1 Corinthians 15:1-11
Paul's Summary of Jesus' Life and Death
1 Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. 2 By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.
3 For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve. 6 After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, 8 and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.
9 For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me. 11 Whether, then, it is I or they, this is what we preach, and this is what you believed.
Acts 1:1-11
Jesus Ascends to Heaven
1 In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach 2 until the day he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen. 3 After his suffering, he presented himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God. 4 On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. 5 For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”
6 Then they gathered around him and asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”
7 He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
9 After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.
10 They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. 11 “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”
Let us forever be reminded of the life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ...
Jesus was born of a virgin, who was impregnated by the Holy Spirit...How we view His birth affects our faith and belief in Him...Jesus preached the gospel by traveling from village to village in Israel...He taught about God and did different miracles in the different villages that He traveled during His time and three year ministry on earth...How one view's how He lived, His gospel message, and His teachings, affect our faith and belief in Him...Jesus suffered and died on the cross, under the jurisdiction of Pontius Pilate...Jesus died for us and for our sins, according to Scripture...His death on the cross makes Him our Savior and saves us from our own sins...How we see His death affects our faith and belief in Him...After His death He was buried by a member of the Sanhedrin, Joseph of Arimathea, with the help of Nicodemus, a Pharisee...His tomb was found empty by some of the women that followed Him...How we believe in these burial and empty tomb stories affects our faith and our belief in Him...Three days after His death, He resurrected from death and lived again...He rose from the dead...He came back to earth for forty more days after His death...His Disciples and His brother James, and Paul saw Him after His death...And up to five hundred different people, also, saw Him after His death...How we view His resurrection from His death affects our faith and belief in Him...Forty days after His death He ascended into heaven to be back with His Father...How we view His ascension into heaven affects our faith and belief in Him...God chose Jesus, as the One, to better reveal Himself to the people of Israel and to the world...How we view this revealing of Jesus by God to better get to know the Father, and Jesus' special relationship with God affects how we believe in both the Father and His Son...