Good morning and happy Friday!!!
Today I am here to talk about the resurrection of our Lord Jesus!
I know this post sounds like something I should have written on Easter Sunday, but frankly, I should always be thankful of what the Lord has done for me so it shouldn't be something that I only think about one day out of the year.
To start, I should mention that the Bible is full of many stories that talk about Jesus taking human form and becoming like us, only Christ was made perfect. In my last post on Friday, I talked about the
atonement. That post explained the kind of life Christ lived while on earth and also talked about his death and its importance in a Christian's life. So it is only fair that in this post I write about Christ's resurrection.
Our Savior did not just live perfect life on earth and die so the story ends there. That is not the end of the story at all! Christ rose from the grave and is Risen! All of the gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, contain this testimony.
Grudem explains about the nature of Christ's resurrection, the participation of the Father and Son in the resurrection, and the significance of the resurrection in this chapter. I will touch upon these points in this post.
1. What was the nature of Christ's resurrection?
When Jesus died and was risen from the dead, he didn't just come back from the dead like Lazarus, for example, when he was raised from the dead (John 11:1-44), but Jesus was and is considered the "first fruit."
1 Corinthians 15:20-22 states, "But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive." Well, what does this mean exactly?
Wayne Grudem puts it nicely when he talks about what happened to Jesus after the resurrection took place. "Jesus' body was made perfect, no longer subject to weakness, aging, or death, but able to live eternally." When others were raised from the dead in the Bible, they still became weak and aged, hence the story of the man named Lazarus that I mentioned above. However, because of Christ's death and resurrection, He will return someday soon to take us to be with him forever and we will have new new bodies and will live for eternity.
2. Did both the Father and the Son participate in the resurrection?
Yes! Where in scripture does it talk about this? Well, let's take a look!
Acts 2:24, "God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it."
Romans 6:4, "We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life."
As you can see by the verses above, the Father never left his Son or abandoned him. We can take comfort in the fact that God the Father is always with us too. The Lord will never leave or forsake his people.
In addition, there are several other verses in the Bible that speak of the Father participating in the resurrection, but what about Christ's participation in his own resurrection?
Let's take a look at John 10:17-18. "For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father."
How amazing that here is where we also see the importance of the Trinity. (You can read about that post
here.) Because the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are one, we can know that both the Father and Son were a part of the resurrection and because of this, the Holy Spirit now resides in the believer.
3. What is the significance of the resurrection?
For me, this was a section that really had me thinking and praying. I think the reason this section spoke so much to me is because of the fact that after Christ died and was Risen, it allowed for the Holy Spirit to enter in to us. Acts 1:8 states that "You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you." This fact is important because we have a part of the Trinity living in us as Christians! It really moves me to know that the Lord has abundant grace enough for me and so much love for me that He gave his Son to die so that I may live with him eternally someday. :)
Grudem ends this particular section by saying that we also, as Christians, need to focus our sights on the eternal kingdom. "Because Christ has been raised, and because we have been raised with him, we are to seek for a heavenly reward and set our mind on things of heaven." I do have to say that I struggle with this at times because it is very easy for me to get caught up in the things of this daily life. It is easy for me to worry about money, health, or even silly things like "did I choose the right paint color for our bedroom?" At the end of the day, those worries are not what should be on my heart. So I need to constantly be reminded of Colossians 3:1-4..."seek the things that are above, where Christ is...."
I hope you can take some time out of your day to thank the Lord for his graciousness and his never-failing love. :)
Thanks for stopping by!
