“…the disciples were so immovably convinced that the Resurrection itself took place in the early hours of Sunday morning. There may be, and, as the writer thinks, there certainly is, a deep and profoundly historical basis for that much disputed sentence in the Apostles' Creed ‘The third day he rose again from the dead.’”
- Albert Henry Ross (1881-1950)
The Significance
of the Resurrection
• … for our REGENERATION
• … for our JUSTIFICATION
• … for our RESURRECTION
• … for our SANCTIFICATION
The Resurrection and
Our REGENERATION
- 1 Peter 1:3–5
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, 5 who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
NOTES: The words “has given … new birth” translate anagennēsas, from the verb “beget again” or “cause to be born again.” Here “living” means that the believer’s hope is sure, certain, and real, as opposed to the deceptive, empty, false hope the world offers.
Salvation is described with reference to the past (Christians have been given new birth by God’s mercy), to the present (Christians are being shielded by God’s power) and to the future (at the last time will come the final deliverance from evil).
- Romans 6:3–13
3 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 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. 5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6 We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. 7 For one who has died has been set free from sin. 8 Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9 We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. 10 For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. 11 So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. 12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. 13 Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness.
NOTES: This ‘union’ with Christ is no mystical merging of our own persons with that of Christ, but a ‘forensic’ relationship, in which God views us in association with his Son and thereby applies to us the benefits won by his Son. It is this actual union with these key redemptive events that gives to the Christian a new relationship to sin’s power. The basic thrust of Paul’s argument is clear: since Christ’s death itself was a ‘death to sin’ (10), our participation in his death (3–6) means that we, too, have ‘died to sin’ (3). Paul is using water baptism (which symbolizes our faith) as ‘shorthand’ for the Christian’s initial conversion experience. Not only have we been delivered from sin’s tyranny, but we have also been given new power of obedience through our participation in the power of Christ’s resurrection.
As the death of Christ is not only the expiation of guilt, but the death of sin itself in all who are vitally united to Him; so the resurrection of Christ is the resurrection of believers, not only to acceptance with God, but to newness of life. The Greek word “newness” (kainotēti) speaks of life that has a new or fresh quality.
- 1 Corinthians 15:22
22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.
- 1 Corinthians 15:48–49
48 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. 49 Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven.
The Resurrection and
Our JUSTIFICATION
- Romans 4:23–25
23 But the words “it was counted to him” were not written for his sake alone, 24 but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, 25 who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.
NOTES: He was raised to life for (“on account of” or “because of” [dia with the accusative]) our justification. because of our justification. The resurrection provided proof that God had accepted the sacrifice of His Son and would be able to be just and yet justify the ungodly.
The for probably has the meaning ‘for the sake of, with the purpose of’: Jesus was raised from the dead for the purpose of providing for our justification. While Paul usually connects our justification with Christ’s death, this verse shows that Christ’s resurrection also plays a role in our being made right with God.
- Ephesians 2:4–7
4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
NOTES: unbelievers’ state was described in Ephesians 2:1-3; repeated here: even when we were dead in transgressions (v.1). God making the unregenerate alive is an act of grace: it is by grace you have been saved. Paul elaborated on this (…) statement in verse 8. The verb “have been saved” is in the perfect tense which expresses the present permanent state as a result of a past action. Because believers have been “made alive” spiritually with Christ, they have been and are saved. (Harold W. Hoehner, The Bible Knowledge Commentary).
By virtue of Christ’s conquest of sin and death and by his exaltation, we are lifted (to quote Calvin) “from the deepest hell to heaven itself”. Citizenship is now in heaven and this is true life as opposed to the limits and/or standards of the world.
- 1 Corinthians 15:3
3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures,
- 1 Corinthians 15:17
17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.
- 1 Corinthians 15:56–57
56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
The Resurrection and
Our RESURRECTION
- 2 Corinthians 4:13–18
13 Since we have the same spirit of faith according to what has been written, “I believed, and so I spoke,” we also believe, and so we also speak, 14 knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into his presence. 15 For it is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God. 16 So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. 17 For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, 18 as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. -Also see 2 Corinthians 5:1–10
- 1 Corinthians 6:14, 20
14 And God raised the Lord and will also raise us up by his power.
NOTES: The eternality of the body, the future destiny of the individual, was made certain by Christ’s resurrection
20 for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.
NOTES: Paul does not here state the price as Peter does in I Peter 1:19 (the blood of Christ) and as Jesus does in Matt. 20:28 (his life a ransom). The Corinthians understood his meaning. No Christian person can say ‘my body’ for he has been bought with a price i.e. ransomed by Christ’s death. The clear implication is that his task is to honour, lit. ‘glorify’ God in his body, and this is done by relating to others both socially and sexually within the relational parameters laid down in the Bible.
18-20, 26,32, 51-55
- 1 Corinthians 15:18–20
18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 19 If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied. 20 But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
- 1 Corinthians 15:26
26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death.
- 1 Corinthians 15:51–55
51 Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52 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. 53 For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. 54 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.” 55 “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?”
The Resurrection and
Our SANCTIFICATION
Philippians 3:8–11
8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— 10 that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.
NOTES: Paul’s emphasis here is on gaining a deeper knowledge and intimacy with Christ. the power of His resurrection. Christ’s resurrection most graphically demonstrated the extent of His power. By raising Himself from the dead, Christ displayed His power over both the physical and spiritual worlds. fellowship of His sufferings. This refers to a partnership—a deep communion of suffering that every believer shares with Christ (J. Mac).
The power of his resurrection (την δυναμιν της ἀναστασεως αὐτου [tēn dunamin tēs anastaseōs autou]). Power (Lightfoot) in the sense of assurance to believers in immortality (I Cor. 15:14f.; Rom. 8:11), in the triumph over sin (Rom. 4:24f.), in the dignity of the body (I Cor. 6:13ff.; Phil. 3:21), in stimulating the moral and spiritual life (Gal. 2:20; Rom. 6:4f.; Col. 2:12; Eph. 2:5) -AT Robertson.
10 More than that, he wants to live in the knowledge of Christ, that is (as Christian baptism signifies, see Rom. 6:1–4) being identified with Christ crucified and risen. This means knowing the power of his resurrection in daily experience (cf. Rom. 8:10–11; 2 Cor. 4:10–11; Eph. 1:19–20) and sharing his sufferings by dying to the self-centred life that is natural to us and being willing to face difficulty and hardship that the gospel of salvation may go out to all people (cf. 2 Cor. 4:7–12; Gal. 6:17; Col. 1:24–25). These two realities must always belong together in any genuine Christian life. -Francis Foulkes
- Colossians 3:1–6
1 If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. 3 For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. 5 Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. 6 On account of these the wrath of God is coming.
- 1 Corinthians 15:32
32 What do I gain if, humanly speaking, I fought with beasts at Ephesus? If the dead are not raised, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.”
- 1 Corinthians 15:58
58 Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.
