I Went to Church Yesterday

The tenth of an undetermined number in a series on the character and need for corporate worship.

I went to church yesterday. It was Easter, Resurrection Day, the day our Lord Jesus Christ was resurrected from the grave. Easter celebrates the cosmic victory of our triumphant King of kings and Lord of lords, who in his (life,) death burial and resurrection, soundly thrashed the evil forces of Satan, sin and death, for all those that are in him, boldly and consolingly declaring to his disciples, " "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me." " Mt 28:18.

What was my biblical text? My text for preaching on Christ's resurrection was Isaiah 25:1-12. You might ask why choose the Old Testament when the New Testament accounts of Christ's resurrection are presented with such clarity and detail in the four gospels? Why return to the old covenant when Paul gives us the most powerful, convincing theological defense, not only of Christ's resurrection but also of that of all believers, in 1 Corinthians 15, the locus classicus of the biblical doctrine of resurrection? Why go to the Old Testament which comes under the category of shades, shadows, prophecies and predictions concerning Christ and his Messianic ministry while the New Testament provides us with the fulfillment of our Lord and his work? To these just answers I answer: I chose the Old Testament because of the unity and continuity of the Scripture – the Scripture is one book comprising several books, with one unifying, controlling story, that is, the holy, righteous and offended God’s gracious provision of salvation for condemned sinners through faith alone in the Person and work of Jesus Christ, his eternal Son. Secondly, I selected an Old Testament passage because the doctrine of the resurrection is clearly stated there, as we will soon see.

Isaiah 25 falls within the larger subsection of chapters 24-27, which, because of their occupation with and portrayal of end time or eschatological concerns seen in such passages as 24:21-23; 25:6-12; 27:1-5, 12-13, and so on, are frequently and appropriately termed "The Little Apocalypse." A suggested broad outline of this section is as follows:

24:1-25:5 God's Universal Judgment of the Nations

25:6-12 God's Lavish Victory Feast on the Mountain of the Lord

26:1-21 The Joyous Song of the Redeemed on Their Way Home to
Jerusalem

27:1-13 The Final Gathering and the Security of God's Remnant on the
Mountain of the Lord in Jerusalem

The first five verses of chapter twenty-five complete Yahweh's universal judgment of the earth for its gross defilement by the ruthless nations. It is a judgment that highlights the Lord's destruction of the fortifications of the vicious nations which he transforms into a pitiful heap of ruins, while at that very moment presenting himself as the stronghold and refuge of his people. In the aftermath of and upon the foundations of this cosmic victory, the sovereign Lord of Hosts hosts a celebration, a lavish feast, on the Mountain of the Lord, for his redeemed covenant people from all the nations of the world, spreading a table before them in the very presence of their enemies.

Immediately we identify the prophet's reliance upon and fulfillment of the Exodus event when, after supernaturally defeating the Egyptian Pharaoh and his army, the Lord gathers his people on Mount Sinai to have a feast with his people who were represented by Israel's leaders and elders, Ex 24:9 -11. However, here in Isaiah this feast is unrivaled in scope-it extends to all nations; in opulence – it is a state dinner of matchless proportions; and in its location – it is held in the new city, the new Jerusalem.

Who is the chief enemy over whom the Lord has secured an eternal victory? Verses 7-8explicitly declare "And he will swallow up on this mountain the covering that is cast over all peoples, the veil that is spread over all nations. He will swallow up death forever; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the LORD has spoken." Death, which the apostle Paul calls the last enemy, and its faithful, gruesome attendants of sorrow, disgrace and misery, are the primary foes that the Lord has crushed. This death, the justly imposed curse for breaking God's covenant, that once filled the land, 24:6, and that once was a veil, a dark shroud, a blight and a burden upon the people bringing reproach and disgrace upon them and causing them to live in abject fear, has now been swallowed up by the sovereign, omnipotent God. Then, in an unparalleled act of ultimate TLC, the sovereign Lord personally wipes away every tear of each of his redeemed covenant people. This act of sovereign condescension attains its consummation in the eschaton, Rev 7:17; 21:4.

The apostle Paul appropriates Isaiah's words, "death is swallowed up in victory," in 1 Cor 15:54, part of his climactic conclusion to the greatest exposition of the doctrine of resurrection which ends with these taunting words, " "O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?" The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."" vv. 55-57. Here Paul teaches that by By his resurrection from the grave, the triumphant Christ has killed death, has swallowed it up and has removed its fangs and its teeth, its sting and its venom, for those that are in Christ.

To this end, the Scripture tells us that the reason for Christ's Incarnation was precisely this – to defeat Satan and death. For example, the writer to the Hebrews states that through his bodily death, Christ destroys "the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil," in order "to deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery." 2:14-15. In his first epistle John records “.. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil." 3:8. Indeed it was he who “.. disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.” Col 2:15, and who also "…abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel." 2 Tim 1:10.

Moreover, Isaiah’s phrase swallowed up is directly employed in the New Testament, not only by Paul in the above-mentioned text but also by Peter with reference to, none other than the devil himself, whom he fittingly describes as our adversary, likened unto a roaring lion, constantly on the prowl "seeking someone to devour." 1 Pe 5:8. Devour may also be translated swallow up or swallow down.

Thus, the New Testament clearly expounds that the victory over death foreseen by Isaiah on the Mountain of the Lord is fulfilled in Christ by his resurrection. Likewise, the festal celebration of which Isaiah speaks obtains its fullness in the resurrected Christ who bequeaths his supper, the Lord's Supper, to his people, the body of Christ, the church, as an act of proclaiming his death as often as it gathers in corporate worship, 1 Cor 11:23-26, until he comes the second time. Further, both Christ's victory over death and the ensuing celebratory, commemorative meal he institutes are foreshadowed in God's victory over his enemies in the Exodus event; are currently observed in the ordinance of Holy Communion; and are anticipated in the Wedding Supper of the Lamb in heaven, Rev 19:9. [The message of Scripture is one!]. Here John, the banished apostle, poignantly captures the triumphant dimension of this meal in the vision of ".. An angel standing in the sun, [calling] with a loud voice .. to all the birds that fly directly overhead, "Come, gather for the great supper of God, to eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all men, both free and slave, both small and great." " vv. 17-18.

Christ's resurrection from the grave thunders throughout history with a most authoritative, distinguishable sound vindicating his claim to be Christus Victor, the indisputable King of Kings and Lord of Lords, the Alpha and the Omega, the living One who died, and who is now alive forevermore, holding the keys of Death and Hades, Rev 1:18. Whereas believers view weekly corporate worship as a gathering on Mount Zion in the Presence of the Lord, Heb 12:22-24, in celebration of Christ's Person and work, as Resurrection Day, Easter is that special day memorializing Christ's resurrection as a decisive historic act, a victory over all authorities, thrones and dominions, which he will consummate at his Second Coming when "the kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of Christ, and [when] he shall reign forever and ever." 11:15. Thus yesterday, we observed our resurrected King with a special regard. We especially delighted in singing Zion’s songs acclaiming Christ's finished work, one of which was Brian Wren’s "Christ Is Risen! Shout Hosanna!”, the third stanza of which affirms that:

Christ Is Risen! Earth and Heaven
Nevermore shall be the same
Break the bread of new creation
Where the world is still in pain
Tell its grim, demonic chorus:
“Christ is risen! Get you gone!”
God the First and Last is with us,
Sing Hosanna, everyone!

Christ is risen! He is risen, indeed!

I went to church yesterday.