Raised!

Good Friday

Today, the release date of this blog, is April 7th 2023, which is Good Friday this year. This is the Friday when we commemorate the death of Christ. Of course, we do this regularly through the observance of the Lord’s Supper. Wouldn’t it be awful if we only reflected on the death and crucifixion of Jesus once a year? But I digress, my point is that this is the time each year when the whole of Christendom and cultures impacted by the gospel are most attune to the reality of the death and resurrection of Jesus.

This week, in this post I would like to focus on the assurance gained for us as believers because Jesus has been raised from the dead. As we look around at the culture collapsing all around us I am convinced that part of the problem is not only a lack of evangelistic zeal by us as Christians, but also the inconsistency of our lives. By inconsistency, I mean that we claim to believe that Jesus rose from the dead and that we will therefore also be raised from the dead, but if this is true our lives should be marked by a radical difference from the world.

Regeneration

Jesus told the rabbi Nicodemus in John 3 that we must all be born again. The theological word for being born again is regeneration. Genesis means beginning and everyone one of us is born naturally in sin and so we need to begin again supernaturally free from sin. But how can we be made alive if we are truly dead in sin? The only way is if another who is sinless and righteous makes atonement for our sin and cancels our debt. This is why Jesus explains to Nicodemus that everyone who believes in Him will have everlasting life. 

But what is it about Jesus that we must believe? First, we must believe in His divinity! We must believe that Jesus truly is God. For only God can bear the punishment and satisfy the wrath of God against sin. Second, we must believe that Jesus came in the flesh (1 John 4:1-6). For if Jesus did not truly come as a human, he could not be a genuine substitute for human beings on the cross. But we must also believe that God has raised Christ from the dead. We must trust in the full propitiation of our sin on the cross and the vindication of Jesus as our Savior and mediator through His victorious resurrection from the dead (Romans 10:8-13).

In Jesus' resurrection, we are assured that our regeneration is a settled reality. We are truly raised to life spiritually at our conversion because Christ was truly raised to life in His resurrection. Also, like His resurrection the spiritual life that we now have is abundant and everlasting life.

Resurrection

We also can have assurance that our bodily resurrection is assured by Jesus’ resurrection. In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul shows that to deny the bodily resurrection of believers one must also deny the resurrection of Jesus. Paul makes the case that the spiritually resurrection body will be different from the natural body we now have, just as Jesus' resurrection body was different from His body before death. But it is still a body! So not only is our Christian hope tied to the fact that we will have a bodily resurrection, but that Jesus also had a bodily resurrection. This is the fundamental and central confession of Biblical Christianity.

Relationship

Finally, through Jesus' resurrection from the dead we are brought into a relationship of peace with God. Jesus has gained for us reconciliation with God, not only through His death but also through His resurrection life (Romans 5:6-11). And Jesus is now interceding for us with the Father on the basis of His sacrifice and the faith that He has given to us by His grace. We have been brought back into the familial relationship that God intended for us to have as His children and image bearers. Even now we are being conformed into the image of Christ all because Jesus is raised from the dead. 

So, if you are reading this post and have not trusted in Jesus then let me urge you to turn from your sin and place your faith in Christ who not only died for you but also lives for us as believers. Believers, let us celebrate that in Christ we have full assurance of our regeneration, resurrection, and relationship with God!

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