not defeat him. The cords of death that entangled us, the decay our bodies experience Christ overcame. Jesus was not abandoned to the realm of the dead and because death has been defeated for those the trust in Him we will not be abandoned in that realm either. Easter is that powerful reminder that prior to our life in Christ we were all decayed, all of us were dead in our sins and we had no hope. But Christ has reversed the decay, the grave could not defeat him, the grave will not defeat us either.
He is Risen, He is Risen Indeed!
