We have already completed two previous lessons on the resurrection so let’s quickly review those two lessons. 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 the dead. 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. Until then 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. The Holy Spirit working through our lives gives us power to perform works of service and wisdom to implement the will of God. It’s the grace of God connecting us to the throne of the lamb in holistic worship dedicating our whole lives to Christ living through us.
It’s the joining together of God’s space and man’s space - the intersection of the heavenly realm and the earthly realm. It’s the only way we can fulfill the original mandate given to man and fulfill our individual calling. It’s about being a part of the representative priesthood of Christ upon this earth.
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, resurrection and ascension. We have covered repentance from dead works, faith towards God, the doctrine of baptisms and laying on of hands. In the last two lessons we started covering the subject of resurrection from the dead and then we will be wrapping up this section looking at eternal judgment.
These last two foundational teachings resurrection from the dead and eternal judgement are inextricably tied together and overlap in laying out the doctrine of last things.
As we looked at ‘The Resurrection of Jesus Christ’ we saw that He was the first fruits of those that will rise from the dead. As the Message Translation says in Colossians chapter 3 verse 1 thru 4, that if you’re serious about living this new resurrection life with Christ, act like it. Pursue the things over which Christ presides. Don’t shuffle along, eyes to the ground, absorbed with the things right in front of you. Look up and be alert to what is going on around Christ — that’s where the action is. See things from His perspective. Your old life is dead. Your new life, which is your real life — even though invisible with spectators — is with Christ in God. He is your life. When Christ (your real life, remember) shows up again on this earth, you’ll show up, too — the real you, the glorious you.
The early church had a great expectation and understanding of the resurrection. We can see this produced in them a lifestyle that was truly dedicated and totally separated unto the gospel.
We have looked at what happened when Christ was raised from the dead in Lesson 18: The Resurrection of Christ. Christ physically died and he was resurrected in a brand-new body. His resurrection body could be felt, and he could eat. 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.
Jesus was raised as the Last Adam and through the resurrection sealed the final redemption of our bodies and the coming transformation of creation itself at the last trumpet when he returns to this earth to transform it with His resurrection life. It’s a mystery that can only be truly understood when the Last Trumpet sounds and He returns to the earth as the ruling King of kings. Jesus was raised from the dead as a man in a physical yet glorified heavenly body. Jesus didn’t rise as a spirit, but was in a resurrected body and walked the earth for 40 days. As I said you could touch him, he could eat yet he could move through walls, time, space and the heavenly realms.
In Lesson 19: The Resurrection of The Believer we looked at our resurrection as believers and how that changes our relationship with the Father. Jesus was ‘the first to rise from the dead’, rising as our representative. His resurrection caused us first to be raised spiritually, giving us his spiritual life flowing from the throne of grace. At the same time his resurrection guarantees that we will be raised bodily with Him at His Second Coming when he returns to this earth as the ruling King of kings.
Jesus said in John chapter 5 verse 25 that “there comes an hour and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and those having heard, shall live". This verse is not a physical resurrection, but a spiritual resurrection that has already happened when he was raised from the dead, seated at the right hand of the Father and sent his Spirit to fill all those who believe. Ephesians chapter 2 verse 1 says that we were dead in our sins, but when we received the gospel message and believed we became alive to God. This resurrection has happened through the power of the Holy Spirit coming to live within our hearts. The Holy Spirit has made us joined to and alive with Christ.
We have been born into the royal priesthood by spiritual new birth.
It is for that reason that Peter encourages us in I Peter 2:2-5 to be like newborn infants, longing for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation— if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good. As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men, but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
In this lesson let’s look at how the resurrection is to practically affect our day to day lives. It's all about living the resurrected life. The message of the resurrection is first of all a message of new life. Romans chapter 6 verse 4 says “that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life”. The Message Translation says, “If the alive - and - present God who raised Jesus from the dead moves into your life, He’ll do the same thing in you that He did in Jesus, bringing you alive to Himself. When God lives and breathes in you (and He does, as surely as He did in Jesus), you are delivered from that dead life.”
As a part of the royal priesthood, we are joined to his throne of grace and we are seated in heavenly places with him.
In the last lesson we learned that this means finding our identity in the good news, ceasing from our own works and learning to rest in the grace of God. The rest of God is not a cessation of an active Christian life nor is it a lack of practical application, but the very source of one. It is the author of Hebrews who paints a word picture for us describing the rest of God. In the book of Hebrews, we find the author contrasts the earthly ministry of Israel to the heavenly ministry of Christ. He shows us the superiority of the New Covenant and clearly portrays the Old Covenant ministries and promises as having been brought to completion and fulfillment in Christ.
The law and prophets have been replaced by the true reality. The types and shadows, of which they spoke, are no longer the focus, because they have been consumed by the brightness of the glory of Christ.
In chapters 3 and 4 of Hebrews, we see a contrast between the children of Israel entering into the Promised Land of Canaan and believers entering into Christ. This is spoken of in the terminology of the rest of God. The 'rest' spoken of here is not taking a day off from work or spending a special day of the week worshipping God. It is a ceasing from our own personal works and carnal strivings. It is by faith entering into the resting place of God's promises and presence. It is entering into a personal relationship with a living personal God. The reason we can enter into the rest of God is because God has entered into His and He is simply calling us to enter along with Him. Hebrews 4:4,10 says, "God rested on the seventh day from all His works. The one who has entered his rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from His.”
We have become partakers of a complete and perfect salvation. The finished work of Jesus is the ground of our faith.
In Andrew Murray's book, "The Holiest Of All", he tells us that: “Because Christ has put away sin, rent the veil, and is seated at the right hand of the throne, - because all is finished and completed, and we have received the Holy Spirit from heaven in our hearts to make us the partakers of the glorified Christ, we may with confidence, with boldness, rest in Him to maintain and perfect His work in us."
I personally believe the reason very few people really understand the book of Hebrews is because they don't have a firm grasp on the basic milk of God's word. If we can simply get a firm grasp on the basics and take a radical look at the New Covenant it will help us understand what the word of God is teaching. There is nothing more basic than the revelation of 'Christ in you', yet it is a deep well, which we continually draw from for the rest of eternity.
One author has rightly noted that, “true apostolic vision is Christ living in people - not buildings”.
If we look at scripture, we will discover that entering into the ‘rest of God’ is simply understanding who we are in Christ. It then is understanding that He is in us and learning to allow Him by His power to work through our lives. When we partake of Christ's divine nature at new birth, we are then joined to Him, and we must learn how to become His co-laborer. It is only through learning how to cooperate with His ways that we will truly have productive lives in the kingdom of God.
The first two foundational doctrines we have discussed in this course are repentance from dead works and faith towards God. The good news is that Christ has finished the work of our salvation. He partook of our humanity and has conquered Satan, sin, and death through His crucifixion, burial and resurrection. He has entered into heaven and is sitting at the right hand of the Father, as our High Priest, interceding for us and calling us up into a place of union with Him.
Our hearts must become sensitive to the good news of His resurrection power so that the power of his endless resurrection life can live and work in us. It is simply by faith that we are able to do this learning to completely rely on his ability. Hebrews chapter 4 verses 9 thru 10 says, there remains therefore a Sabbath rest for the people of God. For the one who has entered His rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from His. Right here, at the very beginning of our faith, so many people are tripped up. Far too many believers have had the faulty foundations of dead works laid down in their lives and they need foundation repair! They live in what I call the 'Cycle of Dead Works' as I taught in Lesson 7 The Cycle Of Dead Works in this school of discipleship. The very center of the cycle of dead works is a salvation based on self. They have never had a clear understanding of entering into the rest of God and ceasing from their own self-effort, by allowing Christ to work in them so that He can then work through them. Their lives have never been solidly founded completely upon Christ the foundation.
Jesus not only died for our sins, but has also been raised up as the life-giving Spirit and from His throne emanates the power of an endless life.
We must come to know and experience the Heavenly Christ who has overcome the enemy and entered in for us. He sits upon a throne as our High Priest in power, keeping us in personal living fellowship with the Father, so that in Him, we too enter the rest of God. We must come to know Him, as our heavenly Joshua, following Him and allowing Him to bring us into our land of promise. It is only those who have the same spirit of faith, which Joshua possessed, that will be able to enter this place of endless power. Jesus never told us to follow Him in our own strength. He told us to take His yoke.
It is through His blood, water and Spirit, that we are brought into union with Him. If you go back to Lesson 15: Baptism in the Holy Spirit, you will remember that the Holy Spirit is called the Helper in John 14:16. We need the Holy Spirit! He is the one Jesus sent to be with us and in us. The Holy Spirit is the one who makes everything Jesus did for you real in your life. We have been brought into union with the risen Christ, by the Spirit He has sent to be in us and with us. It is from this place of union or rest that we are able to live, move and have our being in Christ. We must be diligent to put Christ on daily and enter into the yoke of His rest. It is only by faith that we are able to become partakers of all that Christ has done for us and wants to do in and through us.
The Holy Spirit has raised us up, but His indwelling is also the guarantee of a future bodily resurrection.
The message of the resurrection is also a message of victory over death. Paul says in Romans chapter 6 verse 9 that Christ rose from the dead, and He will never die again. Death no longer has any power over him. Since Jesus Christ, the Captain of our Salvation has been victorious over death, we can wear as a helmet to protect us as the hope of our salvation. This future hope is that whether we are dead or alive at the time of His return, we will be victorious over death.
The message of the resurrection is also a message of judgment. When Paul was discussing the resurrection of the believer, in II Corinthians chapter 5, he summed it up by saying, “(vs.9) therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ.” Also, when addressing Felix, the Roman ruler in Acts chapter 24, he said, “there will be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and the unjust. This being so, I myself always strive to have a conscience without offense toward God and men”. Paul knew that at the resurrection he would stand before the judgment seat of Christ to give an account for his life.
We are to run the race of life with a view of the coming resurrection. The aged Paul who was at the end of his life said to the Philippians in chapter 3 verse 12 thru 14 "I am focusing all my energies on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I strain to reach the end of the race and receive the prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us up to heaven".
Paul’s whole life was lived in view of the coming resurrection. He uses the illustration of a race and its prize to emphasize the need for single-mindedness, determination, and perseverance in fulfilling God’s heavenly calling upon his life.
It is of utmost importance that we discipline ourselves to finish the race set before us. In I Corinthians chapter 9 Paul says, if an athlete disciplines himself to obtain a temporal prize, how much more should we discipline ourselves to obtain a crown that lasts forever.
Paul told Timothy that physical exercise has some value, but spiritual exercise is much more important, for it promises a reward in both this life and the next. The author of Hebrews in Chapter 12 verse 1 told us to complete Christ calling upon our lives we must, “strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily hinders our progress. And let us run with endurance the race that God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, on whom our faith depends from start to finish". When Jesus is our focus from start to finish then we will be strengthened to finish the race before us.
We have to learn to live in the presence of the future by faith and wisdom.
What I mean by that is that we have to live life through the eyes of faith. In II Corinthians chapter 4 verse 18 Paul told us not to “look at things which are seen”, but at the unseen heavenly realms which are eternal and unshakable. This means because of faith in the future resurrection (v. 14) and the present experience of God’s renewing power, we can continue with courage in the face of opposition and suffering (v. 1). In this same passage we are then encouraged to look at the things which are not seen. By faith we are to hold on to the promises of God and have an unmovable conviction concerning things unseen with an expectation for future reward (v. 18). The wisdom to live with the future in view is the focus that Paul told us to keep as our primary focus.
Paul in Ephesians chapter 5 verses 14 thru 16, when speaking about rising from the dead, tells these Christians to ‘walk circumspectly’, not as fools, but as wise men, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. To walk circumspectly means to walk cautiously as a person would walk through thorny terrain, and to redeem the time is to capitalize on every opportunity on the way. While in this present age we live in thorny terrain which means we are going to face difficulties, problems, weaknesses and resistance, but at the same time we are to capitalize on every opportunity. To be able to do this we must be filled with the Holy Spirit, which is a down payment of our future resurrection body. If we do this, we will be able to understand what the will of the Lord is (vs. 17) so we can finish the race which has been set before us.
The cry of Paul the apostle’s heart was that he might know Christ and the power of His resurrection. Paul was always going forward like a runner on the course straining every muscle as he ran toward the goal, his hand stretched out to grasp the prize, which for Paul was Christ Himself. From beginning to end, the object of Paul’s faith was Jesus. The energizing force that kept him going toward the goal was the very power that raised Christ from the dead and would raise him up also, granting him the end of his faith, total union with Christ.
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Next Lesson: Lesson 21 - Judge of the Living and of the Dead
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