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The 27 books of the New Testament contained in The Holy Bible declare the Last Will and Testament of The Lord Jesus Christ. These books are comprised of 7,957 verses, which include 1,423 prophetic statements pertinent to the explanation of the Gospel. While the normal course for the contents of a will to be administered is after a person dies, in Christ’s case, it was contingent upon His resurrection. In Ephesians 1:17-23, Paul prays that the Church will come to the full comprehension of the realities resulting from the resurrection. He wants us to know what God wrought when He raised Jesus from the dead. In other words, all that Easter means to us.
The New Testament describes God’s plan for man’s redemption through the birth, death, resurrection, ascension, and reign of Jesus Christ, the Messiah. THE ENTIRE SCOPE OF THE NEW TESTAMENT CAN BE CAPTURED IN ONE PROPHETIC STATEMENT BY A MAN NAMED SIMEON WHEN JESUS WAS JUST EIGHT DAYS OLD.
Luke 2:34 states, “And Simeon blessed them, and said unto Mary his mother, Behold, this child is SET for the FALL and RISING AGAIN of many in Israel; and for a sign which shall be spoken against.” The religious world had been waiting for 4,000 years for God’s Messiah to redeem mankind from their sin. Simeon gave a panorama of “Paradise Lost” and “Paradise Regained” in ONE sentence. Let us go to the Greek and see what Nuggets we can discover from this Gold Mine.
The first element for consideration from Simeon’s pronouncement regards the PURPOSE for God sending His Son, Jesus, to the earth and the PROCEDURE He ordained in accomplishing this mission of Redemption. The remarkable aspect of this mostly overlooked Scripture is the detail with which it is spoken. Simeon declares in verse 34, that this (child) is:
SET (Greek: keimai, SC 2749, “To cause to lie, lay, laid, lain or buried”)
FOR (eis, SC 1519, “With the aim, purpose, intention, towards this end”) the
FALL ( ptosin, SC 4431 from 4098, pipto meaning “To crash, ruin, downfall, fail, fall into sin and disfavor with God”) and
RISING AGAIN (anastasin, SC 386 from 450, anistemi, “To rise, rise again, rise from the dead, resurrection”) of many in Israel.
Adam was the first man created and served as the Federal Head of the human race. When he transgressed, he brought about the “FALL OF MAN” and the subsequent curse of the law (See Deut. 28: 15-68; Gal. 3:13). This curse brought about the loss of man’s relationship with God. The curse was Spiritual, in that man would now be born in sin and need a Savior. It was Emotional, in that guilt, fear, envy, hatred, malice, stress, anxiety and all ungodly characteristics would now be commonplace in the psyche of unregenerate man. Lastly, it was Physical, in that it opened the door for sweat, thorns, aches, pains, poverty, disease and death to have a stronghold on the human race.
Because of the “first Adam’s” sin, humanity was “down/fallen” for 4,000 years; buried by the curse of the law. Man was under Satan’s dominion because we were “dead in our trespasses and sins” (Eph.2:1). But God, who is rich in love and mercy, wanted to “restore/ raise” man to his former state of righteousness through redemption. He wanted people whole in spirit, mind and body. This is what brought Jesus to earth. It was the Son’s mission to accomplish this restoration and “reverse the curse.” Paul, in Galatians 3:13, states emphatically that JESUS DID!
In order for fallen man to rise from the ruins of sin, Jesus would have to become our new Federal Head or the “Last Adam” (1 Cor. 15: 22, 45). This position was conferred upon Him by the name God chose for Him. The angel proclaimed in Matthew 1:21, “And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.” Jesus would have to be crucified and “SET” (“lay, laid, buried”) in order for fallen man to rise. Matthew 28:6 confirms this word usage when it states, “He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord LAY (keimai, SC 2749 ‘lay, laid, buried’).”
Jesus’ death and burial was predicted by Simeon as the way in which fallen man could RISE (anastasin, SC 386 from 450, anistemi “rise again, resurrection”) from the ashes of spiritual death. There are two verb forms translated “RESURRECTION” or “RISE” that are used interchangeably by the New Testament writers. Matthew 28:6 states that Christ was RISEN (egersis, SC 1453, “To awaken, rise up, recover, resurrect, to quit one’s previous position [of death] by resurrection”).
Luke 20:36 says that we are “children of the RESURRECTION” (anastasin). Simeon, by the power of the Holy Spirit, proclaimed the central theme of the Gospel when he stated that (1) Jesus would be buried, (2) so that fallen man (3) could rise again. The entire scope of the Redemption Story, from the Crucifixion to Easter, is contained in this one statement!
The purpose of the Resurrection of Christ was that we could be resurrected WITH Him. Just a few of the benefits of this resurrection are (1) we are justified (Romans 4:25); (2) we have a lively hope (1 Peter 1:3); (3) we have a good conscience (1 Peter 3:21); and (4) Jesus quickens (“heals”) our mortal (“subject to death, not already dead”) bodies (Romans 8:11).
The Greek word egersis used to describe the Resurrection of Christ and His Church denotes a rising from “DISEASE, OBSCURITY, INACTIVITY, POVERTY, RUIN AND NON-EXISTENCE.” This is how God sees the Church through the finished work of Christ: We ARE redeemed and we ARE resurrected! The Apostle Paul wrote in Colossians 3:1, 2, “If ye then be RISEN with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your MIND (KJV, “affection”) on things above…” The Holy Spirit, through Paul, admonish the Church by saying, “Since you HAVE BEEN resurrected with Christ, start THINKING like it.”
Paul would further reinforce this truth in Ephesians 2:6 when he says that God HATH RAISED (egersis, “resurrected”) us TOGETHER with Christ. This is a settled fact! The spirit of redeemed man has already been resurrected; it will never happen again. The body will have its resurrection at the coming of the Lord. The graves will open and the dead in Christ will unite with those who are alive and remain with all joining Christ in the air. It would be an expensive mistake to confuse the resurrection of the re-born spirit of man with the mortal body of man that AWAITS the resurrection. God’s Word in the Pauline Epistles implores us to enjoy the Resurrected life NOW through Jesus Christ our Lord.
On Easter Sunday, do not just celebrate the resurrection of our Lord. Rejoice because we are resurrected with Him. The Epistles tell us that He brought us out of death and the tomb when He came out. At this moment, we, the Redeemed, are seated at the right hand of our Father God. In the words of an old soldier of the cross, “The resurrected Jesus scooted over and made room for us. Now brother, that’ll preach!”
This is just the beginning of a glorious excavation of the Gospel Gold in this mine. Happy Digging!
****A Personal Word to Our Readers from Dr. Frazier****
There are great insights to be derived from the study of the Greek New Testament. Each month I will endeavor to share a nugget of truth from the Book of Truth, God’s Eternal Word.
These will be concise and should not intrude into your time or opportunity to explore the richness of the vein from which they were extracted. That is for you and the Holy Spirit to excavate together. These nuggets are just to let you know where to begin the digging, if you so desire. They are NOT designed to be an exhaustive commentary providing all the answers on the subject. The Spirit will guide you in how deep to dig. The Greek will be presented in a way that is easy to understand (transliterated) and easy to verify (“SC” refers to Strong’s Concordance). With a little help, you can check the assayers report for yourself. So, pull out this shiny, new nugget and see where it leads you. Please feel free to share your questions, observations or insights with our readers and me.
Website: http://www.donfrazier.com
For those who have requested it, I am including the Easter Poem I shared previously.
“The Night Before Easter”
Donald M. Frazier, Ph.D.
Houston, Texas
Copyright
The demons celebrated the success of their crucifixion plan.
The Disciples were hiding, all huddled in fear,
Nervously won’dring if their end was near.
The children at bedtime were still asking why,
Such a sweet, gentle man had been sentenced to die.
With moms getting ready to join dads in bed,
They tried to accept that Jesus was dead.
When down in the grave there arose such a clatter,
The devil was pacing, screaming, “What is the matter?”
He rushed to the Death Angel to check on the keys,
But he had been stripped and his prisoner released.
And that’s not all that to his wondering eyes would appear,
That his kingdom was conquered became frighteningly clear.
More rapid than eagles Christ’s enemies came,
But He pointed and shouted and called them by name.
Now Sickness, now Sin, Death, Poverty and Pain,
You are defeated! Don’t you come back again.
To the Bottomless Pit, to the lake filled with fire,
Satan, you’re headed, you deceiver and liar.
Christ was dressed all in white from His head to His feet,
He had soundly defeated the master of deceit.
The sins of the world He had borne on His back,
Now He looks like a champion, who’s just spoiled their attack.
He sprang to His throne, to His enemies bade farewell,
And away He flew, leaving death and sin in hell.
But He would exclaim as they saw He’d survived.
Today’s Easter! I’m not dead, I’m alive.”
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Written: 04/01/2007 
Author: Donald Frazier
Category:
Golden Nuggets
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