Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, who also said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven."
Acts 1:9-11
What did Jesus do for those He came to save? He died for us. But that isn’t all. We are considering five components of what Jesus did for the redeemed that are absolutely essential. Previously we considered the fact that Jesus was born for us, that He lived for us, and that He died for us.
Number Four: He rose for us. Had Jesus died, but not risen from the dead, Christianity would amount to a big nothing. But Jesus did rise from the dead. As Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 15:3-4:
3 For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures,
In verses 5-8, Paul documents that many people (over 500 at one time) saw the risen Savior, thus validating the resurrection as an historically verifiable fact. But then Paul argued that if Christ had not risen, the whole of Christianity would be “empty” and “futile.” Instead of saving His people from their sins, we would remain dead in sin and would be “of all men the most pitiable.” (v. 14-19).
14 And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty. 15 Yes, and we are found false witnesses of God, because we have testified of God that He raised up Christ, whom He did not raise up—if in fact the dead do not rise. 16 For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen. 17 And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins! 18 Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 19 If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable.
The resurrection of Jesus is the linchpin of the faith, without which the whole matter would be a sham. The good news is that the resurrection did happen, and is an historically verifiable fact, according to hundreds of eye-witnesses.
Jesus came to save His people from their sins. He accomplished that by being born for them, by living for them, by dying for them, and by rising from the dead for them.
There is one more essential component. Next time: He ascended for us.