Resurrection

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Well, here we are at the final episode of our Kingdom Story series—our look back at the overarching biblical story being told from Genesis to Jesus—but as we’ll see, it’s not the end of the story by any means. Last time, we saw the story reach its climax. We looked at how Jesus fulfilled the ancient promises of God spoken of in the Hebrew scriptures—the “good news” the nation Israel had been waiting for—through the truth of his God-revealing, incarnate life; through the triumph over the power of sin and darkness accomplished through his self-sacrificial death; and through the defeat of death itself as evidenced by his victorious resurrection.

That brings us to the final word in our series, “resurrection”. In Greek, it is the word “anastasis” which means “a standing up again, a raising up, or a rising”. The Gospel authors maintained that Jesus not only told his disciples ahead of time that he would be betrayed into the hands of sinners, killed, and raised to life again on the third day as their Scriptures had foretold, but they also insisted that this is indeed what had come to pass, and that witnesses could verify it. The resurrected Jesus himself told his disciples in the Gospel of Luke, “This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms…This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations…” (Luke 24:44, 46-47). The message was clear—Jesus had risen, he had risen indeed—and the New Testament authors went to their deaths defending that truth—the truth of the resurrection. 

Scholars have spent countless hours debating the details of the resurrection, but let’s get to a much more important question. What did it all mean? What did it mean to his disciples 2000 plus years ago, and what does it mean for us today?

In his letter to the believers in Rome, the Apostle Paul said this about the resurrection: “Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which He promised beforehand through His prophets in the holy Scriptures, concerning His Son, who was born of a descendant of David according to the flesh, who was declared the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness by the resurrection from the dead…” (Romans 1:1-4 NASB). 

As we saw last time, Paul was reminding his listeners that Jesus was the fulfillment of the promises of God spoken through the Hebrew prophets. He was the “gospel” of God—the “good news”—the promised descendant of David, the hoped-for Messiah, the one the nation Israel had been waiting for. But not only that, he was also “declared the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness by the resurrection from the dead…”. Paul was saying the resurrection was proof that Jesus was not only the human Messiah the nation Israel had been expecting, but he was also much more than that, Jesus was God’s Son in the flesh.

The Apostle Peter takes this thought even further. He said, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead… “ (1 Peter 1:3). Peter not only acknowledged that Jesus was God’s Son, but he also echoed Jesus’ own words about the need to be “born again” by the Spirit of his Father (John 3:3). Peter was certain that through the resurrection of Jesus, humanity could now be “born again to a living hope”, they could be transformed through God’s Spirit, reborn into a new life, a life with God in his kingdom.

Paul puts it all together for us in his letters to the Colossians and the Corinthians, “For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation: for by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones, or dominions, or rulers, or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. He is also the head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything. For it was the Father’s good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross” (Colossians 1:13-20 NASB).

“…He died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again. So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us…” (2 Corinthians 5:15-20 NIV).

In other words, Paul is saying that the Spirit of the Creator God, made visible in the person of Jesus—the beloved Son—rescued his creation and his image-bearing children from the power of sin and darkness through Jesus’ image-bearing life, his self-sacrificial death on the cross, and his triumphant resurrection. He set them free so they could receive his transformational healing, love, and forgiveness. He made it possible for them to be made whole again—reconciled and reconnected to the Father/Son/Spirit triune relationship—and he made a way for them to participate with him in his new creation kingdom. Paul claimed that Jesus not only showed us the true image of God, but he also showed us the likeness of a true image-bearer. He was the Light and the Word with the Creator in the beginning—God’s image made visible—and he was the Light and the Word at the beginning of the new creation kingdom as well—"the firstborn from the dead”, raised to walk in new creation life—the identity and purpose of a true image-bearer revealed in the person of Jesus. 

Paul was certain that the new creation kingdom had indeed been launched when the resurrected Jesus walked out of his tomb into the light of a new-creation day, and that those who chose to follow him were also called out of darkness, sin, and death and were raised to new-creation life as well. Their minds and hearts were set free from deception and darkness and their spirits were reborn, reconnected to his in a new way. Just as the light had been set apart from the darkness in the beginning, God’s Spirit was separating light from darkness again, both within them and around them. It was calling them into an intimate relationship with their Creator, Father, God, inviting them to know him and be known by him, to love him and receive his love, to belong to him as a part of his family. And Paul believed that because of God’s love for his image-bearing children and his longing for all of them to be reconciled and restored, he commissioned those who would trust him to reach out with his “message of reconciliation, the “good news” of his love, forgiveness, and grace, and his all-inclusive invitation to come home to him.

For the New Testament authors, the resurrection of Jesus was revolutionary and life changing. It meant that God had indeed acted as their Scriptures said he would. The Son of God, Son of Man—the image of the invisible God in the flesh, and the true image-bearing human—had accomplished what humanity had been unable to do since their Genesis 3 failure. His perfect love and unwavering trust had finally crushed the head of the serpent. He had taken back the kingdom from the usurping power of darkness, sin, and death, and he was now with God, ruling and reigning as king. Humanity’s Genesis 1 purpose had been restored. 

The writers of the New Testament were certain that Jesus had made a way for humanity to be reconciled and reconnected to their Creator, which meant that those who would believe him—his church—could now be healed, transformed, and empowered by his Spirit to follow him in fulfilling humanity’s intended image-bearing purpose—to reflect his light and his love to each other and to the world, and to help life to flourish and grow—to rule and reign with him, “Jesus style”. The resurrection proved that Jesus held all authority in heaven and earth, and as a result, the world was a now different place.

Now, I know what you’re thinking. If the resurrection of Jesus did all that, if it launched this new creation kingdom, why is the world still such a mess? If Jesus is reigning as king, why is there still so much hate and pain and violence and darkness? Why does he seem absent? Why has he not “put all things right”? Jesus knew that the disciples would be asking the same sorts of questions, so he told them stories and parables about the upside-down nature of his kingdom and the unexpected way it would come.

He said things like this: the kingdom of God is like a man who sowed good seed in his field which grew in good soil and produced a huge crop (Matthew 13:24); and the kingdom of God is like a tiny mustard seed that grew into a giant tree (Matthew 13:31); and the kingdom of God is like a precious treasure hidden in a field (Matthew 13:44). Jesus told his followers not to be afraid, even though they would face trouble in this world, because he would be with them. He told them that even though he was going away to prepare a place for them, he would also return for them one day to finish the process of separating light from darkness once and for all, and to finally reconcile and renew all things (John 14:1-4, 16:33, Matthew 14:24-30, 36-43). And he told them to be ready because he would come at a time when they least expected it (Luke 12:35-40).

Jesus also made it clear that his kingdom would not look like what they were expecting. He told his listeners that unless they were “born again” by the Spirit of his Father—resurrected and reconnected to him in a new way—they would not be able to see the kingdom, and that unless they received it like little children, they could not enter it (John 3:3, Matthew 18:3). He said that his kingdom belongs to the humble, the meek, the persecuted, and the disempowered (Matthew 5:3-10, Luke 9:48), which was exactly the opposite of the kingdoms they knew, ruled by the rich, the powerful, the selfish, and the violent. He said that the tax collectors and sinners—the outcasts, the marginalized, the “unworthy”, the “least”—would enter the kingdom of God before the self-righteous, law-following religious leaders (Matthew 21:31). He told them that his kingdom was all about love—love for their Creator God, love for their fellow brothers and sisters, love for their neighbors, even love for their enemies. In fact, he said that people would know they were a part of his kingdom by how they loved (Matthew 5:43-48, John 13:35). And he told them that those who would believe him and choose to follow him in his way of humility, grace, forgiveness, and self-giving love, would ultimately receive the kingdom (Luke 12:32), but they would also be rejected and persecuted in this world by those who were still blinded by the darkness or by those who would intentionally continue to collude with it and stand in opposition to the light, the love, and the life of his Father (John 15:18-25, 16:1-4).

Just like us, the disciples were confused. What could this mean? If Jesus was indeed the Messiah they had been waiting for, why was the kingdom starting like a small, growing seed hidden in the ground? Why was it not coming right away? Why was he not taking his place as the Anointed Messiah—the mighty warrior king they were expecting? Why was he not taking vengeance on their enemies? And most confusing of all, why was he talking about going away? 

The resurrection changed all that. Within a few short weeks from that first Easter Sunday, the disciples, empowered, emboldened, and guided by the Holy Spirit, would begin to live as if this new creation kingdom was now a reality, and people would take notice. After encountering the resurrected Jesus, nothing would stop them from taking his “good news”—the news about his incarnate life, his reconciling death, and his miraculous resurrection, the news about the relentless love of his Father, and his invitation to be a part of the life of God’s kingdom—out to the world…and the world would never be the same.

The “good news” of Jesus continues to speak to us today. His life revealed who our Father really is, what he wants, and who we were created to be as his image-bearers; his death revealed the depth of our Father’s love for us and his desire to rescue us and be with us; and his resurrection revealed his powerful victory over the sin, darkness, and death that has held us captive. His resurrection launched his new creation kingdom, sown as a tiny seed, hidden underground, but continuing to grow in good soil. Those who follow Jesus and walk in his kingdom today understand that we live in an in-between time—a time between the sowing of the seed and the time it will be brought to its full maturity—the now and the not yet. Cultivated, nurtured, guided, and empowered by his Spirit, God’s kingdom continues to grow and spread in the world today through his people whenever they reflect his love, his light, his forgiveness, and his grace to others. It is available to all who will ask for it, to all who will seek it, and to everyone who will just knock at the door (Matthew 7:7-8). And when Jesus finally returns, light will once again be fully set apart from the darkness, and the light, love, and abundant life of the Creator will be all in all. His kingdom come; his will be done on earth as it is in heaven (Matthew 6:10).

Now, let’s see if we can bring this whole kingdom story to a close by going back to the beginning and allowing Jesus to pull everything together for us. We began with the Kingdom our Creator God brought into being at the beginning. He infused it with his Image, his Light, his Love, and his Life, and set it apart from the Darkness. He created humanity and blessed them with an astounding Identity—to be his beloved image-bearing children. He placed them in an abundant garden and bestowed on them an amazing Purpose—to love and trust him; to reflect his light, his love, and his life to each other and out into creation; to rule and reign over what he had created, on his behalf and in intimate relationship with him; to care for and steward his very-good creation; and to help life to grow and flourish. But humanity chose to mistrust their Creator and trust the voice of the serpent instead. They missed the way of Righteousness—the way of love and trust and life that God desires for us—and instead, they gave in to Sin—they “missed the way” and chose their own way—unleashing darkness and death back into creation and into their own hearts, minds, and spirits. As a result, they were sent out of their garden home, but God would not give up on his image-bearers. He would continue to reach toward them with his love and Grace, and even though his people would run from him, ignore him, rebel against him, distort his image, and empower the rule and reign of darkness, he would continue to pursue them with his Covenant promise to rescue them and restore what was lost. Then when the time was right, God himself came to walk among his image-bearers. He bound himself to humanity in the person of Jesus of Nazareth—God’s grace in the flesh. Jesus came announcing the “good news” of God—the Gospel—the message that the time had come, that God was going to act to Save his people—to rescue them from their captivity to the power of sin, darkness, and death; to heal their hearts, minds, and spirits; and to reconcile and restore all things to himself. Jesus’ incarnate life revealed the true image of the Creator God, restored the image-bearers’ identity and purpose, and showed them how to walk in God’s kingdom. His self-sacrificial death overcame the power of sin and darkness, reversed humanity’s failure to trust in the garden, set the image-bearers free, and made a way for them to come back to their Creator, Father, God. And Jesus’ triumphant Resurrection won back the kingdom, conquered death, and opened the door to the New Creation kingdom. 

Jesus’ words to his listeners in the first century still have power today. “The time is come… The kingdom of God has come near. Repent…” (think differently about your expectations, think differently about what you think you know, think differently about what it means to be alive) “…and believe the good news!” The “good news” of the kingdom. The “good news” of Jesus. Trust in it, put your faith in it, live in it, and it will change everything.