All the facets of Christ's power over death
When we talk about Christ’s resurrection, I think we haven’t yet put together all the witnesses of His power over death. We see Christ’s power in all of its facets in the scriptures:
Christ brought the dead back to mortality while He was still mortal. He raised Lazarus and the son of the widow of Nain.
Christ voluntarily gave His own life, which no one else could take from Him without His permission, because He was the Only Begotten Son of God.
Three days later, Christ took His own body back again, this time for good. He could do this because He was the Only Begotten Son of God. He was never to die again.
Other saints were resurrected to immortality by Christ after Christ’s resurrection. Although we have no record of the names of these saints, we have two records (two witnesses) that it occurred—the New Testament and the Book of Mormon, in the old world and in the new world. This shows that distance from Christ made no difference to His power over death.
Christ gave some of His servants power over death by raising them to a higher state. They could not be killed and they had a change wrought in their bodies so that they would not experience the pains of death or disease. That this is recorded in two different records for two different peoples strengthens its witness. We know the name of at least one person who was changed in that way—John the Beloved. Now, think about the significance of Christ’s power to do that. Only someone with total power over death could give even a portion of this power to someone else. This also strengthens the promise of the resurrection to us that Christ’s power over death can be and will be shared.
Keeping all these factors in mind together gives me a more comprehensive picture that strengthens my faith.
Image: I am a Son of God blog, http://iamasonofgod.wordpress.com/2008/03/25/my-understanding-of-the-resurrection/
Continue reading at the original source →