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Scripture Reading: Acts 2:24; 3:15; Rom. 4:25; Acts 10:41; John 10:15, 17-18; Heb. 2:14; 1 Cor. 15:52-54; John 13:31-32; 17:1; Luke 24:26; John 12:24
In this message we shall continue to consider the objective aspect of the Man-Savior’s resurrection. We have seen that the Lord’s resurrection was God’s vindication and approval of the Man-Savior and His all-inclusive redemptive work. Now we need to see that Christ’s resurrection was also the Man-Savior’s success in all His achievements.
People often boast of their success. But no matter how successful a person may be in life, he loses everything when he dies. This means that death is the end of one’s success.
This certainly was the situation of the rich man in the parable in Luke 12:16-21. This rich man said to himself, “I will pull down my barns and build larger ones, and I will gather there all my wheat and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take it easy, eat, drink, be merry” (vv. 18-19). However, God said to him, “Senseless one, this night they are requiring your soul from you. Now the things which you prepared, whose will they be?” (v. 20). This rich man was successful, but when he died, his success was gone.
The Man-Savior’s success in His achievements was proved by the fact that He rose from among the dead. On the one hand, the New Testament says that God raised Jesus up from the dead (Acts 3:15). On the other hand, the New Testament also tells us that Christ rose up Himself (Acts 10:41). Regarding the Lord as a man, the New Testament tells us that God raised Him from the dead (Rom. 8:11). But considering Him as God, the New Testament declares that He Himself rose from the dead (Rom. 14:9). God raised up Christ as a proof of His vindication and approval of the Lord and His work. But as a proof of His success in His achievements, the Lord Jesus Himself rose from the dead.
In Acts 10:41 Peter says that the disciples ate and drank with Christ “after He rose from among the dead.” After the Lord’s crucifixion and burial, Peter and the other disciples were deeply disappointed. They may have said to one another, “What can we do? Now that the Lord has been crucified and has been buried, we cannot do anything. Everything is over.” The reason the disciples felt this way is that nothing nullifies a person’s success more than his burial. However, the Lord Jesus did not remain in the tomb. On the third day He rose up and appeared to the disciples.
When the Lord Jesus appeared to the disciples as recorded in Luke 24, He said to them, “Do you have anything to eat here? And they handed Him part of a broiled fish; and He took it and ate before them” (vv. 41-43). Here the Lord seemed to be saying, “I would like to eat with you. Do you have something to eat? I would also like to take care of your hunger.”
According to the New Testament, the Lord Jesus appeared to His disciples on the day of His resurrection to do two main things: first, to breathe the Spirit into the disciples (John 20:22); second, to eat with them (Luke 24:41-43). Unable to forget what happened on the day of resurrection, Peter told those in the house of Cornelius that the Lord Jesus rose up and that the disciples ate and drank with Him. They had a feast with the resurrected Man-Savior. The Lord’s resurrection was a strong evidence of His success. Because of this, there was no need for the disciples to be disappointed.
From chapter ten of John we see that actually the Lord Jesus was not killed; rather, He laid down His life. In John 10:15 He said, “I lay down My life on behalf of the sheep.” Then in John 10:17 and 18 He continued, “Therefore the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again. No one takes it away from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it again. This commandment I received from My Father.” When the Lord appeared to the disciples after His resurrection, He may have said something like this: “My resurrection is the proof of My success. I was not killed — I laid down My life. If I were not willing to lay down My life, no one would be able to do anything to Me. I laid down My life according to My Father’s commandment, and after three days I took it again. The Father commanded Me to lay down My life for you, and I did this. Then He commanded Me to rise up, and I arose. Now as a proof of My success I am here with you.”
Indeed, the Lord Jesus was not killed; He laid down His life. Then He rose up and took His life again. Hence, His resurrection was the Man-Savior’s success in all His achievements. He did nothing in vain. Everything He did was sealed and confirmed by His resurrection. If the Lord had done so many things during His lifetime but did not rise up from the dead, His remaining in the tomb would have been a sign of failure. But His rising up is the evidence of His great success in whatever He did. God raised up Christ for vindication and approval. But the Lord Himself rose up as a sign of His success.
The Man-Savior’s resurrection was also His victory over death, Satan, Hades, and the grave (Acts 2:24). Satan, death, Hades, and the grave form a group. The Man-Savior was not only vindicated by God and was proved to be a success in His achievements, but He was victorious over death, Satan, Hades, and the grave, all of which are a great concern and trouble to us. The Man-Savior overcame death and destroyed Satan (Heb. 2:14). The keys of death and of Hades are now in His hand (Rev. 1:18), and He is victorious over the grave.
Second Timothy 1:10 says that Christ “nullified death, and brought life and incorruption to light through the gospel.” Christ nullified death, making it of none effect, through His Devil-destroying death (Heb. 2:14) and death-swallowing resurrection (1 Cor. 15:52-54). In the gospel the revelation is brought to us that Christ has nullified death and has brought us eternal, indestructible life.
Christ was manifested to nullify death and to bring in eternal, indestructible life. He not only defeated death — He nullified it. Through His resurrection, death has become of none effect; death has lost its power, even its taste. Christ could nullify death because He destroyed the Devil, the one who has the power of death. Of course, by overcoming Satan and nullifying death, the Lord Jesus also defeated Hades and the grave. Therefore, Christ’s resurrection declares that He is victorious over death, Satan, Hades, and the grave. No longer are these a problem. Therefore, Christ’s resurrection was not only God’s vindication and the Lord’s success, but also His victory over death, Satan, Hades, and the grave. Christ through His resurrection has made this troublesome group of none effect.
Furthermore, the Man-Savior’s resurrection was His glorification (John 13:31-32; 17:1; Luke 24:26). Because this matter is difficult to understand and define, it is helpful to use the illustration of a grain of wheat (John 12:24). There is life in a grain of wheat. When the grain is sown into the earth, it “dies.” But at the same time it grows. If a grain of wheat is not sown into the ground, it will neither die nor grow. But a seed that is put into the ground is eventually glorified through its growth.
The principle is the same with other kinds of seeds, for example, a carnation seed. Like a grain of wheat, a carnation seed dies in the soil. But eventually it grows, rises out of the earth, and blossoms. The blossoming of a carnation flower is its glorification. Therefore, a carnation seed is fully glorified in the blossoming of a carnation flower.
According to His own word in John 12:24, the Lord Jesus was a grain of wheat that fell into the ground and died. But as He was in the ground dying, He was also growing. Eventually, in resurrection He “blossomed” and brought forth many grains. These grains are His glorification.
Wheat growing in a field is the glorification of all the grains of wheat sown into that field. Ears of ripe wheat have been described as “golden ears of grain.” The time is coming when in the universe there will be a “field” full of golden ears of grain. Then God will be able to say, “Satan, look at this field. This is the glorification of My Son, Jesus Christ.” Even today in the proper church life we may have a miniature of this glorification.
As a grain of wheat the Lord Jesus had a human “shell.” For Him to be glorified (John 12:23) required that His divine life be released from within the shell of His humanity to produce many believers in resurrection (1 Pet. 1:3). Through His death on the cross the shell of His humanity was broken.
When the shell of the Lord’s humanity was broken on the cross, the divine life within Him was released in resurrection. The release of the divine life and nature from within the Lord as a grain of wheat was His glorification. He prayed for this glorification in John 17:1: “Father, the hour has come; glorify Your Son that the Son may glorify You.”
When the Lord Jesus was incarnated, He put on humanity. This means that no longer was He merely God, for through incarnation He had become the God-man, having both divinity and humanity. Furthermore, it was necessary for His humanity to be brought into divinity. The bringing of the Lord’s humanity into divinity was His glorification. According to the New Testament revelation, when the Lord Jesus rose up from the dead, He rose up with both His divinity and His humanity. This means He rose up as the God-man. This rising of the Lord’s humanity was His glorification.
The man Jesus was glorified through His resurrection. Not only was the Son of God glorified by being released from within the shell of the Lord’s humanity, but the man Jesus was also glorified. He was glorified when His humanity was brought into divinity. Hallelujah, now there is a man in the glory!
When some hear that the man Jesus is now in glory, they may understand this to mean that He is in the heavens. However, Luke 24:26 indicates that He entered into glory even before His ascension. While on the way to Emmaus, He said to the disciples, “Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into His glory?” This refers to His resurrection, which brought Him into glory (1 Cor. 15:43; Acts 3:13a, 15a). The Man-Savior’s resurrection was His entering into glory. Therefore, glorification means not only that the Son of God was released from His human shell, but also that the Lord’s humanity has been brought into divinity. Have you ever heard a message telling you that your Savior was glorified when His humanity was brought into divinity? Often Christians are told that Christ has glory mainly because He is great. However, the Bible reveals that the Lord became a man of low estate. In His resurrection His lowly humanity was brought into divinity, and this was His glorification. He not only has honor, dignity, and glory; His resurrection was His glorification.
The Man-Savior’s glorification was also His birth as God’s firstborn Son. Acts 13:33 reveals that to the man Jesus resurrection was a birth. He was begotten by God in His resurrection to be the firstborn Son of God among many brothers (Rom. 8:29). He was the only begotten Son of God from eternity (John 1:18; 3:16). After incarnation and through resurrection, He was begotten by God in His humanity to be God’s firstborn Son.
From eternity Christ was God’s only begotten Son. Nevertheless, in the New Testament we are told that on the day of His resurrection He was begotten by God. This was even prophesied in Psalm 2:7. In resurrection God begot Jesus to be His firstborn Son.
The word “firstborn” indicates that there will be other sons. Hebrews 2:10 speaks of many sons, and Romans 8:29, of many brothers. In resurrection the Lord came to His brothers, who composed His church, and declared the Father’s name to them (Heb. 2:12).
Through incarnation God’s only begotten Son put on humanity and became the God-man. Then in resurrection this God-man was born of God to be His Firstborn.
It is important for us to realize that, before incarnation, God’s only begotten Son did not have human nature, only the divine nature. However, in resurrection, God’s firstborn Son has a human nature as well as the divine nature. As believers in Christ, we all are sons of God and brothers of the firstborn Son. Through regeneration we have the divine nature (2 Pet. 1:4). Although we are human beings, we now have the divine nature. Although the Lord Jesus is divine, He also has the human nature. Therefore, both the Lord Jesus and we are the same in that both He and we have the human nature and the divine nature. We praise the Lord that in His resurrection He was born of God to be His firstborn Son. His resurrection was the release of the divine life and nature, and through this release He was begotten as the firstborn Son of God.
We thank the Lord for showing us all the points related to the objective aspect of the Man-Savior’s resurrection. The Lord’s resurrection was God’s vindication and approval, it was the evidence of the Man-Savior’s success, it was His victory over death, Satan, Hades, and the grave, and it was His glorification. Through His resurrection death was nullified, Satan was defeated, and humanity was brought into divinity. Praise the Lord for His resurrection! May the Lord give us new hymns and songs written according to the light He has given us from the Word so that we may praise Him in a richer, higher, and fuller way.
