The doctrine of resurrection

1. The fact of resurrection is based upon the existence of the empty tomb, the competency of the witnesses. They knew Jesus Christ well and could not be deceived. They would die rather than change their testimony about the resurrection. This is historical accuracy and competency of witnesses. The subsequent change in the disciples after the resurrection also indicates the validity of the resurrection. Before His death they were afraid, despondent, and after His death the same thing continued. But after His resurrection they were joyous and fearless. The existence of the day of Pentecost and the first sermon ever preached in the Church Age was a sermon on resurrection. The observation of the first day of the week, called the Lord’s day, the resurrection day. The very existence of the Christian church logically depends upon the resurrection.

2. The nature of the resurrection. Jesus Christ in His resurrection body still had the scars from the nail prints in His hands and feet — Psalm 22:16; Zechariah 12:10; John 20:25-29. He also retained the scars of the wound in His side — John 20:25-29. Christ was recognised by His disciples as the one who died and rose again. This was attested in 17 different appearances. Christ after resurrection, however, could eat — Luke 24:42.23 — although He did not depend upon food to sustain Him. Christ had a true body which could be felt — Matthew 28:9; Luke 24:39; John 20:17. His resurrection body could breathe — John 20:22. His resurrection body possessed flesh and bones — Luke 24:39,40. His resurrection body could walk through an open door but could also walk through a closed door — Luke 24:36; John 20:19. Jesus Christ appeared to His disciples many times during the short time he was on the earth after the resurrection. He also disappeared at will — Luke 24:17. His body could move horizontally or vertically.

3. The doctrine of the two resurrections is pertinent and important to us. There are two resurrections, not one — John 5:24-29; Daniel 12:2; Revelation 20:6,13. The first resurrection involves the Lord Jesus Christ and believers only. Confusion seems to come from the fact that the first resurrection is divided into four parts. This is comparable to a battalion review in 1 Corinthians 15 — “every man in his own battalion”:

a) The resurrection of Jesus Christ, the firstfruits. He is resurrected and seated at the right hand of the Father — 1 Corinthians 15:23; Romans 1:4; 1 Thessalonians 1:10; 2 Thessalonians 2:8; 1 Peter 1:3.

b) Baker company is the Rapture of the Church — 1 Corinthians 15:51-57; 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18.

c) Charlie company is the Old Testament saints and Tribulational martyrs. They are resurrected at the end of the Tribulation — Daniel 12:13; Isaiah 26:19,20; Revelation 20:4.

d) Dog company is made up of the Millennial saints and those who survive the Tribulation to enter the Millennium in physical bodies.

This is the general first resurrection.

The second resurrection all occurs at one time — John 5:28,29; Revelation 20:12-15; 2 Peter 3:9; Matthew 25:41 — at the end of the Millennium.

4. Living illustrations of the resurrection.

a) Abraham in a tent — Hebrews 11:9,10,13. To live in a tent in Abraham’s day was to invite disaster, it was not safe. The secret to Abraham’s tent life came from the fact that he trusted in the Lord. he had trusted in Christ for salvation, he had trusted the promises of God, but he also believed in the doctrine of God. Therefore he died in a tent knowing that God who had promised him a city would deliver that city. he knew that he would receive in resurrection. So the resurrection was vitally important to Abraham. The resurrection was a doctrine on which he built his whole life. Abraham was just as safe in a tent as you are in the greatest fortified system which ever existed. Abraham’s protection was Bible doctrine, specifically resurrection. The reason he died in a tent is because he said “God has promised me a city, so I will live in a tent until God gives me the city which he promised me.” The city that God promised Abraham will come, it is the new Jerusalem. He died in the tent without seeing the promise fulfilled in this life — Hebrews 11:13 — but he knew that in resurrection he would have his city — Revelation 21:2,10.

b) Isaac understood the concept of resurrection — Hebrews 11:17-19. Isaac was the fulfillment of the promise of Genesis 12:2. In Isaac Abraham’s seed was to be multiplied into a great nation. Yet, in Genesis 22 God ordered Abraham to sacrifice Isaac. But Abraham, again, had faith in resurrection and in Hebrews 11:17-19 he put Isaac on an altar and was going to sacrifice him knowing that God would raise Isaac from the dead. Isaac hadn’t found his right woman yet, he didn’t have a family. Therefore when Abraham put his son on the altar he knew that God would raise him right up again. To Abraham the most vital doctrine in the world was resurrection.

c) The same thing was true of Job — “I know that my redeemer liveth, and he shall stand in the latter day [resurrection]… yet in my flesh [resurrection] I shall see God.”

d) Joseph was a supergrace believer — Hebrews 11:22. The life of Joseph was filled with many acts of faith-rest, he demonstrated the function of supergrace. God prospered Joseph under the supergrace principle. Yet, when Joseph came to the time to die he did something greater than he had done in all of his lifetime. He commanded that he not be buried in Egypt but that his coffin be taken in the future and when the Jews returned to the land they must take the coffin with them. They must take Joseph’s bones because of the doctrine of resurrection. When Joseph was risen from the dead he wanted to be standing by his great grandfather Abraham, by his grandfather Isaac, by his father Jacob. And in the resurrection he will stand with them because he refused to be buried in Egypt. But that isn’t all. The Jews were slaves for 400 years and during those 400 years their hope of getting out of slavery was the coffin of Joseph. Joseph therefore demonstrates the importance of the resurrection as a doctrine to the supergrace believer. The coffin of Joseph — Genesis 50:24-26; Exodus 13:19; Joshua 24:32.

e) There are two boys who died and both were brought to life by Elijah. They represent the beautiful illustration. The son of the widow of Zerapheth — 1 Kings 17:17-23; the son of the Shunammite woman — 2 Kings 4:18-36. These two incidents are exactly parallel. In each case a boy died. In each case a prophet — first Elijah, second Elisha — identified himself with the boy by stretching himself out over the dead person. Why? These prophets understood the doctrine of resurrection. To demonstrate their faith in the God of resurrection that He would also resuscitate these prophets did exactly the same thing. They stretched themselves out over the corpse and in each case the corpse came back to life. This again gives a picture of resurrection in the principle of identification or association.

The significance of the resurrection

1. Without the resurrection of Jesus Christ it is impossible for Christ to be glorified. Jesus Christ has to have a human body for His glorification. When Jesus Christ died on the cross His humanity died, His deity did not and could not die. It is His humanity that has to be resurrected. The glorification of Christ depends upon His resurrection, His ascension as a man, and His being seated at the right hand of the Father as a man. It is the humanity of Christ at that point that becomes superior to all angelic creation, even though angels were created superior to mankind. Jesus Christ in His humanity is glorified at the point of being seated at the right hand of the Father. This is impossible apart from the resurrection of the humanity of Christ.

Operation phase two in the sense of the Church Age depends upon the glorification of Christ — John 7:39, “The Spirit was not yet given because Christ was not yet glorified”; John 16:14, when the Spirit is given His purpose is to glorify Christ. So everything depends upon the glorification of Christ. Without the resurrection the Holy Spirit cannot be sent to indwell every believer, the Holy Spirit cannot perform His ministry of baptism, entering every believer into union with Christ. All of this is utterly impossible apart from the resurrection of the humanity of Christ.

2. Resurrection indicates the completion of justification — Romans 4:25. Justification is actually completed at the cross because on the cross God placed our sins on Christ and the believer gets God’s righteousness. The sins of the believer are judged on the cross and the believer receives the righteousness of God. No believer is justified until he receives God’s righteousness. There are three things necessary for living with God forever, we must have His life, eternal life, our sins must be judged, and we must have His righteousness. No one could have the righteousness of God were it not for the fact that Christ is seated at the right hand of the Father and even in His humanity He has perfect righteousness. So when we accept Christ as saviour we enter into union with Christ and His righteousness becomes our righteousness — 2 Corinthians 5:21. Justification means vindication and God sees me in Christ and He sees that I have His righteousness and He declares me vindicated.

3. Resurrection is a guarantee of ultimate sanctification — 1 Corinthians 15:20-23; 1 John 3:1,2;

Philippians 3:21. When we get a resurrection body we no longer have an old sin nature. Minus the old sin nature is the sphere of ultimate sanctification.

4. Without resurrection there is no priesthood. Jesus Christ is a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. This is a part of the doctrine of divine decrees and was so declared in Psalm 110. How can Jesus Christ be a priest forever if He is a soul in Paradise, a spirit in the presence of God, and a body in the grave? If He were resuscitated He could only be a priest for whatever lifetime He had, so resuscitation won’t do it. If Jesus Christ is going to be a priest forever, and God cannot lie, then He must have an human body forever. That human body forever is a resurrection body. Cf. Hebrews 7:4,5, 14,28; 10:5,10-14.

5. Without resurrection there is no mediatorship. We learn this principle from the 9th chapter of Job actually. Job said that if he is going to have fellowship with God there must be a “daysman” or an umpire or a mediator. So what is a mediator? A mediator is someone who pulls two parties together because he is equal with both parties. In this case the mediation is between man and God. Whoever is the mediator between God and man must be equal with God and equal with man. Jesus Christ is God, therefore equal with God; Jesus Christ is man, therefore equal with man, and Jesus Christ is the mediator because He is the God-Man. But Jesus Christ couldn’t be the God-Man apart from resurrection. A mediator has to be alive to mediate the covenant, and we are under the new covenant which is the salvation principle. Jesus Christ mediates it and He is the only one qualified to do it because He is man and He is God in one person forever. And it is necessary to have the resurrection to do this, He isn’t man forever apart from resurrection.

6. Without resurrection there is no fulfilment of the Davidic covenant. The Davidic covenant is mentioned in 2 Samuel 7:8-16; Psalm 89:20-37. By way of summary the Davidic covenant says David will have a son who will reign forever. The only way that David could have a son who could reign forever is to have a son, a true human being, and in order to reign forever he has to live forever. And Jesus Christ is the son of David. But Jesus Christ cannot fulfil the Davidic covenant in death, He has to be alive and in resurrection Jesus Christ in His resurrection body will fulfil the Davidic covenant, He will reign forever as David’s son.

The fact of resurrection

1. An empty tomb.

2. The competency of the witnesses. Those who witnessed to His resurrection were those who knew Him and therefore could not be deceived. Furthermore they would rather die than change their testimony and many of them did. Who was it who witnessed to the resurrection of Christ? His disciples, loved ones, friends, followers, those who knew Him best. And the very fact that they would rather die than change their testimony is the highest type of competency of attestation.

3. The subsequent change in the disciples after the resurrection. After the cross the disciples were despondent and frightened; after the resurrection they were joyous and fearless.

4. The day of Pentecost. Peter’s sermon, the first preached in the Church Age and taken from Psalm 16. Subject: resurrection.

5. The observance of the first day of the week as the worship day — Sunday. This is a radical change from the seventh day of the week observed by the Jews under the Levitical code.

6. The historical existence of the Church. The Church depends upon resurrection. Christ is the Head of the Church; He must be alive to be the Head of the Church.

The nature of the resurrection body

What is the resurrection body actually like from scripture?

1. The resurrection body retained the nail prints in the hands and in the feet. We know this prophetically from Psalm 22:16; Zechariah 12:10; historically from John 20:25-29. Jesus was recognised by doubting Thomas because of the scars in the hands and the scar from the wound in the side.

2. The resurrection body retained the wound scar in the side — John 20:25-29.

3. Christ was recognised by His disciples as the one who died and rose again. There were seventeen appearances of the resurrected Christ. In other words, the resurrection body does not destroy the image by which a person is remembered. But the interesting this is that it will be possible to recognise people with a resurrection body, but this does mean that you would simply be able to identify them, it means that you have the mental capacity to do so because it is the mind that retains the image.

4. The resurrection body of Christ could eat, Luke 24:42,43, but He didn’t need to.

5. Christ’s resurrection body had substance. It could be touched or felt — Matthew 28:9; Luke 24:39; John 20:17.

6. Christ’s resurrection body could breathe, but He didn’t necessarily need it — John 20:22.

7. His resurrection body possessed flesh and bones — Luke 24:39, 40.

8. His resurrection body could walk through closed doors — Luke 24:36; John 20:19.

9. The resurrection body was able to appear and disappear — Luke 24:17.

10. The resurrection body of Christ could move vertically or horizontally — Matthew 28:10, Acts 1:9,10.