The Resurrection

THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS CHRIST

Blog Post Date:  4-14-2020

1 Peter 1:19-21 NET but by precious blood like that of an unblemished and spotless lamb, namely Christ. (20) He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was manifested in these last times (days) for your sake. (21) Through him you now trust in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.

What “days” are we currently living within?  It is the “last days”.  When did the “last days” begin?  Answer: at the resurrection of Jesus Christ.  The “last days” will last approximately 2000 years.  Perhaps 2030, or nearby, will be the final point.

The Sadducees did not believe in a/the resurrection and they often attempted to trap Jesus in some particular answer to their questions:

Luke 20:34-38 NET So Jesus said to them, "The people of this age marry and are given in marriage. (35) But those who are regarded as worthy to share in that age and in the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage. (36) In fact, they can no longer die, because they are equal to angels and are sons of God, since they are sons of the resurrection. (37) But even Moses revealed that the dead are raised in the passage about the bush, where he calls the Lord the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. (38) Now he is not God of the dead, but of the living, for all live before him."

As can be seen in the answer Jesus gave the Sadducees in Luke 20:34-onward that even Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob have been resurrected and live before God.  Where they are living is a good guess.  Many have attempted to answer that question but currently, no one answer seems to be the correct one.

The redemption and resurrection of men and women was foreordained prior (if that seems possible to our finite minds) to the creation of the world.  Nothing of any value, or otherwise, will redeem us other than God Himself through the work of Jesus Christ.

It is said to believe in the name of Jesus Christ and you will be saved.  But how do you believe in the name of Jesus Christ?  What exactly is one supposed to believe?  Many people claim to be saved, but are they?  Some of these people do nothing for the Kingdom of God.  They may attend a church on occasion and put some money in the offering plate but are they saved?  Do they ever explain the Gospel to another?

The answer is – everyone will be resurrected at some point in the future, but not everyone will be part of the first resurrection.  Even Paul was at certain times concerned that he might not be part of this first resurrection, although, in later life, he admitted that he most likely was a part of it.  As explained in the Revelation, the second resurrection occurs at the end of the 1000 year Millennial Kingdom.

Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were said to be resurrected and living within the will of God but they had never heard of Jesus Christ.  How is that possible?  The answer:  is that one becomes a working member of the Kingdom of God such as David and others.  No one has seen God and only a few people have seen Jesus Christ.  Allowing “Jesus into one’s heart” is possible only if that person becomes a working citizen within the Kingdom of God.  Is this statement claiming that “works” are important?  No, but it is something that a saved person will naturally perform without even thinking about it.

Many Old Testament people have been saved for the first resurrection prior to the lifetime of Jesus Christ.  Believing in Jesus Christ is believing that God has redeemed mankind through the death and resurrection of Jesus, not just believing that Jesus was the Son of God, which He was and still is.

Those resurrected individuals, such as Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, have bodies similar to those of angels.  They will never die and there will be no need to procreate themselves.  Jesus tried to explain this concept to His disciples but they apparently could not understand at that moment.  Even the disciples had a certain sense of blindness about various things.

Mark 10:32-34 NET They were on the way, going up to Jerusalem. Jesus was going ahead of them, and they were amazed, but those who followed were afraid. He took the twelve aside again and began to tell them what was going to happen to him. (33) "Look, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and experts in the law. They will condemn him to death and will turn him over to the Gentiles. (34) They will mock him, spit on him, flog him severely, and kill him. Yet after three days, he will rise again."

John 20:6-10 NET Then Simon Peter, who had been following him, arrived and went right into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen cloth lying there, (7) and the face cloth, which had been around Jesus' head, not lying with the strips of linen cloth but rolled up in a place by itself. (8) Then the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, came in, and he saw and believed. (9) (For they did not yet understand the scripture that Jesus must rise from the dead.) (10) So the disciples went back to their homes.

The lack of the disciples of knowing the scripture is reinforced in John 20: 9.  They did not understand it nor would they completely know until the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.

Acts 2:32-35 NET This Jesus God raised up, and we are all witnesses of it. (33) So then, exalted to the right hand of God, and having received the promise of the Holy Spirit from the Father, he has poured out what you both see and hear. (34) For David did not ascend into heaven, but he himself says, 'The Lord said to my lord,: "Sit at my right hand (35) until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet." '

At the Pentecost meeting, Peter quoted the OT and said that Jesus is sitting at the right hand of God.  Earlier we learned that David was most likely resurrected but is not sitting in the throne room of God.  Perhaps David is in the bosom of Abraham.