A part of the promise of Christ’s
resurrection, is that we too may be resurrected. Today’s post provides four
considerations for this truth.
First, to be
resurrected with Christ, you must first die to self. Galatians 2.20
Paul has
willingly crucified his own ambitions and desires so that he can better reflect
Christ. In fact, Paul laying down his life to Christ, is similar to Christ
laying down his life for us. It doesn’t have the same ramifications, but the
willingness is similar. What I mean is that Jesus willingly gave Himself over
to die. Yes, He was arrested and beaten and hung on the cross, but He also
stated that He could be removed at a moment’s notice if He so desired. I agree
with the old phrase that says, “It wasn’t the nails that held Jesus on the
cross, it was His love.” Likewise, Paul gave his life over to Christ. His body
still existed within the context of his flesh, but it was not his flesh that
lived any longer, it was His faith that guided Paul to live as he did.
Second, to
be resurrected with Christ, you must be a new Creation. 2 Corinthians
5.17
What do I
mean by a new creation? Jesus told Nicodemus in John 3 that to enter the
Kingdom one must be born again. Born again. Truly to become a new creature. And
like any new creature learning is involved. For instance, a new baby has to
learn to move, to crawl, to walk, to feed him/herself, etc. Likewise, a new
creature in Christ must learn to live as Christ. That is why Jesus said to his
disciples (his learners), “Follow me.” Jesus certainly meant as He traveled.
But more importantly He meant to follow His example. To imitate Him. Or, as
this series has been entitled, to become more like God. As a new creation, God supplies the power, but
we still have to do the work. To paraphrase Charles Spurgeon, “We must work as
if everything depends on man, and pray as if everything depends on God.”
Third, to be
resurrected with Christ may come after you are already with Him. 2 Corinthians
5.8
This verse
has been traditionally rendered, “To be absent from the body is to be present
with the Lord. Later in 2 Corinthians, Paul talks about entering the third
heaven. I believe this took place when he was stoned to death at Lystra (Acts
14.19). 2 Corinthians 12 makes clear that Paul’s thorn in the flesh was given
so that he would not be prideful about the wonders he saw in heaven. Yet, Paul
admits in that passage that he did not know whether he was in his body or not.
Frankly, he didn’t care as he simply states – “God knows” (12.3).
But Paul
also writes elsewhere that the dead in Christ will rise first (1 Corinthians
15, 1 Thessalonians 4) at the last trumpet. Then, those who remain alive at
that time will rise. So, the resurrection of the dead is real, but it doesn’t
happen until Christ returns. And He will return. The words of Jesus, Himself,
as recorded in Revelation 22.20 – the next to the last verse of the Bible
– “Surely I am coming soon.” (Lest we think it isn’t still soon, to God a day
is like a thousand years, and a thousand years is as a day – 2 Peter 3.8. God
is not bound to time, but even if He was, this verse could suggest that, in God’s
time, it has been less than 2 days since Jesus’ resurrection.)
So, if you
die as a follower of Christ, you will be with Him in some form even before the
resurrection. Let me make one further clarification. Our form will not be the
form of an angel. When you die, despite popular belief, we do not become
angels. The Bible is clear that angels long to understand salvation (they don’t
receive it). Paul says that we will judge the angels, not become one. So,
whatever form it is that we take after our death before the resurrection, it
will not be as angels.
Finally,
fourth, to be resurrected with Christ, is about Him, not us. Philippians
3.10-14
Let me
summarize Philippians 3. Paul had it all. Everything a Hebrew could desire, he
had. But he gave it up because although he was completely blameless according
the law, it did not make him righteous before God. Only God can do that. So he
voluntarily renounced every right he had so that he could gain what truly
mattered. Reminding us of the first two points, he died to self, and became a
new creation in Christ.
But this was
not the end. He was “saved”, but there was still something missing - a
perfection that comes from God. In today’s terms we talk about being saved.
What most people mean comes down to a theological term – justification. This is
like the judge striking the gavel and saying, “Innocent.” But justification is
just one part of salvation. If it was the end of the process, why do we remain
here after we are saved? The truth is, for one who receives Christ as
Savior, they are saved, but they are still being saved. This second part of
being saved is called being sanctified. It is the process of becoming holy.
Here, we become holy in part, in eternity we will be truly holy (or glorified).
That is what Paul means regarding the prize of the upward call. That he would
receive His glorified body – the body we receive after we are resurrected. Our
perfect body – a body without sin, without pain, and fully glorious. This is
the kind of body that Jesus had after His resurrection, to which he refers in
John 20.17. He could eat, but He also passed through a locked door. Do I
understand that? No. But I don’t need to understand it. I just need to believe
God is capable of it. And in placing my faith in Jesus, who was the first to
rise from the dead (1 Corinthians 15), I too, will one day experience a similar
resurrection and be with Him forever.
In this week’s
third post, I will provide a conclusion to this week’s blog regarding the
resurrection and point to the series concluding blog (the final post of the
week).
* This
series of blogs has been adapted from Donald Whitney’s book, Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life.
