2. What happened on the third day after the death of our Lord? Christ rose from the dead. What does that mean? Christ came forth from His sepulcher. Who brought this glad message to the women? How did the Lord convince His disciples that He was living? Even who could not deny His resurrection? What makes us sure that Christ rose from the dead? What do we therefore gladly confess? (Job 19,25.)—With what body did Christ come forth from His grave? How can we prove that it was the same body that was laid in the grave? But how was Christ's body after His resurrection? His body, indeed, was glorified. What does this mean?— The resurrection of our Lord is of great importance for us. It is full of comfort and consolation. If Christ would still be dead and lying in the grave, how could He be our Savior and King, and how would it be possible for Him to help us? Our faith in Him would be vain; indeed, we would be of all men most miserable. What does the Apostle Paul say about this? (1 Cor. 15,17-19.) But Christ is risen indeed. What great comfort for us! Whom has He conquered? Who alone is able to conquer this powerful enemy? What, therefore, must our Lord be? Christ rose after He had given His life a ransom for our sins. What, therefore, does the resurrection of our Lord prove concerning our sins? Christ is risen and lives forever. What comfort does this give us for our whole life? What comfort does it give us in the hour of death?
3. How long did our Lord remain with His disciples after His resurrection? Why did He repeatedly show Himself to them? What happened on the fortieth day? Where did His ascension take place? What promise did the Lord give His apostles just before His ascension? Why were they to be endued with the power of the Holy Ghost? In what manner did the ascension of our Lord take place?—Christ ascended into heaven as the triumphant Victor over all His enemies. His enemies are our enemies. What does His ascension prove concerning our enemies? For whose sake, therefore, did Christ ascend into heaven?—Christ ascended into heaven. Heaven is His Father's house. Why did our Lord go to His Father's house for us? He has prepared a place for us in heaven. He has opened the gates of heaven for us. What does our Lord say John 12,26? Where will our Savior lead us, His disciples, too? Christ, our Treasure, is in heaven; what, therefore, shall be there also?
4. Christ ascended into heaven, and He now sits at the right hand of God in the glory of His Father. How does our Catechism explain this? Though Christ is sitting at the right hand of God, He is always with us, His disciples. In what manner is He with us? What must we use, read, hear, and think about in order that our Lord may be with us? What promise did He give us, John 14,18? The Lord sitting at the right hand of God reigns over us; what does this mean? Of what does Christ's resurrection, ascension, and the sitting at the right hand of God make us certain?
5. When our Lord ascended into heaven, two angels stood by the disciples. They told them that Christ would come again in like manner as they had seen Him taken up into His glory. What do we learn from these words about the coming of our Lord? Who will see Him when He returns? What is the difference between the first and the second coming of Christ? Our Lord will come again with power and glory. What will all men have to confess on that day, even His enemies? Who will escort the Lord when He returns in His glory?—What is the purpose of His coming? Whom will the Lord judge? What judgment will He pronounce on His sheep? How do we become His sheep? Who, therefore, will stand before the Son of Man on Judgment Day? What terrible sentence will His enemies hear? Our Lord tells us that after the Judgment His enemies will go away into everlasting punishment, but His sheep into everlasting life. How, therefore, is this Judgment?—Who alone knows the day and hour of the second coming of Christ? What should we therefore never try to do? What, however, does Scripture tell us concerning the Last Day? When, therefore, should we expect His coming and prepare for it? What does our Lord Himself say to us, Matt. 25,13? Believe in Jesus Christ, and you will be saved.
And we believe in Jesus Christ,
Son of God and Mary's Son,
Who from heaven above came down
And leads us to heaven's throne;
By whose blood and death are we
Rescued from all misery.
LESSON 30.
The Third Article: Of Sanctification.
The Holy Ghost. The Triune God.
Which is the beginning of the Third Article?
I believe in the Holy Ghost.
1. According to the Second Article we believe in Jesus Christ, our Lord, that is, we do not only know that it is true what God's Word says about Christ and His work for us, but we put all our confidence, all our trust, in Him as our Savior who has redeemed us. That is the true, saving faith. This saving faith is not our own work. It is the work of God the Holy Ghost. Without Him and the work which He performs in us no man would come to Jesus and believe in Him. The Holy Ghost alone can and does bring to Christ those that believe in Him. About the Holy Ghost and the work which He performs in us we learn in the Third Article of our Christian Creed.