NEXT

The gospel falls to pieces unless Jesus was actually raised from the dead.

Notes from session 5 of the Next 09 Conference.
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Let’s begin in 1 Corinthians 15:1-11.

Focusing our attention on the person and ministry of Christ is an enormous antidote to narcissism and to the overly subjective spirituality that abounds in our day. To fix our eyes on Jesus and fill our hearts with Jesus is one of the great privileges and should be the high distinction of the Christian life. And to think especially about his resurrection–that he is not merely a glorious hero in an old book, that he has risen, that he is alive, that he is available to us, and that he is known as a present risen living companion. This belongs to the very heart of the gospel.

Once I heard a well meaning person tell me, “The Christian life is so wonderful I would enjoy it even if Jesus had never been raised from the dead.”

I thought there was something disastrously wrong about that. The apostle Paul is teaching us that it’s really about our resurrection. The gospel falls to pieces unless Jesus was actually raised from the dead. The resurrection of Jesus isn’t just fundamental to the gospel it is essential to our salvation. No resurrection, no salvation. No resurrection, no living savior, no meeting him on the road to Emmaus, no meeting him on the road to church, or ever.

1) The Nature of the Resurrection

First, we should be confident of the resurrection as a historical reality. It is anchored in history. It is one of the best attested events in the first century. If you know your Scriptures you know the apologetic for this is actually already found in the Scriptures.

For example, if someone asks “How can you know he was really dead?” Well, the answer is there. He was put to death part of whose business was doing crucifixions. They were expert crucifiers. They had done this over and over again. If the Roman centurion believed Jesus died on the cross, Jesus died on the cross.

Do you remember how Jesus left evidence behind that the body had not been stolen? Imagine yourself as a professional body stealer. Somehow you get the stone away, somehow you get past the guards but…before you get the body away you carefully unwrap it? And then one of you leisurely folds up the linen cloth over the head? Really? I don’t think so.

Think of all the appearance his Peter says and of all the appearance his appearance to James says. And he appeared to 500 at once. Paul is saying that one of the clearest evidences of Jesus Christ is the existence of the Christian church. They were in no doubt that Jesus was raised from the dead.

The resurrection of Jesus is a historical reality but it’s also a physical reality. The resurrection of Jesus was a resurrection of Jesus body. He appears to the disciples after his death and they say that they’re seeing a ghost. And he tells them to touch him to prove he wasn’t dead or a spirit. In Luke 24 Jesus asks his disciples if they have anything to eat, and they give him a peace of broiled fish, and he eats it. The disciples are beside themselves with joy and it’s almost as though Jesus is having some resurrection fun with them to prove its him.

In 1 Cor 15 Paul is teaching us that our resurrection bodies are the fruit of Jesus resurrection. Therefore when Paul goes on in verse 15 he’s really giving us clues about the resurrection of the body of the Lord Jesus. Then he goes on to tell us specifically what the difference is between his dead body and his resurrection body.  His body was raised as an incorruptible body. He died in weakness but he was raised in power. The body Jesus assumed in his incarnation was suited to life in this world. But the body he was resurrected in was suited to a new world order. A change took place. He was able to do extraordinary things in that body.

One of the glorious things that the NT teaches us is that he’ll never jettison that body. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is God’s pledge that Jesus has permanently committed himself to being the man in heaven for us, to be our savior. Our bodies, at the end of Phillipians 3 says, will be like his body of glory.

Some of you already know the poisons in your being that cripple you. Some of you have had surgery over and over. Jesus not only comes to die in our body, he comes to raise our body from the grave. Salvation is not just a matter of the forgiveness of our individual sins, God has in view a complete renewal of heaven and earth for which we’ll need these new bodies we’ll give us.

2) The Significance of the Resurrection

John Calvin wrote in his catechism: “What manifold benefits come to us through the resurrection of Christ?” The answer: “By it, righteousness is obtained for us, it is a sure pledge of our future immortality, and even now by its power we are raised to newness of life that we’re able to live in holiness.”

There are two ways Christian thinkers have thought about the resurrection:

The first way to think about the resurrection is in stages. First the stage of humiliation. Jesus was used to hearing the praises of angels and yet he came and died and was laid in a tomb. Then the second stage is that of exaltation.

All that humiliation is something Jesus is done because his heavenly father has sent him to be the second Adam.
God sends a second man who would be such a man that he would bear all the judgment of God against the first Adam’s sin. So Jesus Christ provides for us a perfect righteousness by dying the death we deserve and then is carried through to the new order of reality. He dies as though he were a sinful Adam, alienated from the presence God and cries out as Adam should have cried out, “My God why have you forsaken me?” Then on the third day there are stirrings in the tomb. You see what this last Adam is doing. Just as the first Adam dragged all of us down into sin and judgment and alienation. Jesus is breaking through to death to the new order of the new life and he’s dragging with him all those who belong to him. 1 Tim 3:15-16 says that by the power of the holy spirit Jesus was justified or vindicated. In his death Jesus was covered with our sin. But in his resurrection God is saying, “You are the righteous one.”

Romans 6 helps us see that Jesus died to sin. In some mysterious way he came under the dominion and reign of sin. He did that because we were under the dominion of sin. And in his resurrection he breaks the power of cancelled sin. God says, “Let us glorify the body of the Lord Jesus Christ so that it’s suitable for the world to come of eternal glory.” God is adopting and is justifying and glorifying him who appeared before me on the cross as a sinner, in order that those who are in the risen Christ might share in his adoption. He does this so that what is done to Jesus might happen to us–that we might be adopted and justified and sanctified and glorified.

The resurrection of Jesus gives us a righteousness that comes from the other side of the resurrection. He was put to death for our trespasses but he was raised for our justification. Let me put it his way: If you are justified tonight can’t be more justified in five years. If you are justified tonight no matter what distinction you have or what you do in Christian service you can’t be more justified than you are tonight. When you stand before the throne clothed in beauty not your own you can stand there as righteous as Jesus Christ is righteous. If you are a Christian you are as righteous as Jesus before God because the only righteousness you can stand before God in is Jesus ‘righteousness. The resurrection not only provides us with justification but it also effects a resurrection in us. Salvation is not something God says about us, it something God does in us in our union in us.

There’s another way you can think about his resurrection: the three offices of Jesus. In the Old Testament you see three offices anointed: prophet, priest, king. Jesus fulfilled the office of the priest by making perfect sacrifice on us. Jesus fulfilled the office of the prophet because he perfectly proclaimed God. Jesus fulfilled the office of the king by defeating death and Satan.

He is our priest. In the Old Testament the priests in the presence of God he had bells on so that the people would know he was still alive. Then he would come out and pronounce peace to the people. Interesting then, that his first words to the disciples are peace be with you. The Lord Jesus does for us what he does with Peter. Satan asked to sift Peter. Where is our hope when we are molested by Satan like that? Jesus said that he had prayed for Peter that his faith would not fail. He is Peter’s intercessor and our intercessor.
He is also our risen prophet. The disciples on road to Emmaus and said, “Did not our hearts burn within us?” If you’ve never had your heart strangely warmed then you’re probably not a Christian.

Jesus is our second Adam. Do you remember the first Adam’s job? He was a gardener. The world wasn’t in a final state. God told Adam that he would give him a little start but that Adam should turn the whole world into the garden. But Adam was thrown out of the garden. Do you remember what Mary said in the garden? She was supposing him to be the gardener. She’s wasn’t far off. He was beginning the garden and beginning his work of final transformation.

I’m old enough to remember the first moon landing. Armstrong said, “That’s one small step for a man and one giant leap for mankind.” I don’t think he was the first to say this. I think Jesus may have thought as he stepped out of the tomb,”That’s one small step for a king and a giant leap for all the citizens of his kingdom.”

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*Note: The notes are approximate. Forgive misspellings and typos. We’ll clean all the message notes and have them edited next week.