What was Calvary All About? Part One/ Blog/Lesson Nineteen
The Basics of Christianity continues
There is NOT Christianity without the story of Calvary! Did you know that the revival with the greatest number of souls that ever was or ever will be at one time took place between the Crucifixion and the Resurrection of Jesus Christ?
We just finished a mini-series of blogs on Who Is Jesus, which sets us up for this study. This blog will begin a continued series on the events of Calvary. My intent is to bring the Rest of the Easter Story into light through the Scriptures. I believe some of the great events of Calvary have been hidden in our day, and totally left out of our doctrine.
When did the people that died before Calvary believe and receive their justification for their sin? When did they hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ preached; giving them the chance to except Christ or reject him? Since it is the knowledge of God that makes mankind accountable, all those who died, before Jesus came with the ‘Truth’ about God, were not accountable. Jesus said, “I come that you know the Father, if you have seen me you have seen the father.”
Joh 14:7 If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him.
Joh 14:8 Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us.
Joh 14:9 Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?
Joh 14:10 Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.
Joh 14:11 Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works' sake.
Joh 14:12 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.
God had given the Children of Israel the gift of the Mosaic Laws for a cloak (covering) or protection from curse of the Law of Sin and Death; so they wouldn’t have to reap their own sin. Jesus said, they would not have sinned had I not come to teach them Truth:
Joh 15:22 If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no cloke (covering) for their sin.
I agree with the Catholic teaching about Jesus descending into Hades, before he arose, which they call; “Harrowing of Hell.” The Catholic Encyclopedia explains:
“This is the Old English and Middle English term for the triumphant descent of Christ into Hell (or Hades) between the time of his Crucifixion and His Resurrection, when, according to Christian belief, He brought Salvation to the souls held captive there since the beginning of the world. According to the “New English Dictionary” the word Harrowing in the above connection first occurs in Aelfries homil, about A.D. 1000;(……)”
The events that happened in the spiritual realm at the Crucifixion, and the days that followed are enormously important to the entire human race.
All through the Scriptures, God Deity was called the Rock. David called God his Rock of Salvation, strength and refuge;
Psa 62:5 My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him.
Psa 62:6 He only is my rock and my salvation: he is my defence; I shall not be moved.
Psa 62:7 In God is my salvation and my glory: the rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God.
Psa 62:8 Trust in him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before him: God is a refuge for us. Selah.
Jesus had just asked his disciples who were the town’s people saying that he was, and asked them, “Who do you say that I am?” Peter answered, “You are the Christ; the Son of the living God.” Then Jesus addressing Peter said, “flesh and blood (mankind) can not reveal this to you, but only the Father, or Deity. Jesus then continues teaching all of his disciples explaining that the Holy Spirit in himself, “This is the Rock I will build my church upon.” After the Day of Pentecost, the same Spirit that is in Jesus inters our spirit at Salvation; there is one Spirit that is God, Deity.
Mat 16:18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
Mat 16:19 And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
The rock that furnished the water that kept the Children of Israel alive represented Jesus. God commanded Moses to just speak to the rock and enough water for all the people and their animals would come forth, but in disobedience, he struck the rock twice instead. Moses’ anger at the people for their lack of faith and being disgruntled, cost Moses and Aaron God’s promise of leading the Children of Israel into God’s Promised Land, and cost Jesus more days in Hell. I believe if Moses had obeyed the command of God and struck the Rock once, Jesus would have had that revival of souls that no man can number in one day and arise from the dead.
The people had turned against Moses and Aaron and were complaining:
Num 20:5 And wherefore have ye made us to come up out of Egypt, to bring us in unto this evil place? it is no place of seed, or of figs, or of vines, or of pomegranates; neither is there any water to drink.
Num 20:6 And Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and they fell upon their faces: and the glory of the LORD appeared unto them.
Num 20:7 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
Num 20:8 Take the rod, and gather thou the assembly together, thou, and Aaron thy brother, and speak ye unto the rock before their eyes; and it shall give forth his water, and thou shalt bring forth to them water out of the rock: so thou shalt give the congregation and their beasts drink.
Num 20:9 And Moses took the rod from before the LORD, as he commanded him.
Num 20:10 And Moses and Aaron gathered the congregation together before the rock, and he said unto them, Hear now, ye rebels; must we fetch you water out of this rock?
Num 20:11 And Moses lifted up his hand, and with his rod he smote the rock twice: and the water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their beasts also.
Num 20:12 And the LORD spake unto Moses and Aaron, Because ye believed me not, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore ye shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them.
In a later lesson, we will see Scripture that explains that all those who died in the days of Noah and died in the wilderness tasted of that Rock Christ Jesus who came after them. When and how did they hear? It was when He descended before his ascended.
I think that Easter is taken by far too lightly; because most Christians haven’t heard The Rest of The Easter Story. If Jesus hadn’t risen from the dead, there would be no victory over evil, no Salvation, no remission for sins; and all of mankind would be eternally lost, forever separated from God.
Don’t miss the nest blog for the continued story about Calcary.
