THE THREEFOLD BENEFIT OF CHRIST'S RESURRECTION
Sermon by Rev. Steven R. Key

L.D. 17

Scripture: I Corinthians 15:1-28

Having spent three worship services considering the humble state of our Mediator, Jesus Christ, and having seen Him descend into the deepest depth of suffering for our sake, we now follow Him into the state of His glorious exaltation. How terribly did He suffer for us! There was, first of all, His humble birth. He "Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God...made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men." That is Philippians 2. Or, we read in II Corinthians 8:9, that He Who was rich, became poor. The King of kings and the Lord of lords took His place in our flesh, to be born of a woman and laid in a manger in the midst of the stable. He suffered during the entire course of His life on this earth. His suffering increased by the day and even by the hour. We are told of the suffering Christ, on his knees in the dirt of the garden, sweating blood as it were for the anguish of his soul. And because such suffering was not enough to accomplish God's purpose, He walked the way to Calvary, to experience in His own body and soul the infinite wrath of God which you and I deserved.

In all Christ's suffering we saw a clear message for us. We have not sinned cheaply. Because God will not and cannot let our sins go unpunished, but must reward them according to His justice, our sins, beloved, are very costly. And God shows us what the everlasting end will be of those who reject His Christ and who fall into the hands of the living God. For us to be saved, the precious blood of Jesus had to be shed. And He gave Himself willingly to the death of the cross, a death accursed by God. We saw of His suffering that it was unique, a suffering no man has ever suffered, nor could. Only the Lord Jesus Christ, by such inexpressible anguish, pains, terrors, and hellish agonies, could deliver us from the anguish and torments of hell.

But death could not hold Him! So the Apostle proclaimed in the words that we read a few minutes ago: "For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures" (I Cor 15:3,4). And so we are led to the truth of the first stage of Christ's exaltation. In the next Lord's Day we hope to see the wonder of His ascension; and then in Lord's Day 19, His glorious place at the right hand of God and His Lordship over all.

It is striking that in Lord's Day 17 of our Heidelberg Catechism, the instructor departs from his common method of calling attention to the various truths of Scripture in such detail. Usually, we have seen, he leads us to the Scriptures where he first draws attention to the historical event, defends and sets it forth from Scripture, and only after that searches out its profit and fruit. But when it comes to the truth of the resurrection, he immediately points us to the profit of Christ's resurrection for us who believe. Even so, the most important question for you and for me today is this: How does God glorify Himself by the resurrection? And then if we consider it personally: What do we get out of this truth? What is the gospel concerning the resurrection? Those questions are extremely important. For except you and I share in this wonderful fact of Christ's resurrection, it simply means nothing to us. Now, this different approach here is probably an indication of the fact that when our Catechism was written, the truth of the resurrection was not questioned. Today it is certainly different. And therefore, it is necessary to consider at least briefly the truth of Jesus' resurrection from the dead. For all hinges upon the truth of that historical event. As Paul wrote, "If Christ be not raised, your faith is in vain, ye are yet in your sins. Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished" (I Cor. 15:17,18). Asking you to bear those introductory remarks in mind, then, I call your attention to:

THE THREEFOLD BENEFIT OF CHRIST'S RESURRECTION

I. VICTORY OVER DEATH

II. POWER UNTO NEW LIFE

III. PROMISE OF GLORY

I. THE FIRST BENEFIT THAT STANDS OUT IN CHRIST'S RESURRECTION IS THE VICTORY OVER DEATH.

THE TRUTH OF CHRIST'S RESURRECTION IS VERY BEAUTIFUL, BELOVED.

When you consider the scriptural fact of Christ's resurrection, you see that two things stand out.

First of all, He was raised. That is a simple fact. His was a real resurrection. This was not a mere glorification of His spirit; nor was it a new creation. It was the resurrection of His body. That truth is demonstrated by many evidences recorded in the testimony of Scripture. We know that Jesus' body had been stored in the sepulchre belonging to Joseph of Arimathea. He was buried in a tomb, as Luke testifies, "wherein never man before was laid" (Luke 23:53), that there would be no possibility for men to say that another had risen, or that Jesus had risen by touching the bones of a prophet. The body of our Lord had been carefully embalmed according to the custom of that day. After His body had been placed in the tomb, the tomb had been sealed and guarded by His enemies, so that the body could not be stolen. But on the morning of the third day that body was no longer in that grave. "He is not here; he is risen," announce the angels that resurrection morning. No one saw Him rise, but "he showed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs," we read in Acts 1:3. He was seen of more than 500 brethren at once, and appeared several times to the apostles, as we read this morning. He ate with His disciples, and His marked hands and feet assured them of His identity. And so we emphasize that the body of Christ's human nature was snatched from the power of corruption and death by the resurrection. His is the victory over death.

The second thing that stands out in connection with the resurrection of Jesus is the otherness of it. His resurrection was unique. That also is indicated in I Corinthians 15, in the latter part of that chapter. There the Apostle speaks of our own resurrection, which was made possible only by the unique resurrection of Christ. And he writes in verses 42ff: "So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption: It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power: It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body." And from there on the Apostle compares the first man Adam with Christ, Who is raised from the dead. Adam even in the state of righteousness was of the earth earthy. Even when not yet under condemnation, Adam was not immortal. He could die; and would. But with the resurrection of Christ death is completely swallowed up in victory. And in the risen Lord the image of the invisible God has been raised to its highest possible perfection on the plane of heavenly glory.

That is why this resurrection of Jesus is wholly other from any other resurrection from the dead. You have recorded in the gospel accounts the wonders involving the raising of the daughter of Jairus, the young man of Nain, and Lazarus who had lain in the grave 4 days. Those were wonders, of course, that cannot be explained by any natural causes or effects. But those people were not raised out of death in the same sense that Christ was raised. Even when they were called back into this life, you know, they remained subject to death. They simply resumed their mortal death existence. They had to die again! But Christ arose victorious. He did not return from the realm of the dead. He went through the grave! His resurrection could not be witnessed, for this work and this wonder cannot be seen by these earthly eyes. Only God Himself can reveal and explain this wonder work of our salvation. God devised this as the way of His own glory in our salvation. Christ arose from the dead in the realization of God's sovereign counsel.

The gospel that Paul preached was very simple. "For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures."

There are three basic facts of the gospel—Christ died, was buried, and rose again. And if we take them in connection with the Apostle's appeal to the Old Testament Scriptures, there are two essential principles in the gospel of our salvation—"Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures," and "he rose again the third day according to the scriptures." The first of those two principles of our faith we discussed in connection with Lord's Day 16. Our confession is not simply that Jesus died; but that He died for our sins. That is the gospel. In that light we considered death.

We must have a clear understanding of what death is, and what it was for the Son of God. Christ's death was punishment. It was death as the wages of sin. It was the death that you and I deserved to die, death by the sentence of God and under His wrath. Such death is the bondage into which Jesus entered. And He did so as the atoning sacrifice, the substitution, for all His elect. He took our place, beloved. No wonder, therefore, that he says so emphatically in John 11:26, "Whosoever believeth in me shall never die." And all this, Paul writes, is "according to the Scriptures." This truth is not something Paul taught on his own. He identified Christ's death with the authority of those holy men of old who spake as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. That Christ died is not simply a fact of historical significance. Considered simply as an historical event, the death of Christ had a definite scene and date. It took place on the hill of Golgotha just outside Jerusalem in Palestine some nineteen and a half centuries ago. But the truth of the Scriptures does more than record that historical event. It raises Christ's death to the fulfillment of God's law! The law of God was clear. He Who would save sinners must do so by the shedding of His own blood even while loving God perfectly in obedience to God's command. Without shedding of blood there is no remission. That was God's truth according to the Scriptures. With increasing clearness, the Old Testament prophets shed light upon the hope of Israel, pointing to the Messiah, Who is Jesus Christ. He it was Who came the Scrip-tures to fulfill, for the salvation of His people, even through death. Christ Jesus died for our sins.

"And He rose again the third day according to the scriptures." Our Lord Jesus Christ was raised body and soul in His human nature. He rose again because He had broken the power of death. He was buried, indeed. And for a time it seemed as if the cross was the end for Him and therefore the end for all those who followed Him. For a brief time it seemed as if all His followers would have to join in the sad complaint of His sorrowing disciples: "We trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel." But He rose again. And He rose again "according to the Scriptures." It was announced beforehand that the Messiah would die and rise again. The psalmist in Psalm 16:10 rejoices in His hope, singing in Christ's Person: "Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption." He is to defy death and the grave. Even through the mouth of the prophet Hosea Jehovah announces His work through Jesus: "I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death: O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave, I will be thy destruction" (Hosea 13:14a). Thus it was according to the Scriptures that Christ rose again on the third day.

And the reason it was according to the Scriptures is because the resurrection of Jesus, as His birth, was an event that touches an essential principle of God's divine government and the execution of His counsel. Because it was a fixed law in God's counsel that whosoever should save sinners, must save them by dying for their sins and paying a ransom with his own life, it is also true that if He so saves them, His death would be victorious and would be followed by His resurrection. The Messiah must be One of Whom it is said, "It is not possible that he should be holden of death." He must be One Who can say of Himself, "I am he that liveth and was dead, and behold I am alive forevermore; and have the keys of hell and of death." The Savior must be One Who, dying for our sins, receives and takes again the life which He lays down. Those are the simple truths of the gospel which Paul preaches to the Corinthians and to all as God gave him opportunity. And that is the gospel that we preach by the grace of God.

BY THIS HIS VICTORY OVER DEATH CHRIST HAS MADE US PARTAKERS OF THAT RIGHTEOUSNESS WHICH HE HAS PURCHASED FOR US BY HIS DEATH.

Christ is our Representative Head. That truth is also set before us in I Corinthians 15:21,22: "For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive." By nature we are in Adam. And that means, for one thing, that Adam stands as our legal Head. What Adam did we did; when Adam ate of the forbidden fruit, you and I did in him. The legal condemnation of Adam came also upon us. By the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation. But the point that the Apostle makes, the point of great significance for you is this: likewise, are you in Christ by grace through faith. Christ's legal Headship is just as real as Adam's, and encompasses all of us who are in Him by the sovereign election of grace. When Christ died we died. And when Christ arose, we arose! Jesus Christ so thoroughly and conclusively accomplished the purpose for which He came in our flesh, that He brought in everlasting righteousness. What does it mean that we are in Adam by nature? It means that we are guilty, subject to condemnation and death. What does it mean that we are in Christ by grace? It means that we are partakers of His righteousness, reconciled unto God, and thus partakers of everlasting life in glory.

Romans 4:25 makes that very plain: He "was delivered for our offences, and was raised again on account of our justification." Because He had taken our sins upon Himself, He was delivered to the death of the cross. And then, because He had justified us in His precious blood, paid for our sin and fulfilled all righteousness, death could not hold Him. He had to rise again. The resurrection of Christ is God's own testimony that Christ had accomplished the work He had given Him to do. He has fulfilled all righteousness and by that very fact makes us His people partakers of that righteousness. Of course, whether this applies to you and to me personally we know only by a true and living faith in Him. Also here faith is the victory! How beautiful is the voice of the Christian who cries out with Isaiah, "I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels" (Isa 61:10).

II. A FURTHER BENEFIT OF THE RESURRECTION IS THAT IT IS THE POWER UNTO A NEW LIFE.

BECAUSE OF SIN WE LIE IN THE MIDST OF DEATH.

The church of God is as the valley which God showed to Ezekiel. You read of that in Ezekiel 37. That valley was full of dry bones. The church is a cemetery, full of dead bones, where death reigns. We bring forth fruit unto death. By nature there is not a breathe of spiritual life in us. We are dead in sin. And apart from the grace of God in the wonder work of our salvation, that would have remained so, until we would have entered the everlasting state of death which is hell.

But, behold, in the tomb belonging to Joseph of Arimathea One Who was dead comes to life! He is Christ, the firstborn of the resurrection, or, as you read it in I Corinthians, He is the firstfruits of them that slept. That He is the firstfruits tells you that there are fruits to follow Him. He has given life to those who were dead. He gives us the life of the resurrection by regeneration. He does not simply offer it to us. Christ is all power in heaven and on earth. He is the living Lord! He makes us partakers of the life of the resurrection. He implants the seed of the new life even beneath our consciousness. And by the voice of His power He speaks, "Awake, thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light." And this voice of His power continues to go forth and shall by the preaching of the gospel, even until the last of God's elect is raised from spiritual death unto newness of life.

AND SO WE HEAR THE VOICE OF TRIUMPH IN EPHESIANS 2:1: "AND YOU HATH HE QUICKENED, WHO WERE DEAD IN TRESPASSES AND SINS."

That new life is the blessed fruit of our union with Christ by faith. The resurrection of Christ for us becomes the resurrection of Christ in us. By His resurrection He destroyed the power of sin and took away forever its right to reign over us. He gives that life to us. The resurrected Christ lives in us and abides with us forever by His Holy Spirit. And so the Apostle writes, "I live, yet not I, but Christ lives in me." There is life out of death, because there is righteousness out of guilt. The glorious light of day replaces the darkness of the night of sin. It was dark and now it is light in the Lord. The deadness of winter gives way to the life of springtime. I was dead and now I live. Thus we now rejoice with Peter in I Peter 1:3: "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead."

And so we walk in newness of life. Sanctification is the consequence of the resurrection, people of God. If the risen Christ is the strength of our life, we see that our God is worthy to be served and feared without sin. In newness of life, you who are in Christ Jesus show a repulsion for the old ways of sin and a desire to walk in newness of life. And in your walk and your talk, you bring forth fruit to His glory. Those who are resurrected unto a new life with Christ have one heart-felt desire: to be united more and more closely with God through Jesus Christ. No, we are not yet made perfect. In fact, where that new life is in truth and where it is active in us, we feel ourselves weak and powerless, even incapable of doing any good. We know and confess even at Jesus' feet that there is in us no power to bring forth fruit that is pleasing unto God. And we seek to draw our life not out of ourselves, but out of Christ. Only when faith draws its life from Christ, will we bring forth fruit in which the power of Christ's resurrection is seen and by which God is glorified. Although sin does not die unto us, we die unto sin. We turn to the cross. We experience the power of His resurrection in living the new life. And we look forward to its final realization "in the city that hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God."

III. FINALLY, THE BENEFITS OF CHRIST'S RESURRECTION INCLUDE THE RESURRECTION OF ALL BELIEVERS IN THE DAY OF HIS COMING.

THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS CHRIST IS THE PROMISE OF GLORY TO ALL WHO BELIEVE.

We shall consider more closely that beautiful truth of the resurrection of the body in connection with our confession in Lord's Day 22. But that resurrection of our bodies is implied in the victory of Jesus Christ our Head. Oh, it is true, all shall rise again from the dead. The wicked also shall rise again. But they shall rise from death unto death. Judgment and everlasting hell shall be their just reward. But in Christ is the promise of resurrection unto glory. To the glory of God and the Lamb the resurrection of Jesus Christ must be fully revealed in the whole congregation of the elect. And that is possible only when our bodies rise out of the dust to be made like unto the glorious body of Christ.

"The work thou hast in us begun, shall by thy grace be fully done." We sing our confession. In Adam man proceeds from death unto death, till he is risen with body and soul fit for everlasting desolation in hell. In Christ man proceeds from life to life, until the entire new man rejoices before the God of his salvation in heavenly glory. That is the way of the redeemed sinner, saved by grace. We belong to Christ as the body to the head. And where the Head is, there will the body be also.

ALL DEATH MUST YIELD TO THE POWER OF HIS LIFE AND GRACE, UNTIL THERE BE BEAUTY FOR ASHES, EVERYWHERE AND FOREVERMORE.

To that end, the child of God enters immediately into glory at the moment of his death. And soon also our bodies, this same body, will be raised out of the dust, and fitted for the everlasting life of heavenly glory. This body is the seed of that body that shall be. That ultimate and perfect redemption is the hope of all the saints, a hope that will be realized as certainly as Christ was raised from the dead. With that hope in our souls, we have the victory even now. "O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?" Christ is risen and become the firstfruits of them that slept. When the trumpet shall sound, we shall all be changed; in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye. Thanks be to God, Who gives us the victory through the resurrected Lord Jesus Christ.

Amen.

Preached:Randolph PRC 12/29/96 (am)
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