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Millions Have Never Heard
WHYCHRIST
ROSE
FROMTHE DEAD
by
Clayton Steep
Why was Jesus' resurrection necessary? Many believe bis "soul" remained
alive between the crucifixion and the resurrection. But if
his "soul" were alive, why did his body have to be resurrected for him to Iive again?
T
HINK
about it.
If
only
Jesus' body died from
the rigors of his cruci–
fixion, but tbe real
he
or bis
"soul" was still alive, wby
was it necessary for bis body
to be resurrected tbree days
after bis deatb and burial?
Why would he need his body
if, when he died, he was already
an "immortal souJ"?
After Jesus fulfilled bis mission
in the human fles b and bis lifeless
body was laid in a tomb, why did
it- the body- have to be brought
back to
lije
if the real J esus was
alive elsewhere as a "spirit" or an
"immortal soul" ? If one's "immor–
tal soul" can live apart from the
body, what need is there of a resur–
rection to life?
For that matter, why are Chris–
tians to be resurrected out of their
graves as J esus was if they are
already alive apart from their bod–
ies?
If
their "immortal souls" have
already gone to heaven or paradise
when they die, why do Christians
need to be resurrected in a rder to
live again?
Why Christ Died
Befare we discover why it was need–
ful for Christ to rise from the dead,
we must first understand why he
March 1983
allowed himself to be put to death.
When God created the first
human beings he gave them a
choice symbolized by two fruit–
bearing t rees. One tree represented
obedience, its fruit leading to eter–
nal life. The other tree represented
disobedience, its fruit leading to
death for all eternity.
God said to the first man, Adam,
" In the day that t hou eatest t hereof
[the tree t hat symbolized seJ.fishness
and disobedience] thou shalt surely
die" (Gen. 2: 17). In other words, t he
day roan sinned, he carne under
the penalty of eterna! death.
God didn ' t say Adam's body
would die and that his "soul" would
continue to live somewhere. Adam
wasn't a body with an " immortal
soul " insi de . Adam- the living,
physical being- was a soul. When
God breathed the breath of life into
bis nostrils, "roan
became
a living
soul" (Gen. 2:7). As a result of
Adam's s in, Adam-a soul –
received the death sentence. Of
course, for t.he Bible declares else–
where, "The
soul
that sinneth,
it
shall die"
(Ezek. 18:4). This impor-
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