Jesus is put on the cross as King of the Jews. From his exalted position on the cross (John 3:14, 30; 12:32-33), Jesus looks out over his creation and says, “It is finished.” The King of the Jews, the King over all creation, looked out over the brokenness of creation and said, “It’s done. This old creation is finished.” He then gave up his spirit. This is important. No one. NO ONE! Took his spirit from him. He gave it up!
“The point of the resurrection…is that the present bodily life is not valueless just because it will die…What you do with your body in the present matters because God has a great future in store for it…What you do in the present—by painting, preaching, singing, sewing, praying, teaching, building hospitals, digging wells, campaigning for justice, writing poems, caring for the needy, loving your neighbor as yourself—will last into God's future. These activities are not simply ways of making the present life a little less beastly, a little more bearable, until the day when we leave it behind altogether. They are part of what we may call building for God's kingdom.”
What is the gospel? You have sinned and sin requires death. Christ died to stop God’s wrath from destroying you! Is that the gospel? Yes. Well. Part of it. This is part of the gospel but we have to be careful not to make it the whole gospel. When Paul starts this section of his letter to the church in Corinth (Ch 15), he begins with saying, “I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you.” He then spends a significant amount of time talking about the resurrection. Jesus’ death on the cross is of vital importance but we have often under emphasized the resurrection. Paul places the resurrection at the center of the gospel.
