Dear Friend,

When Jesus died and was buried, Satan and his fallen angels thought that they had won a great victory. But they were never more mistaken! Jesus rose from the grave on the third day with a glorious, new, resurrection body.

The resurrection of Jesus Christ proves that He is who He said He was, and that everything He said is true. The Bible says that Jesus Christ is "declared to be the Son of God with power…by the resurrection from the dead" (Romans 1:4).

Forty days with the risen Christ.

Christ appeared first to Mary Magdalene. He told Mary to tell the disciples that He was risen. When the disciples received this news, ten of them met together in an upper room. Thomas was not with them. The doors were shut for fear of the Jews.

Suddenly Jesus appeared and said, "Peace be unto you." In His resurrection body, He had come through the closed door. Jesus showed them His hands and His side to prove to them that He was not a spirit, but that He had a real body.

When the disciples told Thomas that they had seen the risen Christ, Thomas did not believe them. Thomas said, "I will not believe until I see the print of the nails in His hands, and put my finger in the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side."

Eight days later, the disciples were again gathered together, but this time Thomas was with them. Jesus again came through the closed door and stood in their midst. He said, "Peace be unto you." Jesus told Thomas to put his finger into the nail wounds in His hands and to put his hand into the spear wound in His side.

Thomas was ashamed for doubting that Christ had risen from the dead. But the Lord is patient and loving with His doubting disciples. Jesus said, "…be not faithless, but believing."

Thomas worshipped Jesus, saying, "My Lord and my God!" (John 20:28).

Over the next forty days, Jesus appeared to His disciples many times. Jesus was not continuously visible to His disciples during this time. He would appear suddenly, talk with them, and then disappear.

What was the Lord's purpose in this? His purpose was to teach the disciples that He had risen in a new, spiritual body. He was in a new condition, in His resurrection body. He could go through closed doors. Whether visible or invisible, He was with them at all times. He heard all of their conversations.

Jesus told the disciples that they were to wait in Jerusalem until the Holy Spirit was poured out on them. Jesus said, "You shall receive power, after that the Holy Spirit is come upon you…" (Acts 1:8). When Jesus had spoken these things, He was taken up from them and a cloud took Him out of their sight.

Christ returned to Heaven in triumph.

When Christ went back to Heaven, He returned to Heaven as the mighty Victor over sin, death, Satan, and all the powers of darkness. He made a display of His defeated enemies in the spiritual realm. The Bible says, "Having spoiled [disarmed] principalities and powers, He made a show of them openly [in the spiritual realm], triumphing over them in it" (Colossians 2:15).

The Father welcomed His Son home and exalted Him to the highest place in Heaven. The Bible says, "…He raised Him from the dead, and set Him at His own right hand in the heavenly places…and has put all things under His feet…" (Ephesians 1:20,22).

God wants us to see the greatness of His Son. The Man Jesus Christ is now on the throne of Heaven. The Bible says that Jesus Christ is now "Lord of all" (Acts 10:36). This means that Jesus Christ is in charge of everything in God's universe.

Dear friends, study this picture carefully. It tells the wonderful story of how God's Son left His home in Heaven and came down to this world to be born as a tiny baby.

When Jesus grew up, He humbled Himself to serve people. He said, "The Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister [serve], and to give His life a ransom for many" (Matthew 20:28).

Jesus humbled Himself to do a slave's job—He washed the feet of His disciples. Finally, He "humbled Himself, and became obedient [to His Father's will] unto death, even the death of the cross" (Philippians 2:8).

Why did He do it? He did it because it was His Father's will. He said, "…not My will, but Yours, be done" (Luke 22:42).

Jesus went down, down, down from Heaven to die on the cross for us. He was buried, but God raised Him up from the dead. Up, up, up Jesus went, back into Heaven itself. There God gave Him the place of highest honor in Heaven. The Bible says,

"Wherefore God also has highly exalted Him, and given Him a name which is above every name:

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

"And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." Philippians 2:9-11

Jesus Christ is now "Lord of all." He is over everything in God's universe.

The coming of the Holy Spirit.

Jesus told His disciples that, when He was glorified and exalted in Heaven, the Holy Spirit would be given to them. Jesus said, "At that day you shall know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you" (John 14:20).

Fifty days after Christ rose from the grave, on the feast day of Pentecost, 120 of Jesus' disciples were in an upper room in Jerusalem. Suddenly there came a sound from Heaven, like a mighty wind, and it filled the house where they were sitting.

The Bible says, "There appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit…" (Acts 2:3-4).

The Holy Spirit had come! What did this prove to the disciples? It proved to them that the Man Jesus Christ was now on the throne of Heaven. He is "Lord of all"!

The disciples were transformed.

On the Day of Pentecost, the disciples were transformed. They became bold and fearless. Peter, who had denied the Lord three times, stood up in front of the very ones who crucified the Lord Jesus and said,

"This Jesus has God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses…Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God has made that same Jesus, whom you have crucified, both Lord and Christ" (Acts 2:32,36).

What changed the disciples from weak, fearful, cowardly men to strong, fearless, bold witnesses for Christ?

• They knew that Christ was alive. They had seen the risen Christ, touched Him, talked with Him, ate with Him. He was the same Jesus whom they knew and loved, but now He had a glorious, new, resurrection body.
• They knew that Christ was on the throne of Heaven. The One they knew and loved was now "Lord of all," with all power in Heaven and in the earth. He was in complete control. They did not need to fear anyone.
• They knew that Jesus was with them at all times, no matter where they went. They had learned the lesson that He was always with them, whether visible or invisible.
• They knew that they belonged to Jesus, and that one day He would take them to be with Him forever. Jesus said, "…I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto Myself…" (John 14:2-3).

What does it mean to me that Jesus is now "Lord of all"?

As a believer in Jesus Christ, what does this mean to me? It means four things:

I have a Savior in Heaven.

A young man was very anxious about his salvation. He said to the Christian lady who was helping him, "I will pray to Jesus on the cross."

The lady said, "But He is not there now."

When the young man realized that Jesus was now "Lord of all" in Heaven, it made a great change in his life. When we realize this, it will make a great change in our lives too.

Jesus Christ is now "Lord of all."

Christians are in on a great secret that the world knows nothing about. What is it? It is this: Jesus Christ is rejected in this world, but He has been exalted to the highest place in Heaven. He is "Lord of all."

Jesus Christ is with me always.

Jesus said, "All power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth. Go therefore, and teach all nations…and, lo, I am with you always…" (Matthew 28:18-20).

The Bible says that we are to be content with what we have in this life. We have Jesus, and He has said, "…I will never leave you, nor forsake you" (Hebrews 13:5).

Jesus loves me and He is for me.

Jesus Christ loves His believers! He will always love us. Even when we fail the Lord, He still loves us. If Jesus is your Savior, you can say, "I have a Savior in Heaven, and He loves me with all His heart, no matter how many times I may fail Him."

Jesus Christ is for His believers! He is in Heaven at this very moment, seated at the right hand of God, and He is for us—His believers!

---

Joseph—a Type of Christ

"By faith Joseph, when he died, made mention of the departing of the children of Israel; and gave commandment concerning His bones." Hebrews 11:22

Jacob had twelve sons. Joseph was his eleventh son, born to Jacob in his old age. Jacob loved Joseph more than all his children. This caused the older brothers to hate Joseph.

Once, when the older brothers were far away tending sheep, Jacob sent Joseph to see how they were. When the brothers saw Joseph coming, they conspired to kill him. One brother, Judah, did not want Joseph to be killed. He persuaded the others to sell him as a slave to a caravan of traders going to Egypt. The brothers told their father that wild beasts had killed Joseph.

Through no fault of his own, Joseph ended up as a slave in the house of Potiphar, a wealthy Egyptian man. But God was with Joseph.

Potiphar's wife was a wicked woman who tried to seduce Joseph. When he fled from her presence, she was furious. She lied to her husband and told him that Joseph had tried to force her to have sex with him. Although Joseph was innocent, he was sent to prison and put in chains. But God was with him.

Sometime later, Pharaoh, king of Egypt, had a dream that troubled him. His wise men could not tell him the meaning of the dream. The chief butler told Pharaoh that Joseph could interpret his dream. Pharaoh immediately called for Joseph.

God revealed the meaning of Pharaoh's dream to Joseph. Joseph told Pharaoh that there would be seven years when the harvest of grain would be plentiful. Then there would be seven years of famine when they would have no crops.

Joseph suggested to Pharaoh that he seek and find a wise man to put over the land of Egypt, to store the excess grain during the years of plenty, so that they would have food during the seven years of famine. Pharaoh chose Joseph to be that man. Joseph was made the ruler of all Egypt under Pharaoh.

Joseph freely forgave his brothers. He sent royal wagons to bring his father, Jacob, and all his household to Egypt. There they were royally cared for by Joseph.

Joseph is a beautiful type of Christ. Joseph was hated by his brothers, sold into slavery, but exalted in the far country. All of his family came into blessing because of him.

Christ is our "Joseph." Christ, too, was hated by His brethren, the Jews, and rejected in this world. But He has been exalted to the right hand of God in Heaven. One day, He will come to take us to be with Him forever. We will come into eternal blessings because of Him.

^top

---