Major Bible Themes

Okay, today we're going to talk about resurrection. God the Son and His resurrection. That's chapter 10. Chapter 11 next week, Courtney will be teaching is look at question 5, 7, 10, and 12. Those will kind of be the focus. Now, what I found interesting in studying the last couple of weeks is that you have, we talked about the incarnation of Christ. that the second person of the Trinity becomes a man and then we talked last week about his substitutionary death and today we're talking about his resurrection.

You see anything missing there? Couldn't there have been a lecture between substitution and resurrection? How about identification? Substitutionary death meant that he died in our place. And we did insert some of it last week that we died with him, but now we've moved all the way to the resurrection. And from a believer's standpoint, to understand identification is really important. Here's the timeline. His pre-existence, his incarnation last week is substitutionary death. And right in here, I would have inserted a cross and included us in the death of Christ identification.

But, today we're going to talk about his resurrection and basically cover three questions. Why is it so significant? What are the reasons for the resurrection and what are the proofs that it happened? So, in terms of history, we live right in here. We have an ascended Lord Jesus who is our advocate and has a priesthood ministry and we're living along this timeline right here waiting for this event here. And that event could happen any time. Any time. And then this event could be seven years and five seconds away from right now. So, significance of the resurrection. Let's look at 1 Corinthians 15, 12-19. When you get there, somebody go ahead and read it.

Tell me this, since we preached that Christ rose from the dead, where are some of you saying there will be no resurrection of the dead? For if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised either, and if Christ was not raised, then all our preaching is useless, and our trust in God is useless. And we apostles would all be lying about God, for we have said that God raised Christ from the grave, but that can't be true if there is no resurrection of the dead. If there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised. If Christ has not been raised, then your faith is useless and you are still under condemnation from your sins. In that case, all who have believed in Christ have perished. And if we have hope in Christ, only for this life we are the most miserable people in the world.

Yeah, pretty convicting verses, aren't they? Wow. So, the argument is pretty simple. Assume there's no resurrection. Assume Christ wasn't raised. Then you have to come to the conclusion that Christ hasn't been raised, which results in a couple of conclusions. Our preaching is futile, and your faith is futile.

Okay? So, I think that, this is a good point to ask, then the resurrection seems to be kind of important, doesn't it? I mean, the logic that Paul that Paul comes up with is pretty convincing. The second one is assuming Christ has not been raised and your faith is futile, you're still in your sins, then those who have fallen asleep in Christ really have perished and of all men we're most miserable, most pitied. How come? Because we're teaching a lie and we're believing a lie. That's right. And we bet our We've bet our whole future, our whole life, our whole existence on the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ, and it's not complete until there's a resurrection.

Now, last week I made the point that in the substitutionary death of Christ that it paid for the sins of not only mine, but the sins of the whole world. And then I made the statement that if God had not done it that way and he decided that Christ wasn't going to be sent to die on the cross and he said well just all of you humans are going to die and that would be good enough would that have satisfied God? And most of you said no it didn't except I had one person come up to me afterwards and disagree with me about that. What's interesting is that If Christ doesn't do any of his work, and we're left with the premise that, well I'm going to die because I'm a sinner, and Romans 5 teaches that we all sinned in Adam. When he sinned, we sinned. Why wouldn't my death be enough to satisfy the righteousness of the Holy God? Why wouldn't it be?

Because we're not on the same level as God. Say that again? We're not on the same level. That's the argument that I give. That we're not on the same level. If God as a holy righteous creator creates beings like himself with wills, which means they can turn away from him, and they do sin, they do turn away from him, that's an insult to God. qualify because of the fact that God's original purpose was for us to have fellowship with him, and so if we die, it's for our sins, but we're not resurrected to have fellowship with him. His purpose has been for him, right?

His purpose doesn't get fulfilled. Here's another issue. How about God can't look on sin. He can't be around it. When John the Baptist looks at the Lord Jesus and he says, behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, the key two words there is take away.

Up until that time, the sacrifices just covered it. And by take away, what does he mean? behind his back, never to be seen again. Taken out of, so it's not in his presence anymore. The scapegoat on the Day of Atonement was the symbol of that. Now, I don't know where God takes the sins or he can't see them, but they're taken away.

And that's a really important part. If all of that isn't true, then this isn't true. You see that? Because then we're stuck. If Christ hasn't been raised, then all of the preaching that Paul has been doing, and all the teaching he's been doing, has been in essence a lie. In other words, there's no proof that what he says about sin is true. And so if that's not true, then my faith is, how to use the word, futile.

Make the connection between my faith being real and what I believe making it real. Did I ask that right? Let me ask it another way. If I believe that the moon is made out of cheese, and I'm convinced of that, at some point in time I'm going to discover that it isn't. And I'm going to be really disappointed because I believe the lie. But if I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and He died on the cross for my sins, was buried and resurrected, what's the outcome of my having faith in those facts?

It's not your faith, it's the object of your faith. Okay. The object of my faith. It's not what you believe, your faith. It's the object of your faith. It's the importance of like some green cheese or blue cheese or lemon. You can believe that all you want. Okay, what's the benefit that accrues to me for believing the truth? What's true about the object will be true. That's a good way to look at it. Understand what he said? What's true about the object will be true of you.

The Lord Jesus said, you come unto me and I'll give you rest for your souls. In Hebrews 11, 1 it says, that faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen, kind of the definition of faith. The next verse is a really important verse because it says, by it they received witness. So all these Old Testament people that believed, and he gives a list of them after that, the Hall of Fame of Faith, every one of those people that what they believed there was a confirmation in them that what they believed was true. There was a witness to them.

You think that still holds true today? I think it does. I think absolutely it does. When a non-believer comes to Christ and believes in his work and his person, there's a confirmation by the Holy Spirit that he's done the right thing. That he's saved. Don't you think? And as you grow in the knowledge and grace of the Lord Jesus, you come up to these different doctrines and you believe them, you enter into them by faith. Is there a confirming work of the Holy Spirit?

Absolutely there is. Otherwise, how would you? It's like the first time you heard that you were crucified with Christ. Remember when the first time you heard that was? You really didn't think that was possible. 2000 years ago you were there at Calvary with Christ and when he died so did you. Doesn't make a whole lot of sense, does it?

From an experiential standpoint. But the Word of God says it's true and that you were buried and then you were resurrected with him. What's the benefit that accrues to you from believing that and growing in that information? having the righteousness of God in Christ. OK. Even more simple than that. It's right here. Salvation.

Of all men, you're most miserable. You're still in your sins. The point is, don't you see that the identification truce is the pathway to not sinning? See that? Now if that information wasn't there, or if it's there and you don't believe it, then you have no chance, I don't think, of not sinning. I think it's growing. I don't think we're ever going to get to sinless perfection here. I want you to vacuum out my ricocheting around in my brain. It takes a while to figure these things out.

You said something earlier that's kind of like this, where Jesus said, I came that they would have life and have it abundantly. He really did come to do that. He was going to carry it out. And the gates of hell won't prevail against it. So in the sense that if we all just would have died, There's so many things that Jesus said and the Bible says that just wouldn't be true. Does that make sense? Yeah, go ahead. No, that's exactly right. There's all kinds of things that God intended that actually the work of Christ will, because of his work, will be accomplished in spite of what Adam did and Satan did. Right. Why was it?

I don't know who thought that if we died that that would pay for it. It was it would satisfy. a sinful man. So that our sacrifice is There's no remission of sins without sacrifice. So why wouldn't ours? It's that whole identification. Yeah, and it's interesting that it comes up in the discussion about the substitutionary death of Christ, which is not identification. He died in our place.

And God has accepted that as full payment for the sins of the world. man's blood, you know, satisfied. But it was identified with sinful nature. So it's not the same substitutionary blood or payment, because it's identified with Adam in sinful nature. It can't satisfy God, whereas Christ's blood can. It's like the blood of bulls and goats didn't satisfy him.

It just sort of covered things up until Christ came. I think the other thing is when it says that the wages of sin is death, that in the sense that if Jesus hadn't come and saved us, the wages of sin is death. And if no one would have believed in Christ and everyone died, then they got their just due or we got our just due. So, people have believed, but if no one had believed the truth that God stated, the way to the sin is death, everyone would have died.

You know what I'm saying? You know, it's interesting, I was thinking about looking at this flood this week, you know, and I'm kind of intrigued by the natural disasters that are going on and have gone on for the last several years. I sent you that thing on the volcanoes, didn't I? And the sovereignty of God in the middle of all of this, and I got to thinking along this line this week, that if Christ doesn't come.

None of that happens. But all men that God had determined to be born would be born and they would all die. So we'd still be chunking along, but the history of mankind would have been like the week of Daniel for 10,000 years. Can you imagine what that would have been like? Oh my goodness. We would be slaughtering each other all the time. It would have been awful.

Now, having put that in as a base, then why is the resurrection so significant? This is the negative argument that if it isn't true, then our faith is futile and we're still stuck in our sins. So what makes it so important? What does it prove? Well, the author says that Christ rose that the reasons for the resurrection, that he rose because of who he is, because he's God, because he couldn't see death, and that he arose to be the giver of resurrection life, and we'll talk a little bit about resurrection life. Christ rose to fulfill God's eternal purpose, and we've discussed his eternal purpose was to glorify himself, but also to do it through human beings, because he made us in his image and likeness. Christ arose that he might become the source of resurrection power and Christ rose to be the first fruit of the resurrection. So let's cover those. He arose because of who he is.

Acts 2.24 says, And raised him up again, putting an end to the agony of death. It was impossible for him to be held in its power. Now, we have to look at death as something that has power. And Satan had the power of death over all humanity. The fear of death. So when Christ comes, one of the most important things he does is he destroys Satan's power base. See that?

And the way that he does it is by rising from the dead. Now, one of the things I think that Schaeffer has missed here is the whole discussion of new creation. When Christ rose from the dead, he didn't rise back into the same old environment like Lazarus did. It says he's the firstborn of the new creation. He's the new creation.

So what God is doing, his eternal purpose, is to have his glory manifested through creatures who are sinless. So from a positional standpoint, when you were identified with Christ in his death, burial, and resurrection, Romans 6 says that as Christ was raised from the dead, that you might walk in newness of life, that you're raised too. Now, from a positional standpoint, are you still a sinner?

Courtney says no. Anybody disagree with her? Nobody disagrees with you. Boy, you're persuasive. No, we're not. From a positional standpoint, what God is doing through Christ in a new creation is the beginnings of an entire new creation in which there is no sin. and we're already in it. Positionally. That's why positional truth is so important.

Now, the second part of that is, well actually the first part is right here, that God raised him up again putting an end to the agony of death. It was impossible for him to be held by its power. Jesus Christ, the second person of the Trinity, even though he was made sin for us, it was impossible for the power of death to hold him. Because he's the creator, because he's God. Well, by rising from the dead, that's kind of like in Satan's face.

You know, I conquered this. This is not yours anymore. I took away your power. That's exactly what he did. And he didn't see corruption as a man. He was raised in three days. Now, here's another cool thing. Because of who he is, he rose as a man. So what's odd, and this is an intriguing viewpoint that I've always liked because I'm so associated with him. He's a man. He's the resurrected one. He's the son of God. And he's just like me. And I'm just like him. He's not an angel. He's not only the second person of the Trinity. He's a human being.

And that human being has the power of life. and he has overcome the power of death. A human being has, which was owned by the most powerful creature God ever made, which was Lucifer. So here's this lowly man, with a body, a soul, and a spirit, because of who he is as a God-man, raised from the dead, he has totally conquered the entire realm of which Satan is king. and he's a human being that did it.

It says in Hebrews he was made a little lower than the angels, but in resurrected power he's moved up now. He arose to be the giver of resurrection life. Let's talk about Romans 7, verse 4, they were made to die for the law through the body of Christ so that we might be joined to another, to him who was raised from the dead that we might bear fruit unto God. Don't you find it interesting that only those that are raised from the dead can bear fruit unto God?

How come? Because they're alive. They're not dead. What kind of life? They have Christ life. They have resurrected life, and that's the only... the fruit produced by that life is the only fruit that's acceptable to God. Nothing you do out of Adam is acceptable to God. Nothing. And that's what most Christians are into doing. Well, that's right. Most of them are into that. Because they don't understand this. See? Now... Also, if then you'd be ready, in Colossians, we're studying on Tuesday, some of the great verses in the Bible in Colossians 3, since you'd be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, for Christ sits at the right hand of God. Set your affections in your mind, your heart on things above and not on things on the earth.

Then it gives you the reason for you died, and your life is hidden with Christ and God. This hidden life in Christ and God is resurrected life. And when Christ who is our life is revealed, then you will be revealed with Him in glory. And you read that and you think, well, I'm going to be revealed with Him in heaven. No. In glory is a different thing. When you're revealed, you're going to be revealed right here in glory. Wow. Because Christ will be revealed here in glory.

The rapture or the second coming? Second coming. Now, tell me about how powerful is resurrected life? Maybe ask it another way. How much power did it take to raise Christ from the dead? I'd say near infinity. Did it take more power to raise him from the dead than it did to make the first creation? What do you think?

I mean it took him six whole days to do the first creation. Because he chose to take six days. He was busy. I wouldn't get so much done in a day. I would think more. It's the greatest demonstration of God's power ever. And the reason it is, is because Christ was identified with the other power, sin. He was numbered among sinners. He was made the thing sin itself. And so in order to raise him out of that, it took the combined power of the three persons of the Godhead.

And that's why I think it's termed a new creation. Now it doesn't look any different yet. I mean, we're members of the new creation, but our environment doesn't look any different, does it? It seems like, well, I got saved and okay, but I'm still in the same old cesspool I've always been in.

But really, we're members of an entirely new creation that when Christ comes to rule and reign, even then, not all of it will be revealed. It's going to take the end of the millennial kingdom when this earth is blipped out of existence and there'll be a new heaven and a new earth, then you'll see the full magnitude of the new creation. But, we're members of it already, and in that creation is lost righteousness. So, without the resurrection of Christ, there's none of that, and there certainly isn't any any power or any focus for us to be or do anything other than try to be as good as we can in the old creation.

He rose to fulfill God's eternal purpose, so we talked about this a couple of weeks ago. God's purpose is to glorify himself, to declare his glory, to reveal it, to share it, and then his resurrection is proof that our sins are forgiven and we are justified by faith. But God's eternal purpose is to glorify himself and he's chosen to do it through his creatures. So how is God going to glorify himself through you?

How's he going to do it? He's already done it. How'd he do it? He has already done it. You're already suited out, fitted out, and qualified for this purpose. By taking you out of the old man and putting you into the new? Exactly right. That's how he did it. He did it through, right here, through our identification, our union with Christ. He's required to share his glory.

Romans 6 says that we were baptized into his death. Okay, so the Spirit of God takes you and puts you in Christ at the point in which he dies. So when he dies, what happens to you? You die. Death means separation. Where do you get separated from? not only your sin nature, but your entire identity and association with the fallen first creation. Then you were buried with him in baptism, right? And then as he was raised from the dead, so were you.

Now, this resurrection, this identification with him, Ephesians 2.5 says, made us alive together with Christ and raised us up with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.

Why is that so important? because it carries out God's purpose to glorify himself. You see that? He has already determined and already carried out the work in order for every one of us in this room to manifest His glory. It's already done. You have a destiny that's as sure as Christ's resurrection that everything he says he's going to do, way back from his eternal purpose, is going to be true of you, each one of us. Isn't that cool?

And you can work as hard as you want to do it, as much cool Christian works as you want, and it won't increase it, decrease it, change it in any way, because he's already determined it. And it is so far beyond anything you ever thought of or pray for or think. It's like when we study grace. Grace is unlimited and unmerited blessings from God. For what purpose? So that you can be a good Guinness World Dancer? Maybe for Nick. No, it's to manifest the glory of God in and through you. See that?

So his purpose is actually carried out to a greater extent in the resurrection of Christ than it would have been if Adam and Eve never sinned, I think. Because there wouldn't have been a need for the death of Christ and therefore we wouldn't have been identified with him in his death, burial and resurrection. I think that's one of those things that probably clicked and why we were the creation down here at a different level and that's why it always never made sense somebody else to Adam. But we weren't on the same level. And that's the thing that just blows my mind is that our identification now, we are of the same creation minus deity as Christ.

And that's the whole difference. Now there's nothing there to worry about. But you're still a dog. And now we're on a level where you can basically have the same fellowship. That's why a statement says I'm positioning I'm no longer a sinner. That's why it makes sense. It doesn't mean I don't commit sin because I can move out of my position and function in my condition.

I was talking to a lady yesterday in Dallas who I knew her and her husband in Denver back in the early 80s. and then they moved back to Texas and he used to come to the Tuesday groups, guy's name was Dave Enright and Dave, it's interesting how the Lord does, I was talking to his wife and she's had a larynx issue and so when you talk to her she whispers. And I talked to her for like 40 minutes, it was really neat because I hadn't talked to her in years. She was telling me about Dave going home to be with the Lord that in April, she was kind of, she said I was kind of telling him he needed to go to the doctor because he had this cough and it wouldn't go away. And I told him, now Dave, I'm serious this time.

So he went. So he got diagnosed in April with several cancers in his organs that were resulting in his coughing. And he died in July. And he was a healthy guy up until then. Actually went to work up until two weeks before he died. But here's what the part of the story I want to tell you. She said, I was sitting there holding his hand and talking to him at the very moment that he died. And he breathed his last breath.

And she said, a joyfulness came over me that was really exciting. I said, how come that? She said, because I know where, I know this. And she said, but I was so fearful that the other foot was going to drop at some point. in the next week or month or something, and she said, I was talking to a good friend of mine and I shared with him that I was waiting for the other shoe to drop, and he said to me, it's never going to drop. This is the reality. He's home in glory with Jesus Christ right now, and the Spirit of God has let you know that that's what it is, and there isn't any other shoe to drop. This is the reality. Your low knees isn't the other shoe.

She said, and he's been gone now two years, she said, I'm still joyful about him being where he is. She said, I miss him, but I've never been overtaken with grief. Never married 42 years. Kind of a cool story. Is the other shoe dropping that somehow he would lose his salvation? No, that she would sort of lose sight of this and become really mournful like non-believers do when somebody they love dies. Christ rose that he might become the source of resurrection power. I think we've kind of talked about that.

We have and we live in this power. So no fair going to God and saying, well, you know, I can't live on the resurrected side of the cross. Remember last week I said which side of the cross you live on? Which side do you live on? Resurrected. That's the positional side and it should be the side that you live on conditionally. That you see yourself raised, not trying to get over there.

That's what resurrection power is. As Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. walking around, living your life every day on the resurrected side of the cross. Now, spiritual growth has to come into play and it takes a while for us to see ourselves resurrected. Just like it takes a while to see yourself crucified, because that's got to come first, but they come together. And Christ rose to be the first fruits of the resurrection or the new creation. 1 Corinthians 15, but now Christ has been raised from the dead and the firstfruits of those who are asleep, those who are in Christ, that is coming.

That's what you and I are. Remember in the Old Testament what the firstfruits were representative of? The whole harvest. The feast of firstfruits, you took whatever the first was and you offered that to God and that was representative of what the whole harvest was going to be like. will transform the body of our humble state into conforming to the body of His glory.

Wow, that's pretty cool. I've said this before, you're going to exist in the Millennial Kingdom with the manifestation of the glory of Christ coming out through your body and every other creature down here, the Jews in Jerusalem and all the Gentiles that live on the planet are going to know that you are a son of God just by looking at you because they're going to see the glory of God coming out of you. At that point, Christ will be glorified on the planet, there will be nothing hidden, and so will all of us. It's going to be cool. It will be really cool.

Alright, let's see. Now, the proofs, if you look, I thought this was a pretty good chart, it's two pages long. The proof, if you look at these verses, There's all kinds of information in the Word of God of people that saw and talked to Christ resurrected.

The first one is Mary Magdalene, and then the women running away from the tomb in Matthew, and then Peter, the disciples, the ten disciples, the disciples on the road to Emmaus. There were lots of people that saw him. There were the ten, then the eleven, which is our buddy Thomas who didn't believe, and then he saw him.

The Sea of Galilee, when he went down there and fixed lunch for those guys, they saw him. Then there were, 1 Corinthians 15 talks about over 500 people saw him. And he appeared to James, the Lord's brother. He appeared to the disciples on the Mount of Galilee, the disciples on the Mount of Olives on the day that he ascended into heaven.

So there's a lot There's lots of physical proof that he was raised from the dead. And then Stephen, and this is really interesting, Stephen saw him. What did he see? He saw the Son of God standing at the right hand of the Father. And he was glorified that he was the first one to see Christ glorified.

And if you go back to Acts 7 and read those verses in there, you'll find that he responded to them killing him just like Christ responds. Funny how it likely gets like that way. And then Paul on the road to Damascus, who did he see? The resurrected glorified Christ. And he also saw him in Arabia, and Acts talks about the fact that Christ showed up and taught him all of these positional truths.

The truths of identification of the Church. Because without Paul, none of that is in the Word of God. Paul learned that. And he said, every month we celebrate the Lord's table. What's the first phrase in 1 Corinthians 11? I received of the Lord that which I give to you. When did he get it from the Lord?

Right there in Arabia. And then in the temple and in Caesarea, in Caesarea he'd been in jail for two years and he wondered if God needed, if the Lord Jesus needed to encourage him, so he appeared to him again and said, don't worry, you're going to make it to Rome, no problem. And then he appeared to the Apostle John on the island of Patmos and gave him the book of Revelation.

Okay. Good discussion. Let's close. Father, thank you again for your time. Thank you for your word. Thank you for teaching us exactly, because of the resurrection of Christ, who we are in him. And sometimes, don't think about the power that we have in Christ, but it's described as resurrection power, Father. We might enter more fully into what that is, so that we might walk in the fullness of this new life that we have. Thank you, Father, we pray in your Son's name. Amen.