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Foundational
Doctrines of Christ 5
Resurrection
of the Dead, Part 1
The
Resurrection of Jesus Christ
by
Pastor John Hamel
JHM
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Table of Contents
Introduction
The
Resurrection of Jesus Christ
Christ
the Firstfruits
The
Seed Planting Principle
Christ's
Resurrection Benefits Believers Here & Now
Introduction
"Therefore
leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto
perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works,
and of faith toward God, of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of
hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal
judgment." (Hebrews 6:1-2)
We
have now come to the subject of "Resurrection of the Dead."
Notice, the Apostle Paul said, "...and of resurrection of the
dead." He did not say, "...and the resurrection of the
dead."
Notice,
the Apostle used the preposition "of" and he did not use the
definite article "the." This is because he is speaking of
more than one resurrection.
There are three resurrections of the
dead.
The
first resurrection is the Resurrection of the Lord Jesus
Christ. This
resurrection will be our topic in this first study.
It
is surprising the number of professing Christians who see no significance in
the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. This is especially surprising when the
Bible says you cannot be saved if you do not believe in the Resurrection of
Jesus Christ.
"That
if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shall believe in
thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be
saved." (Romans 10:9)
The
Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is the most essential of the
three resurrections because Jesus' resurrection is the basis for every
Christian's resurrection.
Top
The Resurrection of Jesus Christ
"If
in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.
But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them
that slept. For since by man came death (Adam), by man (Jesus) came also the
resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall
all be made alive. But every man in his own order: Christ the Firstfruits;
afterward they that are Christ's at His coming. Then cometh the end, when He
shall have delivered up the Kingdom to God, even the Father; when He shall
have put down all rule and all authority and power." (1 Corinthians
15:19-24)
Notice
how the Apostle Paul portrays the resurrection of the dead coming forth in
three successive stages.
In verse twenty-three, Paul reveals that
Christ shall come forth from the dead first. This is why he called
Christ "the firstfruits."
Following Christ's resurrection shall
come the resurrection of those who died believing in Christ. Paul made
reference to them in verse twenty-three when he said, "Afterward they
that are Christ's at His coming."
Finally, Paul reveals the final
resurrection as that which will bring forth unbelievers from the dead. He
referred to this resurrection in verse twenty-four when he said, "Then
cometh the end."
The "end" is a reference to the end of
Christ's one thousand year Millennial Reign when the Great
White Throne Judgment of all unbelievers will occur.
Just prior to
this judgment those who died rejecting Christ will be raised to stand before
it.
We
will have an entire lesson
on the Resurrection of Believers, as well as the
Resurrection of Unbelievers. Today, however, we will focus this entire
lesson on the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Top
Christ the Firstfruits
"But
every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits." (1 Corinthians
15:23)
Here
the Apostle Paul is pointing out the similarities between the resurrection
of Jesus and the ceremony of presenting the firstfruits of the harvest unto
God. This ceremony was ordained for Israel under Mosaic
Law.
"And
the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and
say unto them, When ye come into the land which I give unto you, and shall
reap the harvest thereof, then ye shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of
your harvest unto the priest: and he shall wave the sheaf before the Lord,
to be accepted for you: on the morrow after the Sabbath the priest shall
wave it." (Leviticus 23:9-11)
This
ceremony is a type and a shadow, or a picture, of Christ coming forth from
the dead to signify two things.
First, it signifies that Jesus' death,
burial and resurrection was for all men. Notice, Moses said the waving of
the sheaf before the Lord was "for you."
Second, the death,
burial and resurrection of Jesus marked the beginning of a tremendous coming
harvest of eternal souls. This is why Jesus is called the
"firstfruits."
Notice
how accurate this picture is. A sheaf is a bundle of cut stalks tied
together. The sheaf of the firstfruits was the first bundle to be
taken from the harvest field. This was the first bundle to be taken out of
the ground. This portrays Christ's coming up out of the grave.
Moses
then told Israel to "wave the sheaf before the Lord to be accepted for
you." (Vs. 11)
Jesus Christ was not risen for His vindication
alone. He was risen for our vindication.
The
Apostle Paul told the Romans that Christ "...was delivered for our
offenses and was raised again for our justification." (Romans
4:25)
So
we see in the ceremony of the firstfruits a perfect picture of Christ being
planted in death and risen in life for you and
me.
Moses
also said that the Priest was to wave the sheaf "on the morrow after
the Sabbath." (Vs.11)
The morrow after the Sabbath was the first day of
the week for Israel.
Jesus
was also risen on the first day of the week.
"Now
upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto
the sepulchre, bringing the spices which they had prepared and certain
others with them. And they found the stone rolled away from the
sepulchre. And they entered in and found not the body of Jesus." (Luke
24:1-3)
This
is an amazing revelation as only the Holy Spirit could have known back at
the time of the ceremony of the firstfruits that Jesus Christ would be risen
from the dead on the first day of the week.
Why
was it necessary to "wave the sheaf before the Lord"? Waving
the sheaf before the Lord was an act of thanksgiving and triumph because the
appearance of the firstfruits meant that the whole harvest field was about
to come forth.
This
is why Jesus is called "Christ the Firstfruits." His
resurrection is the assurance of the Believer's resurrection.
"But
now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that
slept. For since by man came death (Adam), by man (Jesus) came also the
resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall
all be made alive." (1 Corinthians 15:20-22)
Notice
also that Christ has become the "firstfruits" plural of
"them" that slept. This is signifying that all who died believing
that Christ would come, or who died believing Christ has come, will
ultimately be risen to immortality in Him.
Notice
again how we saw earlier that a sheaf was a "bundle" of stalks all
tied together. We saw how the sheaf of firstfruits to come off the harvest
field was the first bundle to come off the harvest field. This revealed the
fact that Jesus would not be alone when He came forth from the grave. There
were very many other stalks, symbolizing risen Saints, in that firstfruits bundle.
"Jesus
when He cried again with a loud voice yielded up the ghost. And, behold, the
veil of the Temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom: and the
Earth did quake, and the rocks rent; and the graves were opened; and many
(not all) bodies of the saints which slept arose, and came out of the graves
after His resurrection and went into the Holy City and appeared to
many." (Matthew 27:50-53)
These
events are written in close succession but they took place over a three day
period.
These individual stalks,
risen Saints, were harvested with Jesus that wonderful day in order that the
Old Testament ceremony of the firstfruits might be fulfilled in Him and
them.
Jesus,
plus these resurrected Saints who were raised with Him, represent the first
bundle of sheaves to come off the Earth's harvest field.
This is God's
guarantee to not only bring Jesus up out of the ground, but to one day bring forth
the whole harvest field of all His children who sleep in Christ.
Jesus
spoke of this in John's Gospel.
Top
The Seed Planting Principle
"Verily,
verily I say unto you, except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die,
it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit." (John
12:24)
Jesus
was talking to Philip and Andrew when He made reference to "a corn of
wheat" which should fall into the ground and die. A corn of wheat is a
seed. Jesus was using a seed to symbolize the human body.
He was telling
Philip and Andrew, in essence, "If I keep living you will die and you will
not rise again. However, if I die as your representative, all who
follow Me into the ground will also follow Me and rise up out of the ground
again."
It
is a fact of nature that single seeds planted do not produce other single
seeds. Rather, single seeds planted produce a whole cluster of
seeds.
Some seeds planted actually produce millions of seeds.
This
seed-planting principle perfectly portrays the death, burial and resurrection of
Jesus Christ.
Jesus was
buried alone as a single corn of wheat. But when the Spirit of God
rose Him up, He was no longer alone. He was accompanied by a whole handful
of seeds. He was accompanied by many other saints who also rose from the
grave that day.
Jesus' resurrection from the grave was and will be the
ultimate performance of the seed planting principle. God planted the one
best Seed He had into humanity's eternal destiny and He is even now preparing to
reap a tremendous harvest of humanity at what the Bible refers to as the Resurrection
of Life.
No matter how long a human body lay
buried in the Earth, if that body belongs to a Jesus' Believer, it will rise
again in the Resurrection of Life. If that body did not belong to a
Jesus' Believer, it will rise again to the Resurrection
of Damnation.
The
British Museum once put on display a few seeds which had been taken from the
Tomb of King Tut in Egypt. The seeds were over 3,000 years old.
The humidity and the light in the display case caused the 3,000-year-old
seeds to germinate and begin to grow. Although they had been kept in
utter darkness for over 3,000 years, they sprung forth to life once again
while on display in the British Museum.
This
is a perfect illustration of the fact that no matter how long a seed or a
body has been dead and buried, given the right conditions and the right
environment it will rise again, even as Jesus said.
Someone
may say, "Well, what about bodies that are cremated, or that are buried
at sea? How is God able to raise those bodies from the dead?"
I am not ashamed to say that I do not know the answer to this question.
But
I do know this. It does not matter if a body is cremated or swallowed up by
ten thousand fish that swim off in ten thousand different directions. God
knows where everybody's DNA is and He will call it forth during the coming
great harvests of souls at both the Resurrections of Life and Damnation.
Top
Christ's Resurrection Benefits Believers Here & Now
The
Resurrection of Jesus Christ has not only eternal benefits for the
Christian, but has a great many benefits here and
now. We will list just a
few of them.
First:
Jesus' resurrection provides the only basis for faith in
God.
"Forasmuch
as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and
gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers:
but with the precious Blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and
without spot: Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the
world, but was manifest in these last times for you, Who by Him do believe
in God that raised Him up from the dead, and gave Him glory: that your faith
and hope might be in God." (1 Peter 1:18-21)
If
Jesus stayed in the ground, He would be no different than Buddha, Mohammad
or any other dead religious leader. But God rose Jesus from the dead
to prove He was not just another man with influence. God rose Jesus from the
dead to prove He was the Son of God, in order that we might have faith in
God as a result of that resurrection.
"[Jesus
is]
declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the Spirit of
Holiness, by the resurrection from the dead." (Romans 1:4)
On
two occasions the Jews demanded Jesus perform a miracle to help them believe
He was really the Son of God. Jesus told them on the first occasion,
"Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up." (John
2:19-22) He was telling them, "You want to see a miracle? Keep
watching. Soon you will kill me but I will raise from the dead. Then you'll
have all the proof you need to know that I came from God."
On
the second occasion Jesus told the Jews, in essence, "Do you recall how Jonah
was three days and three nights in the belly of the whale? Well, in the same
way I'm about to spend three days and three nights in the heart of the
Earth. This will occur as a result of you unjustly accusing Me and illegally murdering Me.
But keeping watching closely because at the end of that three-day period, My
Father will raise Me from the dead and that will be your sign of Who I
am." (Matthew 12:39-40)
So
we see, when
the Jews asked Jesus for a sign that they might have faith in God through
Him, He told them, "Watch for My resurrection from the
dead."
The Resurrection of Jesus Christ is intended of God to
give humanity hope in God.
Second:
Jesus' resurrection takes the guesswork out of salvation.
"That
if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shall believe in
thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be
saved." (Romans 10:9)
Before
Jesus died at Calvary's Cross people looked forward and believed He would come to
save them. However, after the Cross we now look back, believing He has
come.
Now
God assures us that by believing Jesus has
come to pay the penalty for our sins,
and that God has raised Him from the dead,
we will make it to our eternal home in Heaven.
Third:
Jesus' resurrection provides deliverance from the Curse of the Law.
"Christ
hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for
it is written, cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree." (Galatians
3:13)
Every
Christian should read Deuteronomy chapter 28:1-68 for a better understanding
of what the Curse of the Law actually is.
Basically, the Curse of the
Law includes sickness, disease, poverty,
harassment and oppression of demon
powers and eternal separation from
God as a result of sin.
Christ has
redeemed the Believer
from all of these things. Any Believer can learn how to use their
Christian authority in all of these areas and more.
Fourth:
Jesus' resurrection frees us from condemnation.
"There
is therefore now no condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus, who walk
not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." (Romans 8:1)
Believers
in Jesus Christ need not spend their lives wondering if God is mad at them.
He is not.
As long as the Believer does their best to walk in
obedience to
God, repenting when they make mistakes, they can continue in fellowship with
God.
"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." (Romans 8:33-34)
When
Christ was risen He was seated at the Father's right hand, in order that He
may intercede for and stand in defense of those who believe in Him.
Jesus actually acts as an
attorney for His followers when they stumble and fall.
"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." (1 John 2:1)
An
"advocate" is another word for attorney. Christ serves as an
attorney before the Supreme Court of the Universe on behalf of all those who
believe God rose Him from the dead once the penalty for their sin was paid.
How wonderful that our
Elder Brother, Jesus, is our attorney representing us before His Father and our
Father - the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the
Universe.
Talk about no condemnation!
I
can almost see and hear into that Holy Courtroom every time I make a mistake, as my
attorney steps up to the bench on my behalf and confidently says, "Your Honor, My
Father, I come to You on behalf of My client, My brother and Your son, John
Hamel.
"I stand before You today to remind You of Your promise to have mercy
on him each and every time he blows it, as long as He confesses his mistakes
before
You in My Name.
"Well, Your Honor, My Father, My brother, Your son has blown
it again.
"However, according to the order of this Court he has
confessed his mistake and he's asking for another demonstration of mercy
from Your Honor, his Father Who presides over this Highest of Courts."
I
can almost see His Honor, My Father, as He looks me in the eye, slamming His
gavel down on the bench of the Supreme Court of the Universe and firmly
decrees, "Case dismissed. Next case, please."
I can see the
sparkle in His eye as He winks at me and smiles.
Of
course, this is not a license to
sin. But it is a license to repent and to receive
forgiveness whenever the Believer stumbles and falls.
Satan
will condemn us. People will condemn us. But God justifies us
and He does it because we believe that Jesus Christ, our attorney, has risen.
Fifth:
Jesus' resurrection provides power for living.
"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." (Ephesians 1:19-20)
The
power of Almighty God is available on a daily basis to all who have faith in
a resurrected Lord.
That power is equal to any emergency or any
need. Every Believer in the Resurrection of Jesus Christ has the right
to use His Name and expect supernatural results.
Sixth:
Jesus' resurrection assures the Believer of Eternity in Heaven.
"And
this is the will of Him that sent Me, that everyone which seeth the Son, and
believeth on Him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the
last day." (John 6:40)
All
who put their confidence in Christ's
shed Blood and His resurrection from the dead are
guaranteed Eternal Life.
Remember
Christ the Firstfruits.
Christ's
resurrection is the assurance of our
resurrection if we are His offspring.
Seventh:
Jesus' resurrection guarantees a judgment day for both good and evil.
"Marvel
not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves
shall hear His voice. And shall come forth: they that have done good, unto
the Resurrection of Life; and they that have done evil, unto the
Resurrection of Damnation." (John 5:28-29)
These
resurrections are as certain as death.
Judgment for both good and evil
is as certain as these resurrections.
Many
are deeply offended by these
statements, yet they are true
nonetheless.
The
Resurrection of Life and the Resurrection of Damnation will be the subjects
of our next lesson.
Be Blessed … John and
Barbara Hamel
How
to Be Born Again (Receive Christ as Your Savior)
How
to Receive The Holy Spirit & Power
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