"His soul was not left in hell, neither His flesh did see corruption." -Acts 2:31 [KJV]
Two
sweet, but distinct thoughts, arise out of this scripture: one,
concerns the soul of Christ; the other, respects His body; and both are
most blessed to the believer in the review. My soul! Thou hast attended
to the parched state of thy Redeemer, as represented on the cross, and
made it the subject of thy morning meditation; do thou now behold what
this scripture states, under all His humiliating circumstances, that
neither hell nor the grave can have dominion over Him. His soul shall
not be long in a way of separation from the body, in the invisible
state; for very shortly it shall arise from hades, the hell here
mentioned. And His body is too holy, harmless, and undefiled, to admit
of putrefaction; yea, it must he presented before the Lord for a
sweet-smelling savour.
Precious
thought to the believer! Jesus needed not to lie long under the
dominion of death: He had fully paid the debt of sin by death; and
therefore there needed no detention to make farther restitution for the
sins of His people, when thus fully cancelled. And as the infinite
holiness and purity of His nature could not become subject to the power
of corruption, He needed not to lie longer in the grave than might
clearly and fully ascertain to His people in all ages, the reality of His death, for the better confirmation of the resurrection that
followed.
Hence
Jesus could not be left, as the great representative of His people, in a
situation so comfortless, when the work was completed which the Father
gave Him to do. And as His holy nature could not admit the possibility
of corruption; so the covenant of redemption exempted Him from it. Add
to these, it was needful that, both in soul and body, He who had died
for our sins, should rise again for our justification, and not only
triumph in our nature over death, hell, and the grave, but return to the
right hand of power, "there to appear in the presence of God for us."
Hail!
Thou holy and triumphant Lord! I bow the knee before Thee! In Thy
holiness Thy people are considered holy: and as Thy spotless soul could
not be detained in hell, neither Thy flesh see corruption, so all Thy
redeemed shall be accounted holy before Thee, and through Thy
righteousness, be considered righteous before God and Thy Father for
ever. Amen.
-preacher Robert Hawker (1753-1827 A.D.)
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