Jesus is the pattern son and our goal in this life is to be conformed into his image. Jesus as the prototype of our journey was the first man to be resurrected from the grave. He overcame what every other man has been subject to since the first man Adam fell from the glory of God and was marred with sin which is the sting of death. As the first man that rose from the dead Jesus Christ broke the power of death by resurrection. He also sealed the promise of a coming resurrection of all humanity when he ascended to the right hand of the Father sending His Spirit as a down payment. Jesus is what the scriptures call the first fruits of those who will be raised from death.
In like manner at the end of this present age we will follow in the footsteps of our master when the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.” “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting? Will be fulfilled.
We are the body of Christ in the earth and His representatives as a royal priesthood. I’ve taught you in previous lessons that God is Spirit and through the resurrection of Christ we have been given the very same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead. It is the down payment and guarantee that just as Christ was physically raised from the dead and given a new body in like manner we will too. However, right now we are called to be representatives of Christ displaying his nature of love, forgiveness and impart blessings to others. As a part of the priesthood of Christ we are earthen vessels made of the dust of the ground, but through Christ resurrection and our identification with Him through the cross we have been given His power.
The life-giving power of the Spirit lives within us. The cruciform life is to be no longer us living, but us living our lives by faith working through love.
In this school of discipleship, we have been covering in the last few lessons the foundational doctrines of our faith as laid out in Hebrews 6:1-2 and the cruciform life of following Christ by identifying with his death, burial and resurrection. We have covered repentance from dead works, faith towards God, the doctrine of baptisms and laying on of hands. Let’s now look at the subject of resurrection from the dead and eternal judgment. These last two foundational teachings are inextricably tied together and overlap in laying out the doctrine of last things.
Charles Spurgeon who lived in England from 1834 to 1892 was called the ‘prince of preachers’ and is considered one of the best preachers of all time. He once made the remarkable observation that there are very few Christians who believe in the resurrection. His observation is that there is a difference between giving intellectual acknowledgment to the fact of the resurrection and having faith in the resurrection. If we really believe in our hearts the truth of the resurrection then our lives will become a fire that cannot be put out and we will be overcomers because we are joined to the one who overcame death, hell and the grave.
It is my goal that as we begin to look at resurrection from the dead and eternal judgment that we begin to see this life from God’s eternal perspective. It is only when the ‘eyes of our hearts’ are opened to eternity that our lives become radically different. The word of the cross is the message of the gospel and living the cruciform life. It includes Christ death, burial, resurrection, ascension and return of Christ to this earth as ruling king of Kings.
It is through the threefold cord of covenant that we are identified with the blood, water and Spirit. Resurrection is first about the precious blood of Christ because without the shedding of blood there can be no forgiveness of sins. It’s also about water because just as Christ went into the depths of the earth for 3 days and 3 nights in like manner through baptism we have been identified with his burial. However, the word of the cross is ultimately about the good news of resurrection from the dead. It’s the message that by the power of the Spirit we get to partake of eternal life not just spiritually, but holistically with a new body.
Jesus didn’t just come to save us spiritually, but he came to redeem, restore and transform the entire creation.
That’s the word of the cross, that’s the gospel and to teach anything short of that is not telling the whole story. Paul called the resurrection a mystery in I Corinthians chapter 15. The resurrection is pointing us to what Paul termed a new creation. The Bible is ultimately a love story of redemption and restoration. It takes us from the fall of humanity in the garden to the book of Revelation where we receive a new heaven and earth purified and cleansed by fire where righteousness dwells. It’s a new world order purchased through the blood, water and Spirit that will be ruled by the king of Kings. It will be a restored created order that is free from sin, free from death and the curse has been reversed.
Let’s first of all take a look at Christ, the first fruits of those who will be raised from the dead. Paul told the Corinthians in chapter 15 verses 3 thru 4 that I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures and that He was buried and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures. The resurrection of Christ is one of the great fundamental doctrines of our ancient faith. There are about 104 references to the resurrection of Christ in the New Testament.
A balanced understanding of the cruciform life of faith includes both Jesus’ sacrificial death and His saving resurrection life. We are saved first by His death and then we are saved by His resurrection life. One has happened and the other will happen in the future wrapping up this present world order, transforming and taking us into the age to come. The gospel message is that we have been changed through what Christ accomplished on the cross and we are going to be changed along with the entire creation at Christ's second coming. The coming transformation is all a result of Christ being raised from the dead.
The resurrection was the foundation for apostolic preaching and practically every sermon in the book of Acts refers to it.
In Acts chapter 2 verse 38 Peter pointed to the resurrected Christ as the source of our salvation and Paul in Romans chapter 10 verse 9 says that we must ‘confess with our mouth Jesus as Lord and believe in our hearts that God raised Him from the dead’. The apostles viewed the resurrection of Christ as central to our faith.
Views of the resurrection divided Jewish society during the days when Jesus walked this earth as a man. The great divide was the differences between the Pharisees and the Sadducees views on the resurrection. The Sadducees were essentially religious atheists who simply used the Jewish religion as a means of political power. The Sadducees denied the afterlife, holding that the soul perished at death. The Pharisees believed in an afterlife and in an appropriate reward and punishment for individuals. The Sadducees rejected the idea of an unseen, spiritual world, but the Pharisees taught the existence of angels and demons in a spiritual realm.
The Sadducees rejected a belief in the resurrection of the dead and were intentionally trying to make a belief in the resurrection look foolish when they posed this question to Jesus. In Matthew chapter 22 verse 23 thru 33 it says the same day the Sadducees came to him, who say that there is no resurrection and they asked him a question, saying, “Teacher, Moses said, ‘If a man dies having no children, his brother must marry the widow and raise up offspring for his brother.’ Now there were seven brothers among us. The first married and died and having no offspring left his wife to his brother. So too the second and third, down to the seventh. After them all, the woman died. In the resurrection, therefore, of the seven, whose wife will she be? For they all had her. But Jesus answered them, “You are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God. For in the resurrection, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. And as for the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was said to you by God: I am the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob’? He is not God of the dead, but of the living.” And when the crowd heard it, they were astonished at his teaching.
Jesus told the Sadducees they could not understand because they did not understand the scriptures or the power of God to be able to restore all things.
Abraham the father of our ancient faith understood the God he worshiped was the one who raises the dead back to life. Hebrews chapter 11 verses 17 thru 19 says that by faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac and he who had received the promises was in the act of offering up his only son, of whom it was said, “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back. Abraham, like all of us, was on a journey. The life we are now living is a journey and its a journey of faith that ultimately leads to resurrection life.
Jesus in John chapter 8 verses 51 thru 58 told people that truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death.” The Jews said to him, “Now we know that you have a demon! Abraham died, as did the prophets, yet you say, ‘If anyone keeps my word, he will never taste death.’ Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? And the prophets died! Who do you make yourself out to be?” Jesus answered, “If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. It is my Father who glorifies me, of whom you say, ‘He is our God.’ But you have not known him. I know him. If I were to say that I do not know him, I would be a liar like you, but I do know him and I keep his word. Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad.” So, the Jews said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?” Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I Am.” The one who created all things by the power of His word is the God of the living.
The message of the cross and resurrection has been preached from the beginning. When God sacrificed the animal in the garden and covered the man and woman with the bloody garments it was showing that through death comes new life.
It’s only because Christ overcame death, hell and the grave that we can also overcome. Jesus is the resurrection and the life. Abraham understood the resurrection from the dead and taught it to his children who became the 12 tribes of Israel. A coming resurrection of all humanity restoring all things was embedded into the understanding of the original faith given to Abraham. All of the patriarchs wanted to be buried in the land promised to Abraham. Joseph made the children of Israel promise to take his bones back to the land of Israel after his death in Egypt. It was 430 years later under the leadership of Moses that Joshua fulfilled the promise originally made. Just as Abraham his father, Joseph was looking forward to the resurrection where death would be overtaken by the life of God. It was an understanding that one day the curse of sin and death would be overcome by the life and love of God which would restore all things.
Resurrection from the dead is not a well-developed theme in the Old Covenant scriptures, but the word of the cross and God’s redemption message gives us an understanding that death is ultimately swallowed up by life.
Paul in 1 Corinthians chapter 15 explains in a nutshell. "How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come? You foolish person! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. And what you sow is not the body that is to be, but a bare kernel, perhaps of wheat or of some other grain. But God gives it a body as he has chosen, and to each kind of seed its own body. So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable is raised is imperishable. It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. Thus, it is written, the first man Adam became a living being, the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. The first man was from the earth, a man of dust, the second man is from heaven. Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven. I tell you this, brothers flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: 'Death is swallowed up in victory'".
Christ physically died and he was resurrected in a brand-new body. His resurrection body could be felt, and he could eat while at the same time he could walk through walls and he ascended to the right hand of the father in that same resurrection body. He was the first man raised from the dead and our faith is based on the fact of his resurrection. Jesus is what the Bible calls the first fruits of a physical resurrection guaranteeing that one day all of creation will be transformed.
Jesus's resurrection is the beginning of God's new project not to snatch people away from earth to heaven, but to colonize earth with the life of heaven. It’s the core of the gospel and what Jesus taught us to pray when he said thy kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven. He was raised as the Last Adam and sealed the final redemption of our bodies. He will transform creation itself at the last trumpet when he returns to this earth to transform it with His resurrection life. Paul called it a mystery that can only be truly understood when the Last Trumpet sounds.
The resurrection from the dead is not something we will completely understand this side of the second coming of Christ. It is not something we can completely grasp until it actually happens, but it will happen as surely as Christ rose from the dead.
It’s why Joseph wanted his bones brought back out of Egypt to the Promised Land because he believed in the resurrection. Matthew confirms this truth in chapter 27 of his gospel. As Jesus was dying, he cried out with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit. And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And the earth shook, and the rocks were split. The tombs also were opened. And many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised, and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many. In Ephesians 4 verse 11 Paul says that when Christ ascended on high he led a host of captives. He emptied out the righteous side of hades and took the Old Testament saints with him.
Jesus was raised from the dead as a man in a physical yet glorified body. Jesus didn’t rise as a spirit, but was in a resurrected body and walked the earth for 40 days. You could touch him, he could eat, yet he could move through walls, time and space. Jesus was the first man to be resurrected from the dead and he ascended to the right hand of the Father. He is now according to 1 Corinthians chapter 15 verse 45 a life-giving Spirit. It is by the Spirit that we are born from above and it’s going to be the Spirit that transforms our bodies to be like his. The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. The first man was from the earth, a man of dust, the second man is from heaven. As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust, and as is the man of heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven.
The age to come is going to be the age of the resurrection and in that age we neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. Just as Christ was changed in like manner we are headed towards the age of resurrection where we will have glorified bodies made fully complete in the image of God. Romans chapter 8 verse 22 thru 23 says we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. We have been changed by the transforming power of the Spirit, but that full picture will not be complete until we are changed into our resurrection bodies.
What we need to ask ourselves is what did the resurrection of Christ accomplish? The number one central focus of the resurrection of Christ, is that through being raised from the dead he broke the power of death over humanity. Jesus as the God-Man took upon Himself our sin at the cross yet God released Him from the horrors of death and raised Him back to life again, for death could not keep Him in its grip. In Acts chapter 2 verses 23 thru 33 we see that it was the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God for Jesus to die for our sins and to be raised up again. In the same way that God had to become a man to be a sin offering it had to be a man that broke the power of death through bodily resurrection.
One of the main heresies of the first century that John the apostle addressed was the gnostic heresy. The Gnostics taught that Jesus did not actually come in a physical body, but just seemed to have one. Near the end of the first century, when the apostle John penned his collection of three letters known as 1st, 2nd, and 3rd John, the heresy of Gnosticism was already troubling the church.
In his first letter chapter 4, John argued: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world. He also warned first century Christians against being deceived by these false teachings in his second letter saying for many deceivers have gone out into the world who do not confess Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist. Look to yourselves, that we do not lose those things we worked for, but that we may receive a full reward. Whoever transgresses and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God. He who abides in the doctrine of Christ has both the Father and the Son. If anyone comes to you and does not bring this doctrine, do not receive him into your house nor greet him for he who greets him shares in his evil deeds.
Gnosticism categorically denies the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ.
The reason being, to the Gnostic, the world and the flesh are evil. The soul or spirit of man is good. Therefore, to attain ultimate good, the soul must be freed from the flesh. When faced with the belief among Christians that Jesus Christ was bodily and physically resurrected from the dead, the Gnostic sees the whole resurrection story as completely absurd. To their way of thinking a bodily resurrection would continue to confine the soul or spirit of man in a fleshly body. However, on Pentecost the apostle Peter preached that Jesus of Nazareth was a Man attested by God… whom God raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that He should be held by it.
To support his claim, the apostle Peter quotes a prophecy of David from the Psalms. Peter in Acts chapter 2 says, for David says concerning Him: I foresaw the LORD always before my face, for He is at my right hand, that I may not be shaken. Therefore, my heart rejoiced, and my tongue was glad, moreover my flesh also will rest in hope. For You will not leave my soul in Hades, nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption. In conclusion, Peter tells the crowd on Pentecost in verse 31 that David, "foreseeing this, spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ, that His soul was not left in Hades, nor did His flesh see corruption. In verse 32 Peter then summarizes by claiming that he and his fellow apostles have all seen the resurrected Jesus. This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses.
In like manner Paul claims that if the bodily resurrection of Jesus is not a historical fact, the faith of every Christian is useless. In I Corinthians chapter 15 verse 14 thru 19 he says if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty, and your faith is also empty. Yes, and we are found false witnesses of God, because we have testified of God that He raised up Christ, whom He did not raise up — if in fact the dead do not rise. For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins! Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable.
Paul speaks of a natural body that is raised a spiritual body. He is not speaking about some non-physical, ethereal, mystical body, but rather a body raised in incorruption, glory, and power. According to John chapter 20 when Jesus was resurrected from the dead, he had an identifiable body with nail holes in his hands and a spear wound in his side. His
disciples were able to touch Him. In fact, John affirms that he and his fellow apostles did not just see and hear the resurrected Christ, but actually touched Him as he wrote in I John chapter 1 verse 1 thru 3. He says that which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life… we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ.
Christ rose from the dead, walked the earth for 40 days and then ascended to the right hand of the Father representing those who believe. Jesus was raised from the dead and now lives in the very presence of God representing those who trust in His name. He is our Mediator and our representative pouring out the blessing of the Spirit upon our lives. It is through the power of the risen Christ that we receive the blessings of salvation because the resurrection seals man’s salvation and is the instrument of Satan’s defeat.
We can now enter into His life through the Holy Spirit which was poured out as a result of his resurrection. Christ the ‘first fruits' of those who will be resurrected. I Corinthians chapter 15 verse 20 says that Christ is risen from the dead and has become the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. The first fruits are the first ripened part of the harvest, furnishing actual evidence that the entire harvest is on the way. I Thessalonians chapter 4 verse 17 says since we believe that Jesus died and was raised to life again, we also believe that, when Jesus returns the dead in Christ shall rise first, then those who are alive will be caught up and given resurrection bodies.
As I said earlier, Jesus’ resurrection body was not a spirit, but had a physical form and could perform the functions of a human body. He walked for miles and talked with two of His disciples. That evening He ate a piece of broiled fish and a honeycomb. We also see that He was able to enter a closed room and to appear and disappear at will and remain unrecognized until He disclosed Himself as recorded in Luke chapter 24. This gives us a hint of what our resurrection bodies will be like when Jesus returns and changes our bodies to be like His.
Jesus is no longer the man who walked the shores of Galilee. He is now the ‘life-giving Spirit’. The words ‘life-giving Spirit’ in I Corinthians 15 verse 45 are most probably a reference to the Holy Spirit. By virtue of Jesus' resurrection and ascension, Christ is the ‘life-giving Spirit’. The ‘Spirit of God’ is called the ‘Spirit of Christ’. Paul in II Corinthians chapter 3 verse 17 views this relationship as so close that he can even say ‘the Lord is the Spirit’. It’s what Jesus himself said in John chapter 14 verse 16 that He would give us the Helper and Spirit of truth.
The resurrection of Christ is not merely a doctrine, but it is the person of Christ. Jesus Himself said, “I am the resurrection and the life. The power of the resurrected Christ takes us beyond a mere intellectual understanding of Jesus. It’s the very same power that raised Christ from the dead that has been put within our hearts and will change our bodies at Christ’s return to this earth.
The risen Christ has defeated death and because we are joined to him, we too will overcome this world. Jesus overcame and has been seated; resting in that victory at the right hand of the Father as our representative High Priest. A person of high rank who put someone on his right hand also gave him equal honor with himself and recognized him as possessing equal dignity and authority. The term ‘God’s right hand’ in prophecy refers to the Messiah to whom is given the power and authority to subdue His enemies. According to Revelation chapter 1 verse 18 Jesus took the keys of death and of Hades away from Satan.
Jesus told the disciples that He had to go away and He would send the Holy Spirit. So, the coming of the Holy Spirit in the upper room on the day of Pentecost was proof positive that Jesus was indeed in heaven seated at the right hand of God.
Romans chapter 8 verse 34 Paul writes that Christ is sitting at God’s right hand making intercession for us. He is the great high priest after the order of Melchizedek continually stretching out his right hand of power to keep us, protect us and provide for us along our journey. This is confirmed in Ephesians chapter 1 as Paul writes that according to the working of His mighty strength which He worked in Christ in raising Him from the dead, and He seated Him at His right hand in the heavenlies, far above all principality and authority and power and dominion, and every name being named, not only in this world, but also in the coming age. Here we see God exalting Jesus above all others by seating Him at the right hand of the Father.
As part of the royal priesthood, we have been seated with him and placed into Christ. Our identity is crucified, buried and risen with him. The cruciform life is about us no longer living, but Christ living through us. What that means is that we have access to his forgiveness, grace, power and love pouring down from the throne of grace into our hearts by the Spirit that has been given to us. It is Christ appearing when we are changed being transformed completely into his image spirit, soul and body. In the next lesson we are going to examine what it means as a believer what the resurrection of Christ does for us personally.
Jesus is not just a doctrine, but also the living, risen Christ, and when our lives come into fellowship with His resurrection life, we will never be the same. It is because He lives forever that we will live forever. Since we do not have to be afraid of death any longer, we should be able to face life fearlessly. This is what made the church in the book of Acts fearless. The most powerful grip upon this world is the fear of death. Because of this, there is no truth which will set us more free than the truth of the resurrection. A man released from the fear of death will be free indeed.
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Next Lesson: Lesson 19 - The Resurrection of the Believer
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