In considering the bona fide hope that a Christian has in the face of death, we have been thinking lately about how the resurrection of Jesus Christ grounds that confidence. In particular, we have been considering how the resurrection of Christ gives us hope both presently in life and in the face of death. The resurrection also affords the Christian a glorious hope for the future, as we consider the return of Jesus Christ and our own bodily resurrection. We will go on to consider these matters in due course.
Last time, we noted that the resurrection of Christ is 1) an essential doctrine, 2) a doctrine that we should gladly receive, 3) an historical doctrine, and 4) an apostolic doctrine, rightly belonging to the body of apostolic teaching and essential to the historic core of the Christian faith that has always been taught, has always been believed, and must be believed to this day. We also noted that the resurrection offers Christians such hope in the immediate present because 1) it testifies to the truthfulness of Christ’s person and work, and 2) it guarantees our justification before a holy God.
Once again, I daresay that the average church could afford to emphasize the resurrection more robustly than we tend to do. I am not sure that we can ever make too much of Christ’s rising from the dead on the third day because the resurrection changes everything, and it is a doctrine that is jam-packed with glorious assurances to the believing heart.
Resurrection Hope Now
There are further reasons that the New Testament proffers as to why the doctrine of the resurrection is such good news and a glorious truth. In today’s article, let us continue to give some attention to why the doctrine of the resurrection is so important for us now and why its truth steels our souls.
Why is the resurrection so important for us now?
The Resurrection Is the Source of the New Life of the Believer
According to the New Testament, the believer in Christ receives new life through and on account of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The resurrection is the headwater from which flows the stream of our growth in grace and holiness. Put another way, from the resurrection flows our sanctification.
Consider what the apostle Paul says in Romans 6:4:
Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.
Paul develops this wonderful little parallel in that verse such that he links our baptism with Christ’s death and our sanctification with Christ’s resurrection. And with an ever-so-subtle nuance of language, Paul wonderfully places our newness of life in parallel with Christ’s resurrection, allowing us to draw the analogy that because we are united to Christ’s death in baptism, likewise we are united to Christ in his resurrection—that because he rose to new life, we too are now enabled to walk in new life!
Christ has come back from the dead in newness of life, and from that resurrected life flows to us, by faith-union in him (Rom 6:3–5), a power so that we might walk in newness of life. In other words, the resurrection of Christ not only provides for our justification (as we discussed in our previous article; cf. Rom 4:25), but it provides for our sanctification as well. So powerful, so central, so significant is the resurrection of Jesus Christ that the apostle Paul goes so far as to reckon it the source of the Christian life from beginning to end; hence, it is the very fountainhead of our growing in grace and living in godliness.
The Resurrection of Christ Is the Basis and Template of the Believer’s Future Resurrection
Not only is the resurrection of Christ the source of the believer’s justification and sanctification, but it is also the basis and the paradigm for the future bodily resurrection of the Christian believer. Paul says in Romans 8:11:
If the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.
It is conceivable that one might understand this verse to be speaking about the phenomenon of new life that results in a Christian post-regeneration. Such an interpretation overlays nicely with Paul’s assertion in Romans 6, in verse 5 especially: “For if we have been united with Him in a death like His, we shall certainly be united with Him in a resurrection like His.” Perhaps Romans 8:11 is referring to the newness of life in which Christians walk as a consequence of the mini-resurrection they experience, which is the new birth. Undoubtedly, such a view is cause for great comfort to the believer: Our once stone-cold, dead hearts are given new life on account of Jesus’ resurrection from the dead. The Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead now indwells us! Resurrection power indwells us and is at work within us. No longer are we dead in our trespasses and sins (Eph 2:1), but rather these mortal bodies have resurrection life at work within them—alive to the things of God—because the resurrection life and power of the Risen Christ now courses through us by his Spirit.
On the other hand, if Romans 8:11 is in fact referring to the future resurrection of believers (as the majority of the commentators suggest), there is great comfort to be derived from that truth just the same.1
This point is so monumentally important that there is not enough space in today’s article to offer it the consideration it warrants; thus, a follow-up article on this topic is in order. But for now, it is worth simply observing that in the New Testament, the bodily resurrection of Jesus is the paradigm for understanding and the guarantee of the believer’s future resurrection.
I recall a pastor once pointing out a curious aside in Matthew 27:52–53: After Jesus’ resurrection, many believers who had also been resurrected went into Jerusalem. We read that “coming out of the tombs after his resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many.”
Part of what Matthew is doing in that passage is detailing a fulfillment of what was spoken of in Ezekiel 37 and the valley of the dry bones: “Behold, I will open your graves and raise you from your graves, O my people; and I will bring you into the land of Israel” (Ezek 37:12–13).2
But another thing that Matthew is doing is showcasing a foretaste of our resurrection on the Last Day—a “firstfruits,” if you like, to borrow Paul’s language (1 Cor 15:20–23). As the body of the Lord Jesus was quickened, so will ours be on that great day. And what we see takes place following Christ’s resurrection in Jerusalem is just a tiny preview of things to come.
The Resurrection Is the Vindication of Christ
Furthermore, the resurrection provides believers great hope right now because it proves that Jesus was the Son of God, that he had offered the perfect sacrifice for sin, that he had been found spotless, that his work was perfect and complete, that God was satisfied in the Son’s offering, and that God declared him to be righteous in full.
Consider these verses:
- Acts 2:22–36 (esp. vv. 24, 36): Peter’s Pentecost sermon declares, “God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it” (v. 24), and concludes, “Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified” (v. 36).
- Acts 4:10–11: Peter states, “Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead. . . . This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone.” The resurrection is God’s act of exalting the rejected Jesus, fulfilling Psalm 118:22 and vindicating him as the cornerstone of salvation.
- Romans 1:4: Paul writes that Jesus “was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by His resurrection from the dead.” The resurrection publicly validates Jesus’ divine sonship and authority, confirming His identity after His humiliation in death.
- 1 Timothy 3:16: “Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness: He was manifested in the flesh, vindicated by the Spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory.” The phrase “vindicated by the Spirit” is widely understood to refer to the resurrection, where the Spirit’s power raised Jesus, affirming his righteousness and the Father’s approval of his mission and the divine sanction of Jesus’ saving accomplishment.
It is entirely fair to say that if God is a just God—and he is—the resurrection had to have happened.
The Father vindicated the Son by raising him up from the dead and demonstrating to the watching world that he did not deserve to die. Yes, Jesus willingly stepped in to bear the wrath of God—to become the sacrifice for sin, even to become sin (2 Cor 5:21)—for his people, to stand in their room and stead. But as the sinless one, he did not deserve to die. Because of his holy righteousness, he deserved to be raised again from the dead. And in fact, had God not raised him from the dead, God would not be just. Because, as we have noted before, once the penalty had been paid and full atonement made for his people, once the Father’s justice had been satisfied by the sacrifice and deeds of the Son, death no longer had any legitimate claim on the Son of God (Acts 2:24). The ministry was complete, there was no further work to do, and Jesus Christ could not stay dead but had to rise again. Christ is vindicated by his resurrection, and that resurrection serves as a cosmic declaration that Christ was righteous in his mission, blameless in his endeavors, sinless in his sacrifice, perfect in his offering, and complete with regard to the requirements and satisfaction of the Father. The resurrection serves as forensic evidence before the bar of heaven that Christ’s life, passion, and death are good, right, acceptable, and complete.
Another way to think of it is like this: If God had not raised Jesus from the dead, then God’s justice would have been compromised. Likewise, God’s justice would be compromised if he did not raise all those who have trusted in Jesus Christ, because Jesus died in their place. If the work of the Son was entirely satisfactory to atone for the sins of his people, and he was raised from the dead, then God must and will raise from the dead all his believing ones because Christ’s work is complete and there is nothing further to be done or offered (Heb 10:10).
Christ’s vindication guarantees our vindication, and his resurrection guarantees our future resurrection. Because we are united to him by faith (Rom 6:5), just as it was impossible for Christ not to be raised from the dead, so also it is impossible that we shall not be resurrected. Because God is a God of justice who keeps his covenant promises, all that is true of the Son may be true of us: In Christ, we are and shall be vindicated and resurrected, and so the truth and reality of his resurrection brings great comfort to us as believers.
How do these things give us hope in the face of death? The resurrection of Jesus Christ infuses Christians with profound hope in the face of death by assuring them that death is not a final defeat but a conquered enemy, ushering in eternal life. The indwelling Spirit, who raised Jesus (Rom 8:11), ensures that our mortal bodies will also be raised, and, rather than turning the grave into an abyss of despair, this truth renders death but a gateway to unending and blessed communion with God.
For Christians, this means their own salvation is secured through faith-union with Christ: If God raised him, he must also raise those for whom he died, for he must be true to his covenant. Thus, in the shadow of death, believers find unshakeable comfort, knowing their resurrection is inevitable, their sins are fully atoned, and their eternal life is irrevocably guaranteed. Such a knowledge and an arsenal of truth transform grief into triumphant anticipation. Once again, the resurrection gives God’s people assurance and confidence that their salvation is secure and that they are ever and always safe in him.
We have thought a fair bit about why the resurrection affords us hope now, and we will return in the next installment of this series to consider resurrection hope yet to come.
Notes
- F. F. Bruce, Romans: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 6, Tyndale New Testament Commentaries (InterVarsity Press, 1985), 166; Douglas J. Moo, The Letter to the Romans, ed. Ned B. Stonehouse et al., Second Edition, The New International Commentary on the New Testament (William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2018), 515; Leon Morris, The Epistle to the Romans, The Pillar New Testament Commentary (W.B. Eerdmans; Inter-Varsity Press, 1988), 310–311; R.C. Sproul, The Gospel of God: An Exposition of Romans (Christian Focus Publications, 1994), 135; John R. W. Stott, The Message of Romans: God’s Good News for the World, The Bible Speaks Today (InterVarsity Press, 2001), 226–227.
- Charles L Quarles, “Matthew 27:51–53: Meaning, Genre, Intertextuality, Theology, and Reception History,” Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 59, no. 2 (2016): 271–86.
©Sean Morris. All Rights Reserved.
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Sean Morris
Sean was educated at Grove City College, Reformed Theological Seminary (Jackson, MS), Edinburgh Theological Seminary, and the University of Glasgow (Scotland). He earned his PhD from Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary. He is an ordained teaching elder in the Presbyterian Church in America, and serves as a minister at the Covenant Presbyterian Church in Oak Ridge, TN. He also serves as the Academic Dean of the Blue Ridge Institute for Theological Education and has published numerous theological and devotional articles. Sean lives in Oak Ridge with his wife, Sarah, and their children.
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