Resurrected and Ascended

Good morning, welcome to New Horizon Christian Church! Please open your Bibles to 1 Corinthians 15.

Read 1 Corinthians 15:3–8- “For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.”

Pray.

Importance of the resurrection:

B.B. Warfield- “The resurrection is the cardinal doctrine of our system: on it all other doctrines hang.”

A.W. Tozer- “The glory of the Christian faith is that the Christ who died for our sins rose again for our justification. We should joyfully remember His birth and gratefully muse on His dying, but the crown of all our hopes is with Him at the Father’s right hand.”

If the resurrection did not happen:

Our faith is futile.

We have no hope of rising.

Jesus is not reigning.

Jesus can be your hero, but not your Savior.

1. What is the resurrection?

The raising of Jesus from the dead.

Matthew 28:5–6- “But the angel said to the women, ‘Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay.’”

Divine act of the entirety of the triune godhead.

The godhead.

Acts 2:24- “God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it.”

The Son.

John 10:17–18- “For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.”

The Father.

Galatians 1:1- “Paul, an apostle—not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead—”

The Spirit.

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.”

Different from a resuscitation.

Different from what happened with Lazarus. He died again.

J.I. Packer- “It was…a transformation of Jesus’ humanity that enabled him to appear, vanish, and move unseen from one location to another. It was the creative renewing of his original body, the body that is now fully glorified and deathless.”

2. What are the results of the resurrection?

The resurrection verified Jesus’ deity and Sonship.

Jesus made a lot of claims throughout His life. He also did much that only God could do.

His being raised from the dead was the proof given by God that such testimony of Himself was true.

The resurrection vindicated Jesus’ righteousness.

Think of the ministry of Jesus, and in particular, the final days of His life.

Silent and sinless in the face of adversity. Betrayed, arrested, abandoned, accused, beaten, mocked, tortured and killed.

Never a pull from Jesus away from the will of the Father. Completely righteous and obedience.

Was He righteous? Or was He a fool? Was he a victim?

His being raised from the dead showed the value and veracity of His righteousness.

The resurrection demonstrated a defeat of death.

Romans 6:9–10- “We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God.”

Christ can never die again.

The resurrection guaranteed the believer’s justification.

Is our faith in vain? Can we truly be forgiven of our sins and granted eternal life?

If Jesus was who He claimed, then yes.

Our being made righteous depends upon the righteousness and perfect obedience of Jesus.

The resurrection proved His righteousness and thus proved our righteousness is made possible.

The resurrection assured the believers resurrection.

Charles Hodge- “As He lives, they shall live also. If He remained under the power of death, there is no source of spiritual life to men; for He is the vine, we are the branches; if the vine be dead the branches must be dead also.”

Paul goes on in 1 Cor. 15 to draw the parallel between the resurrected humanity of Jesus and our own resurrection experience.

Body is incorruptible, glorious, powerful, and spiritual (a perfect instrument of the Spirit).

3. What is the ascension?

Forty days after Jesus’ resurrection from the grave, Jesus ascended to heaven, to the right hand of the Father.

Acts 1:9- “And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight.”

Leaves behind His followers.

Leaving behind his followers to enter into the presence of the Father.

John 14:28–29- “You heard me say to you, ‘I am going away, and I will come to you.’ If you loved me, you would have rejoiced, because I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. And now I have told you before it takes place, so that when it does take place you may believe.”

Louis Berkhof- “In a certain sense the ascension may be called the necessary complement and completion of the resurrection. Christ’s transition to the higher life of glory, begun in the resurrection, was perfected in the ascension.”

The entire work of Christ from humiliation to exaltation works together. Jesus was born, lived, was crucified, raised from the dead and ascended to the Father.

4. What are the results of the ascension?

Remember when we discussed the threefold office of Jesus- three roles that Jesus completed in his earthly life and death.

Prophet, priest, and king.

We now see these roles continuing in what is known as the session of Christ- Risen and ascended to the Father in his godliness and renewed humanity.

The ascension illustrates the rule and dominion of Jesus over all things (KING).

Rory Shiner- “If the resurrection affirms that Jesus lives forever, the ascension affirms that he reigns forever.”

Daniel 7:13–14- “I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.”

Image of Jesus sitting communicates a lot.

Calls to mind the image of ancient kings sitting down on their thrones as a result of securing peace for their people.

Also calls to mind ancient kings sitting down to do their work in ruling.

The ascension provides the opportunity for Jesus’ continued works on our behalf (PRIEST).

Sat down on the throne at the right hand of the Father..

For many, we might consider this to be an act of rest. And it would make sense to this this.

It is not so. The work of Jesus continues.

Louis Berkhof- “Christ is continually presenting His completed sacrifice to the Father as the sufficient basis for the bestowal of the pardoning grace of God. He is constantly applying His sacrificial work, and making it effective in the justification of sinners. Moreover, He is ever making intercession for those that are His, pleading for their acceptance on the basis of His completed sacrifice, and for their safe-keeping in the world, and making their prayers and services acceptable to God.”

The ascension reveals a new sort of relationship between Jesus and His followers (PROPHET).

The sending of the Spirit.

What will the Spirit do? Point you back to Jesus.

John 14:26- “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.”

Jesus will continue in His prophetic work of making truth known by the work of HIs Spirit.

5. What difference do the resurrection and ascension make in our lives?

Our marching orders.

Horrible feeling to not know what we are doing.

What is the calling of your life? To love Christ and make Him known.

J. Gresham Machen- “The great weapon with which the disciples of Jesus set out to conquer the world was not a mere comprehension of eternal principles; it was not an historical message, an account of something that had recently happened, it was the message, ‘He is risen!’”

The eternal presence of Christ.

Our desire for presence.

Seeking the presence of loved ones once they have passed away.

Charles Hodge- “It is enough for us to know that this supreme ruler of the universe is a perfect man as well as a perfect God; that He still has all human sympathies and affections, and can be touched with a sense of our infirmities. That a person in whom dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and who is filled with all the love, tenderness, compassion, meekness, and forbearance, which Christ manifested while here on earth, has all power in heaven and earth committed to his hands, and is not far from any one of us, is an unspeakable delight to all his people.”