1 Corinthians 15:16-23 Authorized (King James) Version
16 For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised: 17 and if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. 18 Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished. 19 If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable. 20 But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept. 21 For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. 22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. 23 But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his .
Word of God for the Children of God
Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.
Each Easter Sunday, we rejoice in the resurrection of Jesus from death to life.
We recognize His resurrection isn’t just a miracle for Him, it’s a miracle for us, too.
Because He rose from the grave, we will also rise.
Too often, though, we will miss the hope His resurrection and the celebration of Easter bring into our lives.
We will focus so much on Jesus rising from the dead that we will also forget to rejoice in what it means for us and our eternal futures.
Savior Jesus, the first to rise from the grave, freed from sin and death to live forevermore, is also the first in history to be raised to life in a glorified body.
As the Apostle Paul explained,
“But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables Him to bring everything under His control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like His glorious body” (Philippians 3:20-21).
In Biblical days, believers set aside the firstfruits of their harvest as an offering to God.
This act of sacrifice symbolized and consecrated the entire harvest to come.
Scripture records others being raised from the dead before Jesus, Colossians 1:18 describes Him as the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead.
Those raised before Him eventually died again, but Jesus lives forever, never to die again:
“And He is the head of the body, the church; He is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything He might have the supremacy.”
Paul explains to us in Romans 6:9, “For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, He cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over Him.”
Jesus Is the Promise
Because Jesus now lives in His glorified body, He is the promise of our own glorified bodies to come.
Through His life, His death, and resurrection comes the promise of a harvest of living souls who will also be raised from death to life.
Jesus is the firstborn from the dead—the Son of God who rose victorious from the grave, overcoming, destroying death, breaking its power, and conquering it forever.
The Apostle John wrote,
“And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by His blood” (Revelation 1:5).
Jesus Defeated Death
Matthew 27:50-53 describes Jesus defeating death once and for all, as well as the extraordinary events that took place at His crucifixion and resurrection:
“And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, He gave up His spirit. At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split and the tombs broke open. The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. They came out of the tombs after Jesus’ resurrection and went into the holy city and appeared to many people.”
Although they would physically die again, they would live forevermore.
As 1 Corinthians 15:54 explains it, “When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: ‘Death has been swallowed up in victory.’”
Should Christians Be Afraid of Death?
While visiting an elderly member of our church, I read the passage in John 14:1-6 where Jesus promises to prepare a place for us.
When I was finished reading, she said she did not understand why it should take the Lord so long to get her place ready.
She added, “I don’t need anything fancy.” Instead of being afraid of death, she could not wait to be with the Savior.
But not every Christian faces death without fear.
Shortly before he died, my dad asked,
“Will God accept me when I die? So much has gone wrong in my life.” Someone else asked me, “Will everything be all right when I die?”
If you are afraid of death, be willing to admit it.
The apostle Paul calls death “our last enemy.”
We have been created to live.
It was the fall into sin that brought death into our lives.
It’s natural for us to want to live and keep on living.
So it’s also natural to fear death, which can be painful and a bit scary—even terrifying. But Jesus came to free us from sin and from the threat of death.
He gave up his own life for our sake, and then he rose from the dead, so “death has been swallowed up in victory” (1 Corinthians 15:54).
Only the Lord can take away our fear of death.
We have the guarantee that even as we near death, we don’t have to be afraid because God will be there with us and will take us to live with him!
He said it Himself in John 11:25: “Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in Me will live, even though they die.’”
But also asked this ….
John 11:25-26 Amplified Bible
25 Jesus said to her, “[a]I am the Resurrection and the Life. Whoever believes in (adheres to, trusts in, relies on) Me [as Savior] will live even if he dies; 26 and everyone who lives and believes in Me [as Savior] will never die.
Do you believe this?”
Psalm 27 English Standard Version
The Lord Is My Light and My Salvation
Of David.
27 The Lord is my light and my salvation;
whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold[a] of my life;
of whom shall I be afraid?
2 When evildoers assail me
to eat up my flesh,
my adversaries and foes,
it is they who stumble and fall.
3 Though an army encamp against me,
my heart shall not fear;
though war arise against me,
yet[b] I will be confident.
4 One thing have I asked of the Lord,
that will I seek after:
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord
all the days of my life,
to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord
and to inquire[c] in his temple.
5 For he will hide me in his shelter
in the day of trouble;
he will conceal me under the cover of his tent;
he will lift me high upon a rock.
6 And now my head shall be lifted up
above my enemies all around me,
and I will offer in his tent
sacrifices with shouts of joy;
I will sing and make melody to the Lord.
7 Hear, O Lord, when I cry aloud;
be gracious to me and answer me!
8 You have said, “Seek[d] my face.”
My heart says to you,
“Your face, Lord, do I seek.”[e]
9 Hide not your face from me.
Turn not your servant away in anger,
O you who have been my help.
Cast me not off; forsake me not,
O God of my salvation!
10 For my father and my mother have forsaken me,
but the Lord will take me in.
11 Teach me your way, O Lord,
and lead me on a level path
because of my enemies.
12 Give me not up to the will of my adversaries;
for false witnesses have risen against me,
and they breathe out violence.
13 I believe that I shall look[f] upon the goodness of the Lord
in the land of the living!
14 Wait for the Lord;
be strong, and let your heart take courage;
wait for the Lord!
Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.
Loving God, Living God, Loving Hope, Living Hope, Loving Living Life His Way! "Many things are possible for the person who has hope. Even more is possible for the person who has faith. And still more is possible for the person who knows how to love. But everything is possible for the person who practices all three virtues." - Brother Lawrence (1605-1691), Practicing the Presence of God (1692). 
A Pesach Victory blessing to President Trump who shall achieve a cease fire with Iran, in the shadow of the political anarchy that ensued in both Iraq and Libya. Chag Sameach – Whoooooooooooop.
Pesach: The birth of the chosen Cohen seed of Avraham, Yitzak, and Yaacov as an Independent Nation who conquers the land of Canaan as the eternal national inheritance of the Goy Cohen Nation which sanctifies the holy negative consequences of יראת שמים as loss of ones’ ‘good name’ reputation; together with the most holy rise up and do commandment to love HaShem לשמה through the acquisition of positive commandment “בניני אבות” which plant the seeds of prophetic mussar to grow tohor spirits within our Yatzir Ha’Tov hearts which compares חמץ to the cursed 2nd Sinai commandment – tuma middot spirits that define the seduction of the Yatzir Ha-Ra serpent which first deceived Chava.
The difference between Hevel’s wisdom dedication of the chosen Cohen father vs. firstborn Cain’s barbeque to heaven – the Koran declaration that prophets went to all Goyim despite their rejection of the Torah revelation at Sinai.
A korban a wisdom commandment, which like tefilla, requires k’vanna. K’vanna defined as prophetic mussar – which dedicates Oral Torah tohor spirits within the Yatzir Ha’Tov; to prevail over competing tuma Yatzir Ha-ra spirits based upon the נמשל of the Mishkan משל.
The revelation of the Torah at Sinai differentiates between the vision of the Divine Names of בראשית prophets from the 1st commandment Divine Name לשמה — תורה לא בשמים היא. Just as korbanot cannot express a sanctification-dedication except at the chosen place of the Cohen altar at Jerusalem; so too and how much more so justice requires Sanhedrin courts which define Torah “faith” as צדק צדק תרדוף.
The contrast of Cain’s barbeque to heaven, it despises the Torah revealed faith which pursues judicial justice. Akin to the Easter post blood libel pogroms which through the Ages of Xtian and Muslim racial injustice produced the fruits of the European Shoah, together with the post WWII Arab attempts to exterminate all Jews and reject the idea that dhimmi Jews share equal rights to achieve national self determination within the borders of the Cohen lands.
All Torah commandments exist as a mountain held aloft by the 1st Torah commanment hair; אשר הוצאתיך מארץ מצרים – Egypt clearly לאו דוקא. Just as korbanot only dedicated upon the Cohen altar in Jerusalem, so too and how much more so צדק צדק תרדוף defines acceptance of the Torah לשמה — applicable only within the borders of the oath sworn Cohen land inheritance – the Chosen seed of the Avot.
The brit of Avraham – that childless man would כלל father the chosen Cohen people – the k’vanna of Hevel’s chosen Cohen korban dedication through the מלאכה wisdom of prophetic mussar; which serves as the k’vanna foundation of all time-oriented Av Torah commandments. The פרט of both Yitzak and Yaacov, they both define this כלל.
Through Blessing/Curse Life\Death-ruling the land with justice vs. existing as slaves under the oppression corrupt “Egyptian” cursed justice. ברכת כהנים – this Cohen blessing has three parts, like the “thesis statement” p’suk of kre’a shma tefilla דאורייתא inclusive of three Divine Names – כלל-זימן גרמא מצוות, פרט שב ולא תעשה and פרט קום ועשה מצוות; tefilla דרבנן inclusive of אלהי אברהם אלהי יצחק ואלהי יעקב prophetic Shemone Esrei.
The substance of Torah faith לשמה – – Sanhedrin common law courts which differentiate between דני נפשות from דני ממון – Capital Crimes vs Torts Damages. This fundamental הבדלה separates the klippa Mishkan form/Tree of life “bark” from the essential essence fruits of righteous justice as the dedication of Torah Sinai acceptance.
The jurisdiction of Sanhedrin Capital Crimes Courts – only in the oath sworn Cohen inheritance land – under the essential pre-condition that the Chosen Cohen people rule Independent from foreign domination; the latter defines g’lut judicial Par’o straw courts – judicial injustice – comparable to the vertical British Star Courts which validated British navel impressment of American sailors seized on the High Seas and forced to serve a 25 year sentence on British ships of war.
Whereas דני ממון torts courts – this judicial סמיכה – while also inclusive of the precedent of the House of Aaron Moshiach anointing dedication – have jurisdiction in both ארץ ישראל and g’lut Egyptian lands of judicial oppression corrupt-injustice. The Easter passion blood libel pogroms produced the tuma mussar fruits of the Shoah – both in Europe and all Arab wars to throw the Jews of Israel into the Sea.
When missionaries come knocking at my door, my first question to them: My people burned in the ovens of death camps across Xtian Europe, where was Jesus? Where was Allah as rabid Muslim believers scream to this day “death to the Jews? Yet Arabs lose war after war like Europe now rejects the reputation of the Church; the EU made no reference to the church when it attempted to establish a Constitution.
Pesach – not just liberation from Egypt — it is the birth of a nation whose entire purpose is to sanctify justice, kavanah, and prophetic mussar in the land promised to the Avot, and history shows the consequences when this mission is rejected or suppressed. The mussar k’vanna of this “Oral Torah” interpretation of Chag Pesach 5786, he seder table itself becomes the altar where we re-swear the brit — not with animal korban but with the living dedication of prophetic mussar in the Yatzir Ha’Tov. Chag sameach.
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