Many of us have had experience working in business. Suppose you have a secretary who has proposed a plan to you. After you look at the plan you may write "OK" on it. This means that the work is approved; it is all right. Now it can be carried out. The Lord has died for us and the work has been accomplished. The resurrection of the Lord is God's signing of an "OK" on the work and death of the Lord Jesus. This means that this death is now approved. Man's problem of sin is now solved. Since the Lord has resurrected, the problem of our sins is fully solved. If the Lord had not resurrected, though the redemption would have been accomplished, our hearts would be held in suspense. There would still be a certain uneasiness within us, for though we would know that redemption had been accomplished, we would not know whether it had been accepted. We realize that we are fully redeemed from our sins when we see that the Lord Jesus has resurrected. Resurrection is the proof. It shows us that the cross was right and the redemption was approved. Resurrection is the proof that the work of the cross has been accepted and received by God.

Let us consider an illustration. Suppose I owe a certain person a sum of money. I may owe him so much that there is no way for me to repay my debt. This, of course, is not a very good illustration. But we will use it here for the sake of clarifying one aspect of the truth. It should not be applied to all aspects of the truth. Let us say that I go to a brother and say to him, "You know that person to whom I owe the money very well. You two are good friends. Please plead for me a little. I have no way to pay back what I owe, even if I pawn everything at a pawn shop. I have a problem even in taking care of my own living today. Please do me this favor by all means." My creditor does not live here in Shanghai; he lives in Soochow. At my request, the brother makes a special trip to Soochow and tells the man, "Mr. Nee is really poor. He cannot even take care of his own living. This little sum of money is nothing to you. Why don't you let it go and write off his debt?" Suppose my creditor is very generous. He says, "Since you come to plead for Mr. Nee's debt, I will forget about it. He does not have to return it to me anymore. Take this promissory note back to him." Then he goes on and says to this brother, "We have not met each other for years. Since we are good friends and since you are here in Soochow, you should take a trip to Tiger Hill and the Winter Mountain Shrine. Why don't you stay here for a few days." He invites him to stay in Soochow and lavishly hosts him. Suppose this brother left on May 10 and settled the business on that day. However, by May 20 he is still not back in Shanghai. While he is feasting in Soochow, I am worrying in Shanghai. I do not know whether or not this brother has finished the business. Perhaps he has not come back because of some difficulty. He did not come back on the night train on May 10. Perhaps the business has not yet been settled. He did not come back on May 11. Neither did he come back on May 19 or 20. As long as he has not come back to Shanghai, my heart cannot have peace because I do not know if the business has been settled. The business was settled on May 10, but I have not yet received news on May 20. As long as he has not come back, my business is not finished. I still consider myself a debtor, and my heart is still ill at ease. When will the business be transacted? Only when he returns to Shanghai will I know that the matter is cleared up. Friends, this illustrates the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. When He died for us, He solved the problem of sin. As soon as He died, the fact of sin was taken care of. But if He had not resurrected from the dead, and if He had not come back, then our hearts would have been held in suspense; we would not know what had happened. The Lord Jesus went through death for us. He went through the punishment of the law and the wrath of God for us (Gal. 3:13). But if the Lord Jesus had not come back, we would not know if the work was finished. We would not know if God had accepted the work of the Lord. For this reason, the Lord Jesus must come back. He must resurrect. Then we will know that the work is settled. Praise the Lord. The work is settled. If the work had not been settled, the Lord would not have come out and resurrected. His resurrection proves that our sins have fully been cleared up.