A Message of Life (Easter)

Introduction

Christianity is in its very essence a resurrection religion. The concept of the resurrection lies at its heart. If you remove it, Christianity is destroyed.

John Stott

This is backed up by the Words of the Apostle Paul in 1 Cor 15:19

1 Corinthians 15:19 ESV

If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.

Resurrection is the foundation of our Faith in the promises of God. Without it, all the hope we have in God’s promises is not only put at risk but simply a falsehood. And this cannot be some mystical ‘spiritual’ resurrection, as we will see in our text the prophecies made about the resurrection said that his body would not see decay. It was the death and resurrection of Christ that was foolishness to Gentiles and a stumbling block to Jews, and yet the Apostles could not stop making it the foundation of their preaching.

The resurrection is also not just life after death. We have to stop saying we are going to be in heaven forever as if the resurrection and the creation of a new heavens and new earth is not going to happen. The resurrection is the foundation of our hope as Christians. If it is not, I suffest you walk out the front door an atheist, because there is nothing for you to gain here without a clear hope and faith that Christ rose from the dead and that we too will one day rise as he did. This is his promise to us.

An Oath and a Prophesy

On Friday, we saw that David, like everyone, died and his tomb could be seen to that day: shut, barred, so guarded that even King Herod’s attempt to raid the tomb failed. There is no doubt in our minds, nor in the minds of the original Jewish listeners, that David was dead. He had died like the rest mankind die, and his soul had descended to Sheol, a resting place for the dead until the final resurrection and judgement of the dead. However, if that is the case we still have to reckon with Peter’s quotation of Psalm 16 as well as his quote in verse 34 from Psalm 110. In these Psalms, according to Peter, David was prophesying, not of himself but of his seed, that is, his descendants.

There are two aspects to Peter’s argument that one of David’s children would fulfill these Psalms, and we will see how he successfully argues that Jesus is the one who fulfills both a prophecy made by David and an oath made to David.

First, the prophecy. Although the OT never calls David a prophet, we can be assured that he was one. The Jews considered Jesus a prophet, this is clear because Peter does not need to argue that to the Jews and because we have evidence from Qumran texts that at least the Essenes, a Jewish sect contemporary with the Pharisees and Sadducees, not only held that David was a prophet, but that all of his Psalms, which they claimed numbered in the thousands, were prophecies. It appears that the Jews at large held this view so Peter is able to make his argument. As Christians, we believe that all the OT writers, as well as the NT writers in a similar sense, were prophets since God used them to write the Word of God for us to read and know that this is what YHWH has said. So David, prophesying, said that God would not let his flesh see corruption, and yet David did see corruption. He said God would not let his soul go to Hades, the Greek word for Sheol, and yet he died and his soul went to rest with his ancestors waiting and resting until God’s judgement. Peter says as much in verse 34 that he did not ascend into the heavens, but prophesied that he would.

Now there are two options to pick from here. One is that David is a false prophet. This would be the case unless the prophecy can be fulfilled another way, and indeed it can. Any unbelieving Jew, however, would be forced to consider that David’s prophecy would be false if it were not speaking about the Messiah.

The second option is that one of David’s descendants would fulfill the prophecy. This would make sense, since in the ANE world there was an idea of a man’s descendants being present in his body with him. This is exemplified in Hebrews where the Levites are said to be “in the loins” of Abraham when he tithed to Melchizedek, and thus making Melchizedek a greater priest than they were. So although David is prophesying in the first person, he is doing so prophetically as the mouthpiece of the Holy Spirit to speak about the Christ. This is likely what the Jews understood already, and they were awaiting an immortal Messiah.

Peter argues that Jesus fulfills this prophecy. He died, yes, but he was not dead long enough for his body to “see corruption” that is, to decay. His soul, also, did not get abandoned in Sheol, both of these were avoided by the resurrection. While Jesus did die, he fulfills this prophecy and thus fits David’s description as the true Messiah.

Second, the Oath, God made an oath to David that his Kingdom would be established forever. Again, for the Jews this is a problem. At the current time they were not a sovereign state, and the kings that did sit on the throne were not sons of David. How can David’s prophecy be correct?

In the New Testament, we see that the Kingdom of God is not a Kingdom of earthly political power, nor is it ruled by a King who sits on an earthly throne. This will be the case in the New Earth, where believers will reign with Christ forever, but for now suffice it to say that this Kingdom is of a heavenly nature. That is not to say it does not have power. In fact, this Kingdom being heavenly has more power than all earthly political forces put together. Even North Korea’s idolatrous tyranny is not able to overcome the Kingdom of God. Christianity is growing in North Korea. So what is revealed is that the category in which the Kingdom exists is different, and that the physical Kingdom of Israel was a shadow and type of the New Covenant people in the Kingdom of God.

Christ is the fulfillment of the oath simply because he is the fulfillment of the prophecy. Both go hand in hand. The Psalms that Peter quotes prove this. This is clearest in his quote from Psalm 110 in Acts 2:34-35

Acts 2:34–35 ESV

For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he himself says, “ ‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.” ’

This applies to David’s “Lord” but as the King of God’s Kingdom, this must refer to a King of greater status while still being a Lord over David’s jurisdiction. To such a person, it would be fitting that they are a descendant of David and yet greater than David; David’s Lord. The son of David referred to in Peter’s reflection on Psalm 16 is seated with God, he is called the Holy One. This, Peter argues, is the same figure spoken of in Psalm 110. Therefore, the oath that God made to David can be seen to be rightly fulfilled.

How was it fulfilled? It was fulfilled by the glorifying of Christ in his ascension when he was seated at the Right Hand of the Father. This is the fulfillment of Psalm 110

Psalm 110 ESV

A Psalm of David. The Lord says to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.” The Lord sends forth from Zion your mighty scepter. Rule in the midst of your enemies! Your people will offer themselves freely on the day of your power, in holy garments; from the womb of the morning, the dew of your youth will be yours. The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind, “You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.” The Lord is at your right hand; he will shatter kings on the day of his wrath. He will execute judgment among the nations, filling them with corpses; he will shatter chiefs over the wide earth. He will drink from the brook by the way; therefore he will lift up his head.

This Psalm sees the Messiah as a King ruling at the Father’s side, a great high priest, and a judge of all nations, destroying his enemies and ruling his people who willingly and joyfully subject themselves to him.

The oath that God established with David is thus fulfilled through a heavenly King, yet one who is still of his offspring and thus has the right to claim the throne of David: Jesus the Christ.

The Resurrection and Fulfillment in Christ

This is where the resurrection of Christ comes into focus.

Not abandoned to Hades. Although Jesus did experience true, human death, he was not left there. Nor was Sheol his soul’s destination, but paradise as he said to the thief on the cross.

Body did not see corruption. This is not to say that his body did not really die, but that it would not decay. Jesus’ time in death was long enough to be considered real death, not simply a lapse into a death-like state, and at the same time short enough not to decay and thus fulfill this promise.

His disciples were witnesses of these things. Their witness remains with us in the NT writings. In them, the Apostles provide for us an extensive explanation of the cross and the resurrection. They look back on the OT prophetic writings and show us how they relate to and find their fulfillment in Christ. In this, we can see that everything writing in the OT has its ultimate end in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

The Exaltation and Coming of the Spirit

God has therefore made Jesus both Lord and Christ.

A contrast between how God treated Jesus and how the people treated Jesus. They have evidently put themselves on the wrong side of spiritual war. That is why they have the reaction that they do. It is panic at having God as their enemy.

Peter’s conclusion is the result of this victorious resurrection of Christ: exaltation and the sending of the Holy Spirit.

Belief, repentance, and baptism are the practical implications of the resurrection according to Peter.

Belief: the partaking in the resurrection.

Repentance: the practice of the resurrection.

Baptism: The sign of the resurrection.

Christian living is nothing more and nothing less than living out the wondrous implications of the resurrection.

Conclusion: Our Resurrection Hope

Although we have complete salvation through his death, because we are reconciled to God by it, it is by his resurrection, not his death, that we are said to be born to a living hope (1 Peter 1:3).

John Calvin

What is the ultimate point of the resurrection message for us? Paul tells us in 1 Cor 15:20

1 Corinthians 15:20 ESV

But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.

This becomes our true and ultimate hope in death. For he says only one verse earlier:

1 Corinthians 15:19 ESV

If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.

The hope we have in Christ’s resurrection is future life, a life beyond death, a life that overshadows and disarms death. Our own resurrection.

The resurrection is a doctrine we don’t focus on enough, since it gives us such a hope. If Christ was raised as a firstfruits from the dead, will not those who are in Christ also be raised when the full harvest comes in?

There is a day we are looking forward to of resurrection. We will be raised into new bodies like Christ, free of sinful lusts and desires. They are true human bodies. These bodies are not human bodies as God intended them to be. They are corrupt husks that only barely reflect what true humanity is meant to be.

So let us run what is left of this life with this confidence and hope. If you are striving after Christ, you are striving after true life. But what of those who strive after this life? Are they not showing in their striving that they have no belief in a better life to come? So there is a warning and a hope.

A warning against unbelief. Ask yourself whether you truly believe in this resurrection and whether the actions and goals of your life reflect such belief? What does someone who lives for the resurrection look like?

They are devoted, not distracted.

They are running, not strolling.

They are earnest for the things of God, not passively serving him at times.

They are of the Word, not of the World.

They are frequent in godly prayer, not frequent in worldly cares.

They speak often of their hope, not themselves or their earthly ambitions or desires.

They boast in the cross, they are not ashamed of it.

A hope for what we have believed: Christ resurrected and we who are in him resurrected with him forever. The more we think on it, the more we practice it, the more our confidence will grow. Be careful not to take this hope for granted, or let it pass by while greater desires fill your eyes. Let the cross be glorious to you because you know what it means, you see it against the backdrop of the resurrection, and you are full of the hope that it brings.