Angelic Conflict part 316: Current work of Christ – 1Co 15:45-49; 1Ti 6:16; 2Ti 1:10; Act 2:24; Psa 110.

Title: Angelic Conflict part 316: Current work of Christ - 1CO 15:45-49; 1TI 6:16; 2TI 1:10; ACT 2:24; Psa 110.

 

 

We noted how the New Testament speaks about the significance of the cross in a variety of ways.

 

The resurrection of Christ is as significant as His cross.

 

The resurrection brings about a new order of being and was not just a reversal of His death.

 

A sharp contrast exists and should be recognized between the glory of the preincarnate Christ on the one hand and that of Christ in resurrection on the other hand.

 

Resuscitations were reversals of death that were subject to a repeat of infirmities, sicknesses, and dying.

 

Of Christ it is said He arose into a sphere of being that was never occupied or exhibited before. His deity did not change, nor could it, but the humanity of Christ, body, soul, and spirit, instantly become that which had been anticipated throughout all eternity, namely, perfect humanity glorified and exalted to the point that it was fitting for heaven but fitting as well to be an integral part of the glorified theanthropic person forever.

 

Christ is the first and only one of all earth dwellers thus far to put on immortality. So then, only He can give immortality and only He can give a resurrection body, which will be perfectly fit for the gift given of eternal life.

 

His humanity is now glorified, it cannot be damaged or changed, it is fit for all eternity in heaven. This is the greatest victory over death that could have ever been imagined.

 

1CO 15:45 The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.

 

1CO 15:46 However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural; then the spiritual.

 

1CO 15:47 The first man is from the earth, earthy; the second man is from heaven.

 

1CO 15:48 As is the earthy, so also are those who are earthy; and as is the heavenly, so also are those who are heavenly [believers are brand new creatures in Christ].

 

1CO 15:49 And just as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly [resurrection body].

 

1JO 3:2

Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we shall be. We know that, when He appears, we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him just as He is.

 

Believers who are in heaven now and are in some kind of interim body are still going to undergo a change when they inherit their eternal resurrection bodies. Until the Rapture Christ is the only man with a resurrection body.

 

1TI 6:13 I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who testified the good confession before Pontius Pilate,

 

1TI 6:14 that you keep the commandment without stain or reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ,

 

1TI 6:15 which He will bring about at the proper time —  He who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords;

 

1TI 6:16 who alone possesses immortality and dwells in unapproachable light; whom no man has seen or can see. To Him be honor and eternal dominion [kratos - power or force]! Amen.

 

2TI 1:8 Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, or of me His prisoner; but join with me in suffering for the gospel according to the power of God [conflict],

 

2TI 1:9 who has saved us, and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity,

 

2TI 1:10 but now has been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death, and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel,

 

That immortal body with a glorified soul and spirit united to Deity becomes the incomparable theanthropic Person, the exalted Savior.

 

In liberal theology, the resurrection of Christ is rejected as a nonessential, and the conclusion is reached that Christ continues to exist after His death but not in a body. Scriptures relating to the subject are spiritualized or explained away. The tendency now is to deny the resur­rection as impossible, and therefore untrue.

 

The resurrection of Christ is essential to all His work as the Victor in the AC.

 

Just as the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ was a proof of His deity and lordship, so also was His resurrection an indispens­able evidence of the efficacious value of His death on the cross. Here again, one is faced with the absolute question of whether Christ is all He claims to be.

 

If He did not rise from the dead, then He is not the Son of God, and it follows that His death on the cross is the death of an ordinary man and of no value to others.

 

A dead Savior is no Savior. The resurrection demonstrated that Christ is all He claims to be and that all His work is efficacious.

 

Efficacious - capable of producing the desired effect; having the intended result; effective. [Webster's]

 

If Christ actually rose from the dead, He not only demonstrates by this means that He is indeed all He claims to be but that His work has the value set forth in the Scriptures, namely, a substitutionary sacrifice on behalf of the sins of the whole world, a justifier of men, and a conqueror of satan as victor in the AC.

 

Frequently in Scripture the resur­rection of Christ is linked with His work on the cross, ACT 10:40; ROM 4:25; 10:9; COL 2:12, etc.

 

In fact this was the brunt of the first gospel message from the Church at the feast of Pentecost.

 

ACT 2:22 "Men of Israel, listen to these words: Jesus the Nazarene, a man attested to you by God with miracles and wonders and signs which God performed through Him in your midst, just as you yourselves know — 

 

ACT 2:23 this Man, delivered up by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death.

 

ACT 2:24 "And God raised Him up again, putting an end to the agony of death, since it was impossible for Him to be held in its power.

 

ACT 2:25 "For David says of Him,

'I was always beholding the Lord in my presence;

For He is at my right hand, that I may not be shaken.

 

ACT 2:26 'Therefore my heart was glad and my tongue exulted;

Moreover my flesh also will abide in hope;

 

ACT 2:27 Because Thou wilt not abandon my soul to Hades,

Nor allow Thy Holy One to undergo decay [3 days].

 

ACT 2:28 'Thou hast made known to me the ways of life;

Thou wilt make me full of gladness with Thy presence.'

 

Those who deny the bodily resurrection of Christ always also deny His substi­tutionary sacrifice for the sins of the whole world.

 

The resurrection of Christ is a doorway to His present work in heaven.

 

The resurrection of Christ has not only a backward look toward the cross demonstrating the  power of God in salvation, but it is also the doorway to His present work in heaven. One of the im­portant reasons for the resurrection of Christ was the necessity of a victory such as His resurrection as a prelude to His work in heaven.

 

The resurrection of Jesus is everywhere viewed as the commencement of His exaltation, resurrection, ascension, and session upon the throne in universal dominion. These go together as parts of the same transaction.

 

The theme of the resurrected Messiah reigning victorious over His enemies was prophesied in PSA 110:1.

 

Verse one is alluded to 25 times in the NT and verse four another 5 times. This lies behind many of the references throughout the NT to Christ being seated at the right hand of God.

 

PSA 110:1 The Lord  says to my Lord:

"Sit at My right hand [place of power],

Until I make Thine enemies a footstool for Thy feet."

 

Just a few days before His death Jesus brought up the question of this verse that apparently the Pharisees had never investigated. This was His long day in Jerusalem and His last working day. The city is packed with pilgrims who have journeyed for the Passover and this day is His last call to them for a national repentance. The religious leaders asked Him a lot of questions on this day in order to trap Him in front of the crowds and they, of course, failed every time. It is at this time that Jesus asks them a question about PSA 110:1. He did this to prove His deity as well as to silence their questions. But did not at this time identify Himself as the one referred to as Lord. This He would do later.

 

MAT 22:41 Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them a question,

 

MAT 22:42 saying, "What do you think about the Christ, whose son is He?" They said to Him, "The son of David."

 

MAT 22:43 He said to them, "Then how does David in the Spirit call Him 'Lord,' saying,

 

MAT 22:44 'The Lord said to my Lord,

"Sit at My right hand,

Until I put Thine enemies beneath Thy feet"'?

 

MAT 22:45 "If David then calls Him 'Lord,' how is He his son?" 

 

MAT 22:46 And no one was able to answer Him a word, nor did anyone dare from that day on to ask Him another question.

 

During His trial, the night before His death, the high priest asks Him straight out if He is the Son of God and Christ answers, "Yes," and quotes the same Psalm.

 

MAT 26:59 Now the chief priests and the whole Council kept trying to obtain false testimony against Jesus, in order that they might put Him to death;

 

MAT 26:60 and they did not find any, even though many false witnesses came forward. But later on two came forward,

 

MAT 26:61 and said, "This man stated, 'I am able to destroy the temple of God and to rebuild it in three days.'"

 

He is referring to His body and His bodily resurrection, and so it is not coincidence that when He is asked if He is the Son of God that He would quote Psa 110 in that He would be seen sitting at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven.

 

MAT 26:62 And the high priest stood up and said to Him, "Do You make no answer? What is it that these men are testifying against You?"

 

MAT 26:63 But Jesus kept silent. And the high priest said to Him, "I adjure You by the living God, that You tell us whether You are the Christ, the Son of God."

 

MAT 26:64 Jesus said to him, "You have said it yourself; nevertheless I tell you, hereafter you shall see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven." 

 

MAT 26:65 Then the high priest tore his robes, saying, "He has blasphemed! What further need do we have of witnesses? Behold, you have now heard the blasphemy;

 

MAT 26:66 what do you think? "They answered and said," He is deserving of death!"

 

MAT 26:67 Then they spat in His face and beat Him with their fists; and others slapped Him,

 

MAT 26:68 and said, "Prophesy to us, You Christ; who is the one who hit You?"

 

Satan and the demons know who He is but these men do not know Him. Therefore, they persecute Him impersonally while satan and the KOD have a much more personal motivation.

 

EPH 6:12

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.

 

LUK 23:34

But Jesus was saying, "Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing."