Jesu defeated death

Jesus laid down His life for us.  We was with God in the beginning.  Even though everything was created by Him, through Him, for Him, and He saw how unrighteous people were acting on Earth, He still chose to lay it down and save us.  Father chose Him to be the one and He willingly laid down His life for us, knowing what was going to happen.  That is so hard to comprehend.  We can only just Thank Him every single day for it!!

Romans 5:8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. 

Despite all that we have done and the way we act, He still chose to die for us.

Matthew 26:18 Jesus answered, “Go into the city. Go to a man I know. Tell him that the Teacher says, ‘The chosen time is near. I will have the Passover meal with my followers at your house.’”

Mark 10:45 For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

John 12

Jesus Talks About Life and Death

23 Jesus said to them, “The time has come for the Son of Man to receive his glory. 24 It is a fact that a grain of wheat must fall to the ground and die before it can grow and produce much more wheat. If it never dies, it will never be more than a single seed. 25 Whoever loves the life they have now will lose it. But whoever is willing to give up their life in this world will keep it. They will have eternal life. 26 Whoever serves me must follow me. My servants must be with me everywhere I am. My Father will give honor to anyone who serves me.

Jesus Talks About His Death

27 “Now I am very troubled. What should I say? Should I say, ‘Father save me from this time of suffering’? No, I came to this time so that I could suffer.

John 10

6Jesus spoke to them using this illustration, but they did not understand what He was telling them. 7 So He said to them again, “Truly, truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. 8 All who came before Mea were thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. 9 I am the gate. If anyone enters through Me, he will be saved. He will come in and go out and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come that they may have life, and have it in all its fullness.

11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. 12 The hired hand is not the shepherd, and the sheep are not his own. When he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf pounces on them and scatters the flock. 13 The man runs away because he is a hired servant and is unconcerned for the sheep.

14 I am the good shepherd. I know My sheep and My sheep know Me, 15 just as the Father knows Me and I know the Father. And I lay down My life for the sheep. 16 I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them in as well, and they will listen to My voice. Then there will be one flock and one shepherd.

17 The reason the Father loves Me is that I lay down My life in order to take it up again. 18 No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of My own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from My Father.”

The people witnessed so many miracles performed by Jesus, but they still came against Him.  I want to talk about how He defeated death and, while here, He raised several people from the dead.  Everyone knows the story of Lazarus, but many forget how He brought back to life many others as well.

Matthew 9

Jesus Gives Life to a Dead Girl and Heals a Sick Woman

18 While Jesus was still talking, a leader of the synagogue came to him. The leader bowed down before him and said, “My daughter has just died. But if you will come and touch her with your hand, she will live again.”

19 So Jesus and his followers went with the man.

20 On the way, there was a woman who had been bleeding for twelve years. She came close behind Jesus and touched the bottom of his coat. 21 She was thinking, “If I can touch his coat, I will be healed.”

22 Jesus turned and saw the woman. He said, “Be happy, dear woman. You are made well because you believed.” Then the woman was healed.

23 Jesus continued going with the Jewish leader and went into the leader’s house. He saw people there who make music for funerals. And he saw a crowd of people crying loudly. 24 Jesus said, “Go away. The girl is not dead. She is only sleeping.” But the people laughed at him. 25 After the people were put out of the house, Jesus went into the girl’s room. He held the girl’s hand, and the girl stood up. 26 The news about this spread all around the area.

Luke 7

Jesus Brings a Woman’s Son Back to Life

11 The next day Jesus and his followers went to a town called Nain. A big crowd was traveling with them. 12 When Jesus came near the town gate, he saw some people carrying a dead body. It was the only son of a woman who was a widow. Walking with her were many other people from the town. 13 When the Lord saw the woman, he felt very sorry for her and said, “Don’t cry.” 14 He walked to the open coffin and touched it. The men who were carrying the coffin stopped. Jesus spoke to the dead son: “Young man, I tell you, get up!” 15 Then the boy sat up and began to talk, and Jesus gave him back to his mother.

16 Everyone was filled with fear. They began praising God and said, “A great prophet is here with us!” and “God is taking care of his people.”

17 This news about Jesus spread all over Judea and to all the other places around there.

John 11

Jesus Raises Lazarus From Death

11 Then Jesus said, “Our friend Lazarus is now sleeping, but I am going there to wake him.”

12 The followers answered, “But, Lord, if he can sleep, he will get well.” 13 They thought Jesus meant that Lazarus was literally sleeping, but he really meant that Lazarus was dead.

14 So then Jesus said plainly, “Lazarus is dead. 15 And I am glad I was not there. I am happy for you because now you will believe in me. We will go to him now.”

38 Again feeling very upset, Jesus came to the tomb. It was a cave with a large stone covering the entrance. 39 He said, “Move the stone away.”

Martha said, “But, Lord, it has been four days since Lazarus died. There will be a bad smell.” Martha was the sister of the dead man.

40 Then Jesus said to her, “Remember what I told you? I said that if you believed, you would see God’s divine greatness.”

41 So they moved the stone away from the entrance. Then Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you heard me. 42 I know that you always hear me. But I said these things because of the people here around me. I want them to believe that you sent me.” 43 After Jesus said this he called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” 44 The dead man came out. His hands and feet were wrapped with pieces of cloth. He had a handkerchief covering his face.

Jesus said to the people, “Take off the cloth and let him go.”

John 4

Jesus Heals an Official’s Son

46 Jesus went to visit Cana in Galilee again. Cana is where he had changed the water into wine. One of the king’s important officials lived in the city of Capernaum. This man’s son was sick. 47 The man heard that Jesus had come from Judea and was now in Galilee. So he went to Jesus and begged him to come to Capernaum and heal his son, who was almost dead. 48 Jesus said to him, “You people must see miraculous signs and wonders before you will believe in me.”

49 The king’s official said, “Sir, come before my little son dies.”

50 Jesus answered, “Go. Your son will live.”

The man believed what Jesus told him and went home. 51 On the way home, the man’s servants came and met him. They said, “Your son is well.”

52 The man asked, “What time did my son begin to get well?”

They answered, “It was about one o’clock yesterday when the fever left him.”

53 The father knew that one o’clock was the same time that Jesus had said, “Your son will live.” So the man and everyone in his house believed in Jesus.

Belief in the Gospel Is The Only Way to Salvation and Everlasting Life

John 14:6 Jesus answered, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. The only way to the Father is through me.

John 6:35 Then Jesus said, “I am the bread that gives life. No one who comes to me will ever be hungry. No one who believes in me will ever be thirsty.

John 11:25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection. I am life. Everyone who believes in me will have life, even if they die.

He Died to Defeat Death, Satan, and the Fallen Ones.  They wreak havoc on mankind.  They tempt us to sin.  Adam and Eve fell in the garden.  The fallen angels fell in Genesis 6 and corrupted mankind by mingling with us, changing our DNA, creating the giants. 

Hebrews 2

10 God—the one who made all things and for whose glory all things exist—wanted many people to be his children and share his glory. So he did what he needed to do. He made perfect the one who leads those people to salvation. He made Jesus a perfect Savior through his suffering.“I am here, and with me are the children God has given me.”

14 These children are people with physical bodies. So Jesus himself became like them and had the same experiences they have. Jesus did this so that, by dying, he could destroy the one who has the power of death—the devil. 15 Jesus became like these people and died so that he could free them. They were like slaves all their lives because of their fear of death. 16 Clearly, it is not angels that Jesus helps. He helps the people who are from Abraham. 17 For this reason, Jesus had to be made like us, his brothers and sisters, in every way. He became like people so that he could be their merciful and faithful high priest in service to God. Then he could bring forgiveness for the people’s sins. 18 And now he can help those who are tempted. He is able to help because he himself suffered and was tempted.

Jesus came and suffered greatly in a horrific way.  He was tempted in the desert in every way possible, and all during His time here on Earth.  He knows what we go through.  He defeated death so we have a way into heaven as before that, there was no way to ascend to heaven.  Jesus defeated the devil so that through sin the devil could not cause us to fall and be under his dominion in the afterlife. 

1 Peter 3

18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, 19 in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, 20 because they formerly did not obey, when God’s patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water. 21 Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 22 who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him.

That’s a direct statement about the spirits in prison who did not obey in the days of Noah when the Sons of God saw that the women were beautiful and they took wives of them and bore giants. They pleaded to Enoch to ask God for redemption and God said no.

Matthew 16:18 “And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.”

When Jesus said this, He was standing in front of the well-known “Gates of Hell” in Caesarea Philippi.  The pagans believed this cave was the gate to the underworld.  It was also known as the “Grotto of Pan”.  What a warning to the rebellious house!

Matthew 12:40 For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

Look out prisoners in the Earth.  I’m coming!

Ephesians 4

But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift. Therefore it says,

“When he ascended on high he led a host of captives,
    and he gave gifts to men.”

(In saying, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower regions, the earth? 10 He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.)

Acts 2

25 For David speaketh concerning him, I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for he is on my right hand, that I should not be moved:

26 Therefore did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad; moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope:

27 Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.

28 Thou hast made known to me the ways of life; thou shalt make me full of joy with thy countenance.

29 Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day.

30 Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne;

31 He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption.

32 This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses.

Jesus descended into Hell, but He was not left there.  He preached to the prisoners!  He was resurrected and ascended into Heaven.

Revelation 1

I John, who also am your brother, and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ.

10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet,

11 Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and, What thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea.

12 And I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks;

13 And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle.

14 His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire;

15 And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters.

16 And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp twoedged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength.

17 And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last:

18 I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.

Philippians 2

Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:

Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:

But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:

And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.

Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:

10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;

11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Zechariah 9

Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.

10 And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem, and the battle bow shall be cut off: and he shall speak peace unto the heathen: and his dominion shall be from sea even to sea, and from the river even to the ends of the earth.

11 As for thee also, by the blood of thy covenant I have sent forth thy prisoners out of the pit wherein is no water.

Ephesians 4

But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ.

Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.

(Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth?

10 He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.)

After Jesus died on the cross, he descended into Hell before ascending into Heaven.  Some people think He poked the angels chained in darkness in the eye.  Letting them know they may have thought they killed Him, but He isn’t there to stay.  He’s leaving and ascended up the Father, but they are still going to be there.  Their plan has been thwarted.  Some people believe, according to the apocryphal Gospel of Nicodemus, that Jesus led those in Abraham’s Bosom, Sheol, to Heaven with our Father.  Jesus did say in John 3:13 And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.  This release from captivity is sometimes called the “Harrowing of Hell”.

Jesus is the Way to our Father in Heaven.