Christ's Resurrection And Ascension
After his death, the Lord Jesus rose from the dead. This we
understand literally: the tomb in which the body had been placed was empty; the
body which had been there was alive, marvelously glorified, but bearing the
marks which show it to have been the same body nonetheless. The bodily
resurrection of the Lord is the absolute foundation of Christian confidence, as
Paul puts it in 1Co 15:1-28, and we can have nothing to do with any alternative.
It was "many infallible proofs" (Act 1:3) which confirmed to the earliest
disciples that Jesus was alive again, and these same infallible proofs now
confirm our belief; we will not renounce or deny them. If Jesus were not risen,
we could not believe that he is alive.
The risen Lord, then, is now in heaven. He is there both
waiting and acting: waiting for a future return to earth, and acting meanwhile
to give help to his faithful followers in all their needs. Any and all who truly
believe may approach through him to the throne of grace, and find forgiveness of
their sins and strength against their temptations (Heb 4:14-16). However, any
notion that believers are therefore automatically beyond the reach of sin is
unacceptable to Christadelphians; instead, we cherish the hope that no sin is
too strong to be overcome when it is Christ who strengthens us (Phi
4:13).
