Lesson 16: Why Did Jesus Rise Again From the Dead? (part 1)

Read: 1 Corinthians 15:12-32 - www.bible.com/bible/59/php.2.esv

We do not often think about why Jesus rose from the dead. If we do, it's usually attributed to the fact Jesus was God and therefore could not stay dead. This is, of course, absolutely true. God, being eternal, could not have remained dead.

So perhaps a better question for this lesson would be, why did Jesus rise from the dead in the sight of His disciples? Why did God let humans see He rose from the dead? For this, we have several very important answers in the Scriptures.

The first reason is our justification. In Romans 4:25 we read, "He was delivered up because of our transgressions, and was raised because of our justification." We looked, in a previous lesson, at the fact that Jesus died because of our sin and we as Christians understand this fact. He took the penalty of our sin on Himself, paid the price so we could live in Him.

Wait a minute, you might say, isn't the taking away of our sin the same as our justification?


In a very literal sense, and according to this verse, they are separate and yet combined. It is like a two-step process. In other words, the judge says, "You have been found innocent and therefore you are free to go." The "found innocent" was the action of the jury, but the "free to go" is now the judge’s decision. Our sin-debt was paid and therefore we are now justified. Jesus died for our sins, and was raised for our justification. Forgiveness takes away our sin and justification is added to us for righteousness’ sake. Each step is separate and so vitally important they are combined into a single effect on us – we are free of our sin.

Let's look at another Scripture to see how people in the Old Testament viewed this concept of justification. Turn to Psalm 32 and look at the first two verses. “How blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered! How blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit!”

We find these two verses quoted by Paul in Romans 4:6 and they are the words Paul uses for justification as the second step. David knew the blessing of having his sin forgiven, he also knew the freedom of being released from the consequences of his sin as far as status was concerned. David’s sin of adultery with Bathsheba should have resulted in both their deaths. They were forgiven, they were allowed to live, and almost as importantly, David was allowed to keep his kingdom. Saul’s sins did not include murder or adultery, but his kingdom was stripped from him. The difference between Saul and David was only the confession of their sin. David repented (Psalm 51), Saul did not.

*What keeps you from repenting of your sin?