In the providence of God, this memorial service is occurring the day before Good Friday. And this, of course, is just a handful of days before our celebration of Easter, the day when our Lord Jesus conquered death on behalf of all His people.
He did not do this as an act of raw power, although the Bible does teach that the resurrection was a powerful act (Rom. 1:4). The Bible teaches that death is more than simply an unfortunate event—it is a scorpion that has a sting in its tail, and that sting is defined by the holy law of a holy God. “The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law” (1 Cor. 15:56).
So the resurrection of Jesus was not simply a display of power; it was a display of grace and forgiveness. The resurrection was more than a powerful event—it was a cleansing event. The resurrection shows that God has successfully drawn the sting.
The mystery of sin encompasses more than what we might find in a simple catalog of bad actions. The mystery of sin surrounds us; it is the atmosphere we breathe. We were first discovering it when we were crawling around the living room floor to the delight of our elders. We grew up into it, and found it to be conducive to our nature. When we knew ourselves rebellious, sin was there. When we thought ourselves virtuous, sin was doubly there. Whatever way we turned, it was simply more of the same.
The only place sin can be vanquished is in the cross of Jesus, with the Lord dying as the appointed and anointed representative of all His chosen race. And when sin is vanquished there, we know that it is vanquished because of the resurrection authority that is displayed immediately after. That resurrection authority is manifest in the newness of life that is given to us by God with a lavish and open hand.
We do not merit this. We do not deserve it. Quite the contrary. Nevertheless, God gives it, and He gives it abundantly. When this happens, the whole world is opened up before us, including the law that previously condemned us.
When I first got to know Victor, decades ago, one of the things that fascinated him—in a good way—was the law of God. That law is a schoolmaster that brings us to Christ, and after we have been brought to Christ, washed and put right, we are given the privilege of learning the rest of our lessons.
The Bible teaches that when Jesus was crucified, we as His people were crucified together with Him (Gal. 2:20; Rom. 6:6). Not only this, but the Scriptures teach that the law of God was also nailed there with us to the cross (Col. 2:14). Does this mean that the law is dead and gone? No more than we are dead and gone. No more than the risen Lord is dead and gone.
Everything that goes to the cross of Jesus rises again from the dead. Everything that dies in Him rises, and since it is God’s purpose to have the whole world rise again at the Last Day, this means that the whole world is going to pass through that narrow gate of His death.
When you look at the shape of the cross, it should remind you of a keyhole, and the only key that is fitted to go there is sovereign and gracious decree of God, who intends to reconcile all things in Heaven and on earth through that bloody death.
“And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven” (Col. 1:20).
So the death of Jesus was the reconciliation of the world to God, and this is why we plead with those who are still unreconciled to “be reconciled to God” (2 Cor. 5:20). God has done the work of reconciliation, and the final touch on that work of reconciliation is when His Spirit gives us the heart to receive it.
So Jesus said that He was the door, and we see that the cross is the keyhole. The key is the saving decree that has determined the full number of the elect, a multitude that no man can number. How many will be ushered into the everlasting Day? We can’t count that high (Rev. 7:9). Everyone here is invited to come, by the way.
This is the gospel. This is the good news. Jesus died for sinners, and rose for the saints. When He died for our sin, we died to our sin. When He was buried in a cave, we were buried in His grace. When He rose up to everlasting life, we rode up with Him into that same life. Grace and glory, goodness and kindness, peace and righteousness, all together, and never to be separated.
A memorial service is of course a solemn time, but when the departed knew the Lord, it is also a joyful time. We know that the one we remember today has passed through the door, and is, even now, staggered by the delights and pleasures that flow everlastingly from God’s right hand. We look forward to that in faith, but cannot yet taste it. In Jesus Christ, that taste surpasses glory.
But in the meantime, we know that if we desire the pleasures of God’s right hand, we must also have the one who is seated there at His right hand—the Lord Jesus. If we want all things in our lives to conspire together to glorify His name, we must appeal to the only name that can accomplish this—the name of the Lord Jesus. If we want to understand the mystery of life and death—which we can only do if the sting of death is removed far from us—then we must come to God on His terms, and all of His terms are summed up in this one name, the name of Jesus.
In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, amen.