Resurrection Age

This is the start of my article/essay on the resurrection which covers the things that were taught during mid year conference 2 weeks ago. I have just started my Phd so time is limited in writing this but i will complete it eventually. Please look back to this post as I will update it over time. Hope this post gives you a better understanding of the resurrection and that God continues to sanctify you more into christlikeness through a true knowledge of God. :)

Resurrection

The importance of Jesus’ resurrection and its implications for living in the resurrection age


It is all too easy to focus and over emphasis our thinking and proclamation of the gospel to the death of Christ. It is true that death of Christ is essential to understanding God and our salvation because in the cross we see God fully satisfying his character, by dying and taking the full punishment of our sins so that we can enter into his presence, into his holiness.

However the death of Christ is not the whole story, for if Jesus died and did not rise, then our preaching and faith would be in vain, 1 Corinthians 15:14. It is through the resurrection that we see the perfect son of man, Daniel 7:13-14, Jesus, being crowned with all glory and honour, Psalm 8:6, Hebrews 2:7. He is seated at the right hand of God and is anointed by God to be king over all. And as a result of his rulership, he is the perfect advocate who is interceding for us, Hebrews 7:14-25.
When reading through the book of acts, we see again and again the message of the apostles was the resurrection of Christ from the dead, Acts 1:22, 2:31, 4:2, 4:33, 17:18, etc.

Christ’s resurrection also has implications for us, for we have been raised with Christ, seating with him in the heavenly realms, Ephesians 2:6, and through him, as Christians, we share in his reign, 2 Timothy 2:12. Indeed the resurrection of Christ is just as important as the death of Christ and it is helpful to think of the resurrection/ascension of Christ and the death of Christ as one package which cannot be separated.

Therefore since we have been raised with Christ in the heavenly realms, we now live in a clash of two ages. We have been spiritually liberated through Christ now through his resurrection, yet we wait for his return when our physical bodies will be liberated as well. This age we live in now is called the resurrection age.

So as Christians, how do we live in this resurrection age as await Jesus’ return? To answer this we need to look at five aspects of living in the resurrection age. These are, living as lords over time, living as lords over creation, living as lords over sin, living as lords of the nations and preaching the resurrection gospel.

Firstly, how do we live as Lords over time? To come to understanding of how to live as lords over time we first need to develop a biblical understanding of time. And to help us understand time we need to come to an understanding of Lordship.

At which point does Christ receive his Lordship? His rule and reign over God’s kingdom? In Acts 2:36 we read that Jesus was made both Lord and Christ. The context to his Lordship in this passage is his resurrection, Acts 2:32, this Jesus God raised up. Therefore Jesus in his resurrection is exalted in a new profound way, he is the Lord who is reigning and who has established the Kingdom of God. However his Lordship also extends to the sons of God. 1 Corinthians 15 states that all in Christ shall be made alive and Ephesians 2 tells us that Christians have been raised up through Jesus’ resurrection, We have already been raised up with Christ spiritually in the heavenly realms now, spiritually liberated from the now. And, because we have been raised up in Christ, It is for this reason that Jesus Lordship means our Lordship as well. We read in 1 Corinthians 6:1 that the saints, Christians, those who are in Christ, will share in the judgment of the world. Therefore, we are to be Lord’s as God intended us to be under his authority as we see in Genesis 1, created in the image of God to have dominion and to subdue the earth.

How do we then define time and how is the concept of time and Lordship linked? A worldly view of time in the context of death is meaningless because it is limited and futile as we see in the book of ecclesiastics. However biblically as we see in ecclesiastics 3, there is a time for everything and the context to time is meaningfulness. Meaningfulness is found in the timing. God has placed in humans a sense of timing, verses 10-11 of ecclesiastics 3, but we do not have a full concept of it. We are the only creatures in creation who have a sense of time in us yet we do not understand its full meaning because it is God who gives its meaning.

Therefore how does God give time meaning? We find meaningfulness in the Lordship of Christ, in creation and in judgment. This is how the concept of time and Lordship is connected.

So firstly, creation…..

To be continued......