There is a common story line that runs through most action films and novels that goes something like this. A villain/beast comes to threaten life on earth. His scheme seems unstoppable and utterly detestable. However, there is a man somewhere who can somehow rise to the occasion and stop this monster and send him to his just deserts. Bruce Willis and Harrison Ford are millionaires thanks to stories like this.
There are some things that happen to us that can cast a shadow over us all the days of our lives. The Resurrection is the kind of thing that can cast a bright optimistic blast of hope over us all the days of our life, if we understand what the Bible is saying to us.
The writer of Hebrews says that it is possible to “taste the powers of the Age to Come”. (Hebrews 6:5). This verse has always fascinated me. What an invitation! My soul longs for the Age to Come and the Lord says we can, in this life, taste or sample the powers of the Age to Come. I believe this is what happens in our inner being when we have come to understand all that the Bible has to say about the New Creation, the New Man, our new identity and standing in Christ. Truly, old things are passing away; behold, all things are become new!
The Resurrection of Christ is the bridge that makes it possible for fallen man to cross over from death unto life and into the New Creation. It is sad that most of the time, sermons on Easter will center on the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. That in itself is a wonderful thing that Christ is alive. The joy of knowing He is alive is wonderful. But we must go to the next step to fully extract the full benefit God intends for us. God has a marvelous plan that goes beyond just the resurrection of His Son.
The Bible is saying that we are now new creatures, men of a different kind than those of Adam’s fallen race. We are now men of the New Creation. The Word calls us the New Man as opposed to the old man, sons of Adam. We are now “in Christ” and that means that the law of life in Christ Jesus has set us free from the law of sin and death. We must also note that when the Bible says these things, it refers to us as already being new with more to come. The old no longer has dominion over us. God has done all that needs to be done. Now we must grow and mature into the fullness of God’s plan.
At Lazarus’ grave, Jesus said; “I am the resurrection and the life”. He didn’t say; “I do resurrections”. What does the Lord mean by this? If we see things the way the Lord does, we will understand what He means.
God sees His Son and the Church as One Man. In the same way that all men are born in Adam in his likeness and image, those who are born of the Spirit are recreated in the likeness and image of His Son. This is the New Man God is raising up to remake the created order of the earth. He makes all thing new! Christ is the Head of the Body and the Church is the Body of Christ. In God’s eyes, He sees one New Man!
Most certainly Christ has been given the Name above all names. He is seated at the Father’s right hand. All power and authority has been given to Him in heaven and on earth and all things are under His feet. At the same time, we have been seated together with Christ in heavenly places. We are called the Bride of Christ. We are not separate from Christ, we are in Christ. We are one with Him!
I am afraid that we have missed the important truth that God has placed us in Christ. God’s people struggle to understand that God loves them. They see themselves as a people apart from God who is in heaven. God sees us in His Son. In reality, God has tied His fortunes and our fortunes together. Let me say it this way; The best thing you have or ever will have is all that belongs to Jesus Christ, now and forever. If you are in Christ, you are a joint heir of Jesus Christ! To see myself as part of Christ did not come easy because I struggled to believe that I was good enough or worthy to be of Christ. But God calls the shots. This was His idea and He demands faith and obedience and is not looking for an argument from someone like me.
If you can get your mind around that, then you are ready to tackle the Resurrection. The Lord said; I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever lives and believes in Me shall never die.
If we live in Christ, are we not in Christ? In other words, we are part of a Body that has already risen from the dead. This is why Paul says; Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. (1 Corinthians 15:20).
In another place it is written; And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all [things] he might have the preeminence. (Colossians 1:18).
What does this mean that He is first if there is not a second or a third and beyond?
But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you. (Romans 8:11).
You are part of Christ’s body and He has risen from the dead, never to die again, and to live forevermore! The future belongs to the New Man!
Beloved, if you are safe and secure in Christ, rejoice in the fact that you are risen with Christ and are seated with Him in heavenly places. You have overcome death, hell and the grave because you are in Christ. This is God’s way for you to inherit the promise of eternal life and establish you in the Kingdom of His dear Son.
As I close, read closely the words of Peter.
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade-kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. (1 Peter 1:3-5).
The Resurrection is God’s marvelous radical plan to set things right!
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