R.A. Torrey Collection: Torrey, R.A. - What Bible Teaches (About Jesus Christ): 06 The Resurrection of Jesus Christ

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R.A. Torrey Collection: Torrey, R.A. - What Bible Teaches (About Jesus Christ): 06 The Resurrection of Jesus Christ



TOPIC: Torrey, R.A. - What Bible Teaches (About Jesus Christ) (Other Topics in this Collection)
SUBJECT: 06 The Resurrection of Jesus Christ

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Ch 06 The Resurrection of Jesus Christ





I. THE FACT OF THE RESURRECTION.



2Ti_2:8 — "Remember that Jesus Christ of the seed of David was raised from the dead, according to my gospel." 1Co_15:4 "And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures." (Many other passages.)



First Proposition: Jesus Christ was raised from the dead.



The resurrection of Christ is in many respects the most important fact of Christian history. It is the Gibraltar of Christian evidences, the Waterloo of infidelity and rationalism. If the scriptural assertions of Christ's resurrection can be established as historic certainties, the claims and doctrines of Christianity rest upon an impregnable foundation.



There are three lines of argument for the truthfulness of the Biblical statements:



EXTERNAL PROOFS OF THE AUTHENTICITY AND TRUTH OF THE GOSPEL NARRATIVES



Into this argument we need not enter at this time. The others are perfectly sufficient without it.



THE INFERNAL PROOFS OF TRUTHFULNESS



Suppose we had no external means of knowing by whom the four accounts of the resurrection were written; that we had nothing but the accounts themselves from which to decide their truthfulness or untruthfulness. Four Separate Accounts By a careful comparison of the four accounts we see that they are four separate and independent accounts. This is evident from the apparent discrepancies in the four accounts. There is harmony between the accounts, but it can be discovered only by minute and careful study. If the four accounts were prepared in collusion, on the surface there would appear agreement. Instead, we find discrepancy on the surface, but just such a harmony as would exist between four independent, honest witnesses, each relating the events from his own point of view. These four accounts must be either true or fabrications. If they are fabrications, they must have been made up either independently or in collusion. They cannot have been made up independently; the agreements are too marked and too many. They cannot have been made up in collusion, the apparent discrepancies are too numerous and too noticeable. They were, therefore, not made up at all.



They are a true relation of facts. The Accounts Came from Eyewitnesses The next thing we notice about these accounts is that they bear striking indications of having been written or spoken by eyewitnesses. The account of an eyewitness is readily distinguished from the account of one who is merely retelling what others have reported. Any careful student of the Gospel records of the resurrection will readily detect many marks of the eyewitness. The Accounts Are Straightforward The third thing we note is their artlessness, straightforwardness and simplicity. It sometimes happens, when a witness is on the stand, that the story he tells is so artless, straightforward, simple and natural; there is such an utter absence of any attempt at coloring or effect; that it carries conviction independently of any knowledge we may have of the witness.



As we listen to this witness we say at once, "This man is telling the truth."



The weight of this kind of evidence reaches practical certainty if we have several independent witnesses of this sort, all bearing testimony to the same essential facts, but with varieties of detail, one omitting what another tells.



This is the exact case with the four Gospel narrators of the resurrection.



While the stories have to do with the supernatural, the stories themselves are most natural. The Gospel authors do not seem to have reflected at all upon the meaning or bearing of many of the facts they relate. They simply tell outright what they saw in all simplicity and straightforwardness, leaving the philosophizing to others. Furness, the Unitarian scholar, says: "Nothing can exceed in artlessness and simplicity the four accounts of the first appearance of Jesus after his crucifixion. If these qualities are not discernible here we must despair of ever being able to discern them anywhere" (quoted in Abbot on Matt., p. 331, and also Furness, "The Power of the Spirit"). The Accounts Contain Evidence in Words, Phrases, and Details It often happens when a witness is on the stand that the unintentional evidence he bears by words, phrases and accidental details is more effective than his direct testimony, because it is not the testimony of the witness, but the testimony of the truth to itself. The Gospel stories abound in this sort of evidence; for example, Luk_24:16 says of the resurrected Jesus, "But their eyes were holden that they should not know him." Here and elsewhere we are told that .Jesus was not recognized at once by His disciples when He appeared to them after His resurrection. There was nothing to be gained by their telling the story this way. Why, then, do they tell it this way? Because this is the way it occurred. If they had been making up a story, they would never have made it up this way. 1Co_15:5-8 — "And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve: After that he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep.



After this he was seen of James; then of all the apostles. And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time."



Here, as everywhere else, Jesus is represented as appearing only to His disciples, with the single exception of His brother. Why is it so represented? Because it so happened. If a story had been fabricated years later, Jesus would certainly have been represented as appearing to and confounding some of His enemies. Joh_20:17 — "Jesus said unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend to my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God."



There is no explanation of the words "touch me not." It has been the puzzle of centuries for the commentators to explain them. Why is it told this way? Because this is the way it occurred. Joh_19:34 "But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water."



Why is this told? Modern physiologists tell us that the physical explanation of this is that Jesus suffered from, in popular language, "a broken heart," and that other facts recorded (for example, the dying cry) prove the same thing. But John knew nothing of modern physiology. Why does he insert a detail that it takes centuries to explain? Because he is recording events as they occurred and as he saw them. Joh_20:24-25 — "But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe."



This is true to life. It is in perfect harmony with what is told of Thomas elsewhere, but to fabricate it would require a literary art that immeasurably exceeded the possibilities of the author. Joh_20:4-6 — -"So they ran both together: and the other disciple did outrun Peter, and came first to the sepulchre. And he stooping down, and looking in, saw the linen clothes lying; yet went he not in. Then cometh Simon Peter following him, and went into the sepulchre, and seeth the linen clothes lie."



This is again in striking keeping with what we know of the men. John, the younger, outruns Peter, but hesitatingly and reverently stops outside and first looks in. Impetuous, older Peter lumbers on as best he can behind, but once he reaches the tomb, he doesn't wait outside, but plunges in. Who was the literary artist who had the skill to make this up, if it did not happen just so? Joh_21:7 — "Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved saith unto Peter, It is the Lord. Now when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he girt his fisher's coat unto him, (for he was naked,) and did cast himself into the sea."



Again we see unmistakable marks of truth. John, the man of quick perception, is first to :recognize his Lord. As soon as Peter, the man of impetuous, unthinking devotion, is told who it is, he tumbles into the water and swims to meet him. Joh_20:15 — "Jesus saith unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? whom seekest thou? She supposing him to be the gardener, saith unto him, Sir, if thou have borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away."



Here is surely a touch that surpasses the art of any man of that day. Mary, with a woman's love, forgets a woman's weakness and cries, "Tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away." Of course she lacked the strength to do it, but a woman's love never stops at impossibilities. Was this made up? Mar_16:7 — "But go your way, tell his disciples and Peter that he goeth before you into Galilee: there shall ye see him, as he said unto you."



Why was "and Peter" included? Reflection shows it was the utterance of love toward a despairing disciple who had thrice denied his Lord and would not think himself included in a general invitation. Was this made up? (12) . Joh_20:27-29 — "Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side, and be not faithless, but believing. And Thomas said unto him, My Lord and my God. Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen and yet have believed."



The action of Thomas here is too natural and the rebuke of Jesus too characteristic to be attributed to the art of some master of fiction. (13) . Joh_21:21-22 — "Peter seeing him saith to Jesus, Lord, and what shall this man do? Jesus saith unto him, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? follow thou me."



This, too, is a characteristic rebuke on Jesus' part. (Compare to Luk_13:23-24 — "Then said one unto him, Lord, are there few that be saved?



And he said unto them, Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able.") Jesus never answered questions of speculative curiosity but always pointed the questioner to his own immediate duty. Joh_21:15-17 — "So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord, thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs. He saith unto him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord: thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my sheep. He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep."



There is no explanation of why Jesus asked three times or why Peter was grieved because Jesus did so. We must read this in the light of Peter's threefold denial to understand it. But the author does not tell us so. He surely would if he had been making this up. He is simply reporting what actually occurred.



As one final internal proof of the four Gospels' truthfulness, examine the appropriateness of the way in which Jesus revealed Himself to different persons after His resurrection. To Mary Joh_20:16 — "Jesus saith unto her, Mary. She turned herself, and saith unto him, Rabboni; which is to say, Master."



Up to this point Mary had not recognized her Lord, but in that one word, "Mary," uttered in His voice, she knew Him, fell at His feet and tried to clasp them, crying "Rabboni." Was that made up? To the Two Luk_24:30-31 — "As he sat at meat with them, he took bread, and blessed it, and brake, and gave to them. And their eyes were opened, and they knew him; and he vanished out of their sight."



There was something characteristic in the way he returned thanks at meals, so real and so different from the way in which any other did it, that they knew Him at once by that. Is that made up? To Thomas Joh_20:25-28 — "The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe. And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you. Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side, and be not faithless, but believing."



To Thomas, the man of sense, He makes Himself known by sensible proof. To John and Peter Joh_21:5-7 — "Then Jesus saith unto them, Children, have ye any meat? They answered him, No. And he said unto them, Cast the net on the right side of the ship, and ye shall find. They cast therefore and now they were not able to draw it for the multitude of fishes. Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved saith unto Peter, It is the Lord. Now when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he girt his fisher's coat unto him (for he was naked), and did cast himself into the sea."



To John and Peter, He makes Himself known as at the first: by a miraculous draught of fishes. Joh_20:7 — "And the napkin that was about his head, not lying with the linen clothes, but wrapped together in a place by itself."



How strange that this little detail is added to the story with no explanation.



But how deeply significant this little unexplained detail is. In that supreme moment when the breath of God passes over and through that cold and silent clay, and Jesus rises triumphant over death and Satan, there is no excitement upon His part, but with that same majestic self-composure and serenity that marked His whole life, absolutely without human haste or flurry or disorder, He rolls up the napkin that was about His head and lays it away in an orderly manner by itself. Was that made up?



These are small details, but it is from that very fact that they gain much of their significance. It is in just such little things that a fiction would disclose itself. Fiction betrays its difference from fact in the minute. But the more microscopically we examine the gospel narrative, the more we become impressed with its truthfulness. The artlessness and naturalness of the narrative surpass all art.



THE CIRCUMSTANTIAL EVIDENCE



There are certain unquestionable facts of history that demand the resurrection of Christ to account for them. The Early Church Preached the Resurrection Beyond question the foundation truth preached in the early years of the Church's history was the resurrection. Why would the apostles use this as the cornerstone of their creed if the fact was not well attested and firmly believed?



Second, if Jesus had not risen there would have been evidence that He had not. But the apostles went up and down the very city where He had been crucified, and proclaimed right to the face of His slayers that He had been raised and no one could produce evidence to the contrary. The best they could do was to say that the guards went to sleep and the disciples stole the body. But if they had stolen the body, they would have produced it, and the great moral transformation in the disciples would remain unaccounted for. The Change in the Day of Rest The Sabbath day of rest was changed among the Christians by no express decree but by general consent. In the Bible we find the disciples meeting on the first day. Act_20:7 — "And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight." 1Co_16:2 — "Now the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come." The Change in the Disciples They transformed from blank and utter despair to a courage nothing could shake (e.g., Peter. Act_4:19-20; James the Lord's brother: 5:29). Such a sudden and radical change demands an explanation. Nothing short of the resurrection will explain it.



These facts are so impressive and so conclusive that infidel and Jewish scholars admit the apostles believed Jesus rose from the dead. Baur admits this. Even Strauss says, "Only this much need be acknowledged — that the Apostles firmly believed that Jesus had arisen." Schenkel says, "It is an indisputable fact that in the early morning of the first day of the week following the crucifixion, the grave of Jesus was found empty... It is a second fact that the disciples and other members of the apostolic communion were convinced that Jesus was seen after the crucifixion."



These admissions are fatal to the rationalists who make them. How Can Disbelievers Explain the Eyewitness Reports of a Risen Lord ?



The question at once arises, Where does this conviction and belief come from? Renan attempts an answer by saying, "The passion of a hallucinated woman (Mary) gives to the world a resurrected God." (Renan, Life of Jesus, p. 357.) But we answer, "The passion of a hallucinated woman" is not equal to this task. There was a Matthew and a Thomas in the apostolic company to be convinced and a Paul outside to be converted. It takes more than the passionate hallucination of a woman to convince a Jew taxgatherer, a stubborn unbeliever, and a fierce and conscientious enemy.



Strauss tries to discount the eyewitnesses by inquiring whether the appearances may not have been visionary. We answer, "There was no subjective starting point for such visions in the apostles, and furthermore eleven men do not have the same visions at the same time, much less five hundred" ( 1Co_15:6).



A third attempt at an explanation is that Jesus was not really dead. To sustain this view, its proponents appeal to the short time He hung on the cross, and that history tells of one in the time of Josephus taken down from the cross and nursed back to life. We counter by saying, remember (a) the events that preceded the crucifixion and the physical condition in which they left Jesus; (b) the water and the blood — the broken heart; (c) that His enemies would and did take all necessary precautions ( Joh_19:34); (d) that if Jesus had been merely resuscitated he would have been so weak that His reappearance would have been measured at its real value; (e) that the apostles would have known how they brought Him back to life, and the main fact to account for, the change in them, would remain unaccounted for; and (e) that the moral difficulty is greatest of all. If it was merely a case of resuscitation, then Jesus tried to palm himself off as one risen from the dead when He knew He was not. He was an arch impostor, and the whole Christian system rests on a fraud. It is impossible to believe that a system of religion embodying such exalted precepts and principles of truth, purity and love originated in a deliberately planned fraud. No one whose own heart is not cankered by fraud and trickery can believe Jesus an impostor and His religion founded upon fraud.



One last supposition remains: Jesus really was raised from the dead the third day. The desperate straits to which those who attempt to deny it are driven are in themselves proof of the fact. If the Apostles really, firmly believed, as is admitted, that Jesus arose from the dead, they had some facts upon which they founded their belief. These are the facts they would have related in recounting the story. If the facts were as recounted in the Gospels, there is no escaping the conclusion that Jesus actually arose.



We have, then, several independent lines of argument pointing to the resurrection of Christ from the dead. Taken separately, they satisfactorily prove the fact. Taken together they constitute an argument that makes doubt of the resurrection of Christ impossible.



There is really but one weighty objection to the doctrine that Christ arose from the dead: "That there is no conclusive evidence that any other ever arose."



To this a sufficient answer would be: Even if it were certain that no other ever arose, the life of Jesus was unique, His nature was unique, His mission was unique, His history was unique, and it is not to be wondered at; but to be expected, that the issue of His life should also be unique.



II. THE IMPORTANCE OF THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS CHRIST.



First Proposition: The resurrection of Jesus Christ is mentioned directly 104 or more times in the New Testament. ("Raised," 37; "risen," 21; "resurrection," 11; "rise," 10; "liveth," 6; "rose," 6; "quickened," 3; "alive," 2; "rising," 1; "life," 1; "brought again," 1; "begotten," 1; "raise," 1.) Act_1:21-22 — "Wherefore of these men which have companied with us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John, unto the same day that he was taken up from us, must one be ordained to be a witness with us of his resurrection.'' Act_2:24; Act_2:29-32 — "Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it.



Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the Patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day.



Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne: He seeing this before, spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption. This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses." Act_4:33 — "And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and great grace was upon them all." Act_17:18 — "Then certain philosophers of the Epicureans, and of the Stoics, encountered him. And some said, What will this babbler say? other some, He seemeth to be a setter forth of strange gods: because he preached unto them Jesus, and the resurrection." Act_23:6 — -"But when Paul perceived that the one part were Sadducees, and the other Pharisees, he cried out in the council, Men and brethren, I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee: of the hope and resurrection of the dead I am called in question." 1Co_15:15 — "Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ: whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not."



Second Proposition: The resurrection of Jesus Christ was the most prominent and cardinal point in the apostolic testimony.



The resurrection of Jesus Christ had a prominence in the apostolic teaching that it has not in modern preaching. 1Co_15:1; 1Co_15:3-4 "Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand: For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures."



Third Proposition: The resurrection of Jesus Christ is one of the two fundamental truths of the gospel.



Gospel preachers today preach the gospel of the crucifixion, the apostles preached the gospel of the resurrection as well. ( 2Ti_2:8 — "Remember that Jesus Christ of the seed of David was raised from the dead, according to my gospel.") The crucifixion loses its meaning without the resurrection. Without the resurrection the death of Christ was only the heroic death of a noble martyr; with the resurrection it is the atoning death of the Son of God. It shows that death to be of sufficient value to cover all our sins, for it was the sacrifice of the Son of God. In it we have an allsufficient ground for knowing that the blackest sin is atoned for. 1Co_15:14; 1Co_15:17 — "And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain. And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins."



Fourth Proposition: Disprove the resurrection of Jesus Christ and Christian faith is vain. (The two Greek words used in passages quoted above mean "empty" and "forceless.") On the other hand, if Jesus Christ did rise, Christian preaching and Christian faith rest upon a solid and unassailable foundation of fact. Rom_10:9-10 — "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation."



Fifth Proposition: The doctrine of the resurrection of Jesus Christ has power to save anyone who believes it. Php_3:8-10 — "Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, and be found in him not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death."



Sixth Proposition: To know the power of Christ's resurrection is one of the highest ambitions of the intelligent believer.



The importance of the resurrection of Jesus Christ will come out still further when we come to study the "Results of His Resurrection."



III. THE MANNER OF THE RESURRECTION. Act_2:24; Act_2:32 — "Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it. This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses. Act_10:40 — "Him God raised up the third day, and showed him openly." Act_13:30 — "But God raised him from the dead." Rom_10:9 — "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved." Col_2:12 — "Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are raised with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead." Eph_1:19-20 — "And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places."



First Proposition: God raised Jesus Christ from the dead by the working of the strength of His might.



It was not so much that Jesus Christ arose as that God raised Him. It was God who put forth the might; it was God who loosed the pains of death.



He was raised by an act of power from without and not by the fulness of life within. He laid down His life to the fullest extent, He was in the fullest sense dead, and it took the strength of God's might to raise Him. Joh_20:27 — "Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side, and be not faithless, but believing." Act_10:40-41 — "Him God raised up the third day, and showed him openly; Not to all the people, but unto witnesses chosen before of God, even to us, who did eat and drink with him after he rose from the dead." Luk_24:39 — "Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself; handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have." Luk_24:15; Luk_24:18 — "And it came to pass, that, while they communed together and reasoned, Jesus himself drew near, and went with them. And one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answering said unto him, Art thou only a stranger in Jerusalem, and hast not known the things which are come to pass there in these days?" Joh_20:14-15 — "And when she had thus said, she turned herself back, and saw Jesus standing, and knew not that it was Jesus. Jesus saith unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? whom seekest thou? She, supposing him to be the gardener, saith unto him, Sir, if thou have borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away."



Second Proposition: Jesus Christ, after His resurrection, ate and drank, had hands, feet, flesh and bones and all the appearance of a man. Joh_21:4; Joh_21:12 — "But when the morning was now come, Jesus stood on the shore; but the disciples knew not that it was Jesus. Jesus saith unto them, Come and dine. And none of the disciples durst ask him, Who art thou? knowing that it was the Lord."



Third Proposition: Jesus Christ's resurrection appearance was so different from His earthly appearance as not to be clearly recognizable by His intimate friends. Joh_20:19; Joh_20:26 — "Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you." Luk_24:31 — "And their eyes were opened, and they knew him; and he vanished out of their sight."



Fourth Proposition: Jesus Christ's resurrection body was of such a character that He could appear in a room where the doors were shut and could vanish from the sight of men. It was not subject to some of the limitations under which ordinary earthly bodies exist and act. Php_3:21 — "Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself."



Compare to 1Co_15:42-49; 1Co_15:50 — "So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption: It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power: it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. And so it is written: The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit. Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual. The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven. As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly. And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption."



Fifth Proposition: Jesus Christ had a transformed body, incorruptible, glorious, mighty, spiritual, heavenly, not flesh and blood ("flesh and bones" is not "flesh and blood").



IV. THE RESULTS OF THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS CHRIST. 1Pe_1:21 RV — "Who through him are believers in God who raised him from the dead, and gave him glory; so that your faith and hope might be in God."



First Proposition: Through Jesus Christ men became believers in God who raised Him from the dead.



By the resurrection of Jesus Christ a solid foundation is laid for our faith in God. Men have been looking constantly for proofs of the existence and character of God. There is the argument from the marks of creative intelligence and design in the material universe, but the resurrection of Jesus Christ points with unerring certainty to the existence, power, and holiness of God who raised Him. On the other hand, 1Co_15:17 asserts, "If Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins." 1Pe_1:3-4, RV — "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his great mercy begat us again unto a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, unto an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you."



Second Proposition: By the resurrection of Jesus Christ, believers are begotten again unto a living hope, unto an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven.



The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the truth which, made living in our hearts by the Holy Spirit, results in the "new birth unto a living hope, and an inheritance incorruptible" (compare to Rom_10:9). Through our believing in a risen and living Christ, Christ begins to live in us. The resurrection of Christ also forms a foundation of fact upon which to build our hope for the future. Rom_1:4 "And declared to be the Son of God with power', according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead."



Third Proposition: By His resurrection Jesus Christ is declared (or openly designated) to be the Son of God with power.



The claim that Jesus made was that, while even the greatest and best of the prophets were only servants, He was a Son, the beloved and only one of the Father. While other faithful messengers were only servants in the kingdom of God, it belonged to Him as His own inheritance ( Mar_12:6-7). He was one with the Father, and men should honor Him "even as they honor the Father" ( Joh_10:30 Joh_5:23, RV). By raising Christ from the dead, God set His seal to this claim. Others, it is true, have been raised from the dead by God's power, but they made no such claim as this prior to their death. Jesus, however, made this extraordinary claim, was put to death for making it, that previous to His death claimed that God would raise Him again the third day. God did so and thus affirmed the claim of Jesus Christ and announced to all ages in a way more convincing and satisfying than an audible voice from heaven, 'Jesus Christ is my Son and all men must honor the Son even as they honor me." The admission of the resurrection of Jesus Christ leads logically to the admission of His deity. Act_17:31 — "Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in resurrection by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men in that he hath raised him from the dead."



Fourth Proposition: By the resurrection of Jesus Christ, God "has given assurance unto all men, ' that "He will judge the worm in righteousness" by Jesus Christ.



Jesus claimed that God would judge the world by Him ( Joh_5:22; Joh_5:27-; Joh_5:29). By raising Christ from the dead God has set His seal to that claim. If one asks how we know there is a judgment day coming when Christ shall judge the world in righteousness, we can reply, "Because I know Jesus Christ arose." The sure fact of the resurrection of Jesus in the past, points unerringly forward to the sure coming of judgment in the future. Belief in a judgment day is no guess of theologians; it is a positive faith founded upon a proved fact. Rom_4:25 — "Who was delivered for our offenses, and was raised again for our justification."



Fifth Proposition: By the resurrection of Jesus Christ, believers in Him are justified; that is, declared righteous.



Christ gave His life as a propitiation for believers. He "was delivered up for our transgressions." The resurrection settles it beyond a doubt that God has accepted the propitiation. The resurrection is God's declaration of His acceptance of the propitiation and is, therefore, the declaration of our justification. By the resurrection, God declares that He has accepted and is satisfied with the settlement Christ has made. I am thus declared righteous in God's sight. If we are ever troubled with doubts as to whether God has accepted the offering Christ made, we have only to look at the empty tomb and the Risen Lord.



When Christ arose, He arose as our representative: He died as our representative, He arose as our representative, He ascended as our representative, and He is seated as our representative ( Eph_2:5-6).



As one risen, ascended, seated, He is declared to be God's chosen and accepted one, and we are declared chosen, accepted, and righteous in Him. Rom_7:4 RV — "Wherefore, my brethren, ye also were made dead to the law through the body of Christ; that ye should be joined to another, even to him who was raised from the dead, that we might bring forth fruit unto God."



Sixth Proposition: It is through being joined to the risen Christ that the believer brings forth fruit unto God.



The only living, doing, or accomplishing in the Christian life that is acceptable to God is through union with the risen Christ. Through union with the' crucified Christ, we get our pardon, our cleansing from guilt, our justification, our perfect standing before God. Through union with the risen Christ, we get power for life and fruit. One reason why there is so little life and fruit in many professedly Christian lives is that there is so little knowledge of the risen and living Christ. Paul tells us that we were raised with Christ through faith in the working of God, who raised Christ from the dead ( Col_2:12). We are raised with Him to walk in newness of life ( Rom_6:4). This is the truth which baptism symbolizes ( Rom_6:3-4). We will not know the full power of Christ's resurrection until we attain resurrection ourselves ( Php_3:10-11). "He that raised up Jesus from the dead shall also quicken our mortal bodies by His spirit which dwelleth in you" ( Rom_8:11). But "the power of this resurrection'' in our moral and spiritual lives, begetting "newness of life," and "fruit unto God," we may know even now, through being "joined to him who was raised from the dead." Rom_5:9-10 — "Much more then, being justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son; much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life."



Seventh Proposition: Through the life of Jesus Christ, believers shall be saved.



The life here spoken of evidently does not refer to the example of Christ, but to His life, which is the outcome of His resurrection. (Compare to Joh_14:19 — "Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also.") The salvation spoken of here evidently does not refer to salvation from the guilt of sin (i.e., pardon and justification). That has been spoken of in the preceding verse as already secured "by his blood." It is a salvation in the future — "shall be saved by his life." By comparison with the previous verse, it is evidently salvation from the coming wrath. The life of Christ that is the outcome of the resurrection secures this for us. This life will have its perfect manifestation in the coming of the Lord ( Col_3:4 RV; 2Th_1:9-10). Rom_8:34 "Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us." Heb_7:25 — "Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them."



Eighth Proposition: Through the resurrection of Jesus Christ we have an ever-living high priest at the right hand of God to continually make intercession for us, and who is therefore able to save to the uttermost (or "unto all-completeness").



Salvation is begun by the atoning death of Jesus Christ; it is continued by the resurrection and intercession of Christ. We have not only a Savior who died and so made atonement for sin, but also a Savior who rose and carried the blood into the holy of holies — God's own presence — and presents it there, and who lives and pleads our case in every new failure. 1Jn_2:1 — "My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous." (Compare to Luk_22:31-32 — "And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.") Joh_11:42 — "And I know that thou hearest me always."



Herein lies our abiding security and our assurance of the ultimate perfect completeness of Christ's work for us and in us.



Note the believer's triumphant challenge in "Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth?



It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us." Eph_1:18-20 — "The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places."



Ninth Proposition: Through the resurrection of Jesus Christ we have an illustration and proof of the exceeding greatness of God's power toward us.



If we would understand and know what God can do in and for us, we have simply to meditate on the resurrection of Jesus Christ, looking to God to give us "a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him" ( Eph_1:17). 1Th_4:14 "For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him." 2Co_4:14 "Knowing that he which raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus, and shall present us with you."



Tenth Proposition: The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the guarantee of our own resurrection.



We know that God will raise us up because He raised Him up. We are so united to Christ by faith that if He rose, we must. If the spirit of Him who raised Christ from the dead dwells in us also, He that raised up Christ from the dead will also quicken our mortal bodies by His spirit that dwelleth in us ( Rom_8:11). The resurrection of Jesus Christ has robbed death of its terrors for the believer ( 1Co_15:55-57). Act_13:32-33 — "And we declare unto you glad tidings, how that the promise which was made unto the fathers, God hath fulfilled the same unto us their children, in that he hath raised up Jesus again; as it is also written in the second Psalm, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee."



Eleventh Proposition: The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of the promise made to the Fathers.



QUESTION: What was the promise made to the Fathers that the resurrection of Christ fulfills?



ANSWER: Act_3:25 — "Ye are the children of the prophets and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying unto Abraham, And in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed." (Compare to Gen_22:18; Gen_26:4; Gen_12:3; Gal_3:16; Gen_3:15.) The risen Christ is the seed in which all nations shall be blessed by Him turning them away from their iniquities. Act_3:26 — -"Unto you first God, having raised up his son Jesus, sent him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities."



Furthermore, resurrection is the substance of the promise made to the Fathers ( Act_26:6-8; Act_23:6). And Jesus, the resurrected one and first fruits of them that sleep, is the fulfillment of this promise. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the guarantee of the fulfillment of all the promises of God: First, because it declares Him to be the Son of God with power, and thus endorses that the promises of the Bible ( Luk_24:44) are the sure words of God. Second, it reveals God's ability to keep His word and also His mighty power to us. He that keeps His word in raising the dead can surely fulfill all His promises (Compare Act_13:38-39 — "therefore").



If we wish to know that all the promises of God are yea and amen in Christ Jesus, we have only to look to that most marvelous fulfillment of God's word and promise that has already taken place — the resurrection — and see in that the guarantee of the fulfillment of all. If you are ever tempted to think any promise of the Word too large and that you must discount it, remember that Christ is risen and that therein you have a proof and illustration of the "exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe."