Dakota Beacon

Whether it’s a nuclear equation or a chemical reaction, it all comes down to power. Plain and simple. Either Jesus Christ had enough power to put down the enemy’s attempts to thwart his demonstration of the power to overcome death and hell or he didn’t.

Period.

And the future of the world as we know it hung in the balance.

Satan made a couple of plays for the position and claim of Jesus, but he was deluded In his thinking if ever he thought he had the upper hand.

One was In the desert where he tempted the son of man to give into the flesh for food (the lust of the flesh), the temptation to want possession of all he could see (the lust of the eyes) and the sense that he could exercise his influence on all earthly kingdoms (the boastful pride of life) when he already had all of it in his mighty hands.

No one with only an angel’s power could touch his claim to having it all because in the resurrection it was already in place.

He would become the Son of God by way of God putting everything under his feet. And that included death, and hell.

And if it had been less than this, it wouldn’t have been enough.

This power that followed Jesus to earth to become man and as a result be qualified to take on the curse of sin for the whole human race.

Christ perfectly atoned for that sin so all the power of sin unleashed by the law would be subject to his act of sacrifice. Thus fulfilling all the requirements of the law that would be fully met in us as we walked with the spirit of God in victory.

Oh death, where is your sting? Oh grace, where is your victory?

Thanks be to God! The victory is in the Lord Jesus Christ!

Now we can celebrate because when Christ was raised, in him we were raised and now we have hope for a future resurrection when our bodies will overcome death. We of all men bear the future immortality with Christ. It came to the point when it was a matter of whether Jesus, all things considered, could pull off the resurrection.

Scripture says that if Christ was not raised, we would have no hope and of all men would be most pitied. That is, we trusted God and took him at his word, and we were misled! He didn’t have what it took.

We would have ended up like Elijah in contest with Ahab and his prophets. We would have kept up appearances until God finally showed up and nothing happened.

But happen it did—God destroyed all the false prophets, and his reputation continued.

The result?

We are convinced of his righteousness and his ability to honor his word. Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift.

Other Columns by Emineth

Emineth is a North Dakota native businessman and political activist. He is a former executive director and chairman of the North Dakota Republican Party. Emineth has served on the Republican National Committee and chaired numerous presidential campaigns in North Dakota. He is the host of “The Legislature Today” and “Open Range” daily TV shows on BEK. He is a serial entrepreneur and has 40-plus years of business experience with multi-national companies. He has traveled the world extensively and has served as CEO and president of mid-tier companies.