{"id":4538,"date":"2026-04-04T22:47:24","date_gmt":"2026-04-05T02:47:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mzgtiglobal.org\/?p=4538"},"modified":"2026-02-13T22:53:57","modified_gmt":"2026-02-14T03:53:57","slug":"victory-over-death-april-5th-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mzgtiglobal.org\/?p=4538","title":{"rendered":"VICTORY OVER DEATH, APRIL 5TH, 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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CENTRAL THOUGHT
By His death and resurrection, the Lord Jesus Christ conquered death for mankind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hymn:\u201c CHRIST THE LORD IS RISEN TODAY<\/p>\n\n\n\n

TEXT: JOHN 3:25-36
INTRODUCTION:
Victory is the act of winning or the state of having won. It is a success in a struggle. Death as applied to man in the scripture can be spiritual or physical. Physical death is the last end of life or occasion of loss of life. Spiritual death is the eternal separation from God or cutting off from realizing God\u2019s eternal purpose for which mankind was created. The death of Jesus initially appeared to look like a defeat. The disciples\u2019 hope seemed to have been lost or dashed. The enemies thought they had succeeded; but little did they know that our Lord had gone to give the final blow to their master, the devil. In this study, we shall be looking at how the Lord defeated death and rose from the grave triumphantly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

LESSON OBJECTIVES
The objectives of this study are: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

1.To know Joseph of Arimathea\u2019s role in the burial of the Lord Jesus. 2.To discuss the efforts made by the enemies to ensure that Jesus did not rise from the grave. 3.To understand that Christ\u2019s victory over death is the Hope of the believer (mankind). 4.To examine some of the evidences that Jesus actually rose from the dead. 5.To understand the Benefits of Christ\u2019s Resurrection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

BIBLE TRUTH:
QUESTION 1a) WHO WAS JOSEPH OFARIMATHEA? Matthew 27:57, Jn. 19:38-42
Joseph of Arimathea was a secret follower\/disciple of Jesus. He was a religious leader, an honorable member of the Sanhedrin. He did not consent to the counsel and the deed of the Jewish leaders who opposed Jesus. (Lk. 23:51). Joseph of Arimathea was a wealthy man who was able to afford a private tomb which he later gave up for Jesus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


QUESTION 1b) COMMENT ON HIS ROLE IN THE BURIAL OF CHRIST. Lk. 23:50-53
After Jesus\u2019 death on the cross, Joseph of Arimathea asked for his body, then buried Him in a new tomb and rolled a great stone to the door (Matt. 27:60). Joseph was a secret disciple of Jesus. He risked his life and position to give a proper burial to his Lord. It is frightening to risk one\u2019s reputation (position) even for what is right. The disciples who had publicly followed Jesus fled, but Joseph who had followed secretly, boldly took a stand (after the death of the Lord Jesus) that could cost him his life. He cared enough about Jesus to ask for His body so he could give it a proper burial. This singular act of Joseph of Arimathea has made him to become well known in Christian fold today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


QUESTION 2) WHAT EFFORTS WERE MADE BY THE ENEMY TO ENSURE JESUS DID NOT RISE FROM THE GRAVE? Matt. 27:62-66
The enemies that were represented by the religious leaders took Jesus\u2019 resurrection claims more seriously than even the disciples did. The disciples did not remember Jesus\u2019 teaching about His resurrection, but the religious leaders did. Because of His claim, they were afraid of Jesus after His death as when He was alive. As a result of this, they tried to do everything possible to ensure that His body remained in the grave. They made sure that the tomb was thoroughly sealed and guarded. According to Life Application study Bible commentary: The tomb was probably sealed by stringing a cord across the stone that was rolled over the only entrance to the tomb. The cord was sealed at each end in clay or wax to make it \u201ctamper proof\u201d. The enemies did not stop at that, but took a further precaution by asking that guards be placed at the tomb\u2019s entrance. With such precautions, they must have thought that even if Jesus recovered from death or regained consciousness, He would not be able to push the stone away from the tomb; so that could make Him to suffocate and eventually die permanently. But they failed to realize that no rock, seal, guard, or army could prevent the Son of God, the King of Glory who is the creator of all things from rising again. God made it that those who were set to oppose His resurrection had the opportunity to observe it and told the chief priests what they observed (Matt. 28:11).<\/p>\n\n\n\n


QUESTION 3) HOW IS CHRIST\u2019S VICTORY OVER DEATH THE HOPE FOR BELIEVERS? Matt. 28:1-6, 18, 1 Cor. 15:54-57
The angel who announced the good news of the resurrection to the women (who were the early callers to the tomb), gave them three messages that could be regarded as messages of hope. The messages are: 1.) \u201cFear not\u201d:- The reality of the resurrection of Jesus brings joy and not fear. Thus, we have nothing to fear knowing that the tomb where our Lord was laid is empty so no power can hold us down no matter the situation. 2.) \u201cHe is not here\u201d:- Jesus is not dead and should not be looked for among the dead. He is alive with His people. In the same vein, believers do not die but only sleep or drop this mortal body to put on an immortal body. 3.) \u201cGo quickly and tell\u201d:- They were to spread the joy of the resurrection to others. We too are to spread the good news about Jesus\u2019 resurrection which is the key to Christian faith. This gives us the hope that just as He promised and actually rose from the dead, we can be confident that He will accomplish all He has promised us. This the hope of the believer in Christ is the hope built on the solid foundation that cannot fail. This is what makes Christianity unique and not in any way comparable to any religion in the world.

QUESTION 4) WHAT ARE SOME OF THE EVIDENCES THAT JESUS ACTUALLY ROSE FROM THE DEAD? Matt. 28:6, Mark 16:14-18, Jn. 20:16, 24-29, 21:5-7, Acts 1:3-9, 1 Cor. 15:6
So many evidences abound in the Bible to prove that Jesus actually rose from the dead. Some of them are: Matt. 28:6 has it that \u201cHe is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay\u201d. The women who went to the tomb early were told they could check the evidence themselves. The tomb was empty then and is still empty today. The resurrection of Christ is a historical fact. Again, in Mark 16:14, the Bible says \u201cAfterward, he appeared unto the eleven as they sat at meat\u2026\u201d. This gave Him the opportunity to eat and drink with them and scolded them for their unbelief and hardness of heart. Also, in John 20:24-29, Jesus again showed Himself to the disciples and told Thomas who had until that time refused to believe that He had risen \u201cPut your finger here; see my hand\u2019s Reach out your hand and put it into my side, stop doubting and believe\u201d. Thomas’ doubt led to questions that were answered by the Lord Himself. Jesus appeared in a locked room yet He was not a ghost. He could be touched and could eat and speak with people. Finally, Acts 1:3 says, \u201c\u2026he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days\u2026\u201d. Jesus appeared to the disciples on many occasions after His resurrection, proving He was alive. This made a great change in the disciples\u2019 lives. At Jesus\u2019 death, they were scattered, discouraged and feared for their lives. After seeing the resurrected Christ, they became fearless and risked everything to spread the good news about Him to the world. They faced so many hazards; yet they didn\u2019t give up. This would not have been possible if they were not convinced of the resurrection of Christ. In our time today, salvation (new life) experience by individuals, answers to prayers, signs & wonders being wrought in His name are further evidences that He rose from the dead and is alive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


QUESTION 5.) WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF CHRIST’SRESURRECTION TO THE BELIEVER?
1 Cor. 15:17, 55-57
So many benefits await the believer because of the resurrection of Christ. The first benefit is that our faith is not in vain. If He did not rise from the dead, He would not have been able to deliver us from our sins so we would have been lost forever. But because of His resurrection, we have forgiveness of sin and are justified before the Father. Another benefit is that death is swallowed up in victory; thus, He hinders it from swallowing His saints when they die because they will rise again just like Christ Himself rose from the dead and will live forever with Him. Jesus\u2019 bodily resurrection shows us that Christ is ruler of God\u2019s eternal kingdom where we are privileged to be members. We are sure that death is not the end so there is a future life for us. The power that brought Jesus back from the dead is available to bring our spiritually dead selves back to life. The power to live victoriously for the Lord in this life is also a benefit of His resurrection (Rom. 8:11).<\/p>\n\n\n\n


DAILY LIVING APPLICATION:
Christ\u2019s resurrection has given us assurance that we will live eternally with Him if we accept Him as our Lord and personal Savior. We are also not to keep the message of His resurrection to ourselves, but to spread it to others as He commanded us. The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is the basis of the Christian faith. In order to partake as residents of heaven, decisions must be made. Sinners must repent, backsliders must seek restoration while believers must live overcoming lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


MEMORY VERSE:
REVELATION 1:18
\u201cI am He that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive forever more Amen; and have the keys of hell and death”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


DAILY DEVOTIONAL GUIDE
MON: Jesus was buried in a tomb. Matt.27:57-61, Lk. 23:50-53
TUE: Man could not stop His resurrection. Matt. 27:62-66
WED: Christ victory over death and the grave. Matt. 28:1-6, 18, 1 Cor. 15:54-57
THU: Some evidences of Christ resurrection.
Matt. 28:6, Mk. 16:14-18, Acts 1:3-9
FRI: More evidence of Christ resurrection.
John 20:16, 24-29, 21:5-7, 1 Cor. 15:6
SAT: Implications of Christ resurrection.
1 Cor. 15:17, 55-57, John 14:26, Rom. 6:3-4, Eph. 1:20-23<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

CENTRAL THOUGHTBy His death and resurrection, the Lord Jesus Christ conquered death for mankind. Hymn:\u201c CHRIST THE LORD IS RISEN TODAY TEXT: JOHN 3:25-36INTRODUCTION:Victory is the act of winning or the state of having won. It is a success in a struggle. Death as applied to man in the scripture can be spiritual or physical. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4539,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4538","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sundayschool"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/mzgtiglobal.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/4468D028-7BAF-EED0-343A-3AEF8498AF41.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mzgtiglobal.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4538","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mzgtiglobal.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mzgtiglobal.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mzgtiglobal.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mzgtiglobal.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4538"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mzgtiglobal.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4538\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4540,"href":"https:\/\/mzgtiglobal.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4538\/revisions\/4540"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mzgtiglobal.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4539"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mzgtiglobal.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4538"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mzgtiglobal.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4538"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mzgtiglobal.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4538"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}