Jesus boldly declared, “I am the resurrection and the life.” Paul’s whole defense before Festus, Agrippa, and Bernice hinged on his hope in the resurrection from the dead (of both the Christ and human beings). He boldly declared that Jesus was “…the first to rise from the dead…” In Romans 4:24, he says that “It [righteousness] will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord…” In Romans 10:9 Paul declares that to be saved, we must believe that God raised Him [Jesus] from the dead.
And the passage that perhaps best describes Paul’s thoughts on the resurrection is found in I Corinthians 15:12-28. In it Paul contends that if there is no resurrection from the dead, then Christ was not raised. If Christ was not raised, then our faith is futile, is in vain, and we are still in our sins. Do you feel the enormous weight of these words? Do you feel the weightiness of the resurrection today?
I, for one, have been very impressed by the seriousness of a belief and hope in the resurrection from the dead as I have pondered these verses and thoughts over the last week. This brings me to the question that Paul asked of his crowd in Acts 26, “Why is it thought incredible by any of you that God rasies the dead?” There are so many people today who are keen on calling themselves Christians, who “believe in God”, and who are “spiritual”. In general, do you find that such people truly believe in the resurrection of Christ from the dead? How about our resurrection? If so, how does that work with so many incorrect ideas about Christ that many worldly “Christians” have (i.e. that Jesus doesn’t care what we do or how we live our lives and accepts and saves everyone)? What are some effective strategies to working with this worldview? How about a worldview that doesn’t accept a resurrection from the dead?
It is interesting to note the immense importance that is placed by biblical authors on the resurrection of Christ. We find Paul in Romans 1 stating, “[w]as declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection,” (1:4). Likewise Peter states, “[h]e has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,” (1 Peter 1:3). By Christ’s resurrection and ascension we see Christ incarnate enter a new phase of sovereignty and was granted new power correspondent to the mediatorial lordship he maintains as head over all things (c.f. Daniel 7:13-14; Ephesians 1:20-21; Philippians 2:8-9). Everything antecedent to the life of Christ moves toward the resurrection and everything subsequent rests upon the resurrection of Christ. It is the central theme and message of the Gospel—this is evident by the Apostle’s testimony as they bore witness to “the resurrection” and proclaimed Christ and “the resurrection” (Acts 4:33). And why was this theme so prevalent in their ministry? Because as Paul says, “Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him,” (Romans 6:8) and “[t]hat I may know him and the power of his resurrection,” (Philippians 3:10). The resurrection is the sure promise of the faithful, for our God is a God not of the dead (Psalm 88:10, 115:17) but of the living and so our hope and our trust is in him that can raise the dead. As Matt has said, may we feel the enormous weight of these things—that it would so grip us and wrap around us that we should be ever watchful for that day when the tombs will burst forth, the sea will give up her dead, and together we will stand in the presence of the Almighty.
Well I guess I didn’t answer any of the questions Matt asked, more just wanted to give some props to what he had to say.
Striving to Boast in Christ With You All,
Kyle
By: K Borg on February 20, 2007
at 6:58 pm
Kyle, thanks for the comment. Keep them coming. It’s great to know someone outside of the class is reading!
I should let you know that Matt is telling stories about his childhood while teaching during Sunday school. You’ll need to come visit sometime and share the other side!
By: Mikel Berger on February 21, 2007
at 12:03 am
Hey Matt, I liked your post. As I was reading it and as you brought up the comment regarding Paul’s interpretation of the resurrection from the dead in 1 Corinthians 15 I was thinking it might have been useful to point out that our hope in a future resurrection (where we will be fully under grace) should be so adored and loved by us that we can say with Paul, ‘If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable.’ In essence what Paul is saying is that our lives should be shaped by this future eschatological hope to such a degree that if resurrection isn’t true, if Christ wasn’t raised from the dead, then we are to be the most pitied. Our lives are suppose to reflect to the world (and those who are yet under the slavery of the evil one and the elementary principles of the world) that we have such a great hope we are fools if resurrection is not true. hmm… Just thought I would throw that in to help understand the immense weight of Paul’s argument. Not that it is to merely be a weighty doctrine based on an abstract hope, but it is suppose to affect the way we live our lives.
grace, grace, grace to you,
S.R.
By: Rutherford on February 21, 2007
at 11:51 am