65 | The Impossibility of Death

Josh Strelecki, Pastor-Teacher, explained from Acts 2 that Jesus’ death was never a defeat and His resurrection was never in doubt. From the determinate counsel of God before the world began, through His incarnation, earthly ministry, crucifixion, and burial, everything unfolded exactly as God had purposed. Though Israel, by wicked hands, crucified and slew Christ, God raised Him up, “having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that he should be holden of it.” The Old Testament had already testified that the Messiah would suffer and rise again, and the resurrection is God’s own declaration that Christ’s payment for sin was fully accepted. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit were all involved in raising Jesus from the dead, and that empty tomb verifies every claim He made—that He is the Son of God, the Savior of the world, and the resurrection and the life.

Pastor-Teacher Josh pressed that Christ’s resurrection is not only a historical fact, but the very ground of our justification and hope. Because He lives, all will be raised—some to everlasting life, some to shame and everlasting contempt—and those who believe in Him receive an immutable life that can never be lost. Death has been robbed of its sting and turned into a servant that simply ushers the believer into the presence of the Lord, while Satan’s power has been broken at the cross. In light of this, he urged listeners to examine whether they truly believe that death could not hold Christ, to stop living as though sin, guilt, and death still reign over them, and to actively walk this week in the confidence of the life they have in Him. For those who have not yet believed, he pleaded that they receive, by faith alone, the free gift of eternal life purchased by the crucified and risen Christ, and then boldly share this message of the risen Savior with others—even if it risks “messing up” an earthly meal, in view of eternal realities.