The Resurrection: A Living Hope
James Ritchie
When we come to this time of year, we regularly reflect on the death and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Of course, we ought to always be reflecting on such truths and especially on the Lord’s Day. Every Sabbath Day is ultimately resurrection Sunday as we gather to worship the Risen Christ who rose on the first day of the week.
I think, however, that if we are honest we often struggle to understand the significance of the resurrection for the Christian life. We think of the resurrection as a fact that we must accept if we are to be Christians, and certainly that is true. We consider the resurrection as a fact that carries apologetic import; in other words, we know that the resurrection proves the Christian faith. This is right, and we should always hold the importance of the resurrection as a fact of history. But what does the resurrection mean for the believer in Jesus Christ? What practical implications are there for the Christian?
In a relatively brief article such as this one, it would be impossible to dive into nearly all of the implications of the resurrection for the Christian, but it is worth stating the resurrection of Jesus guarantees the resurrection of the believer. Because Jesus is raised, the believer in Jesus will be raised.
One of the most important doctrines for understanding salvation is the doctrine of union with Jesus Christ. To be saved is certainly to be justified, declared righteous before God on the basis of what Christ has done and not what we have done. But to be saved is not only to have pardon for sin and not only to have a right standing before God; to be saved means that one has Jesus Himself. The Christian is united unto his Savior and representative Head, Jesus Christ. And as we are united to Jesus Christ, His resurrection is seen to be the firstfruits of the resurrection harvest. To quote 1 Corinthians 15:20, “But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.” By virtue of union with Christ, His resurrection ensures the future bodily resurrection of the believer. Richard B. Gaffin, Jr. helpfully explains something of this solidarity of Christ and the believer:
The resurrection of Christ and of believers cannot be separated, then, because to extend the metaphor as Paul surely intends, Christ is the firstfruits of the resurrection-harvest that includes believers….Christ’s resurrection is the guarantee of the future bodily resurrection of believers not simply as a bare sign but as “the actual beginning of th[e] general epochal event.” The two resurrections, though separated in time, are not so much separate events as two episodes of the same event, the beginning and end of the one and sameharvest.[1]
This is one reason why a physical, bodily resurrection of Jesus was so important to the Apostle Paul. If, as some theologians have suggested, the resurrection of Jesus is merely spiritual or metaphorical, then the grounds of the hope of the Christian faith are utterly lost. If Jesus is not physically raised, then there is no hope for eternity. Paul sees an inextricable link between the resurrection of the believer in Jesus Christ and the resurrection of Jesus Himself. Paul writes, “For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.”
Have you ever noticed that the creeds of the Christian church, those which mark the boundaries of orthodoxy, both confess the resurrection of Jesus and the resurrection of the Christian? Paul could not fathom a Christian faith in which the Christian is not raised or one in which Jesus was not raised, and in the Apostles’ Creed we see the early church made a vital part of its confession both, “On the third day he rose again from the dead;” and “[I believe in] the resurrection of the body.” [2]
Before moving on to one more implication of the resurrection to the Christian life, it is worth noting that Scripture often speaks as if the Christian is already, in a real sense, raised. Ephesians 2:6, reflecting upon the work of God in salvation, says, “and raised us up with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.” The soul that has believed upon Jesus Christ for salvation is one that God has already raised from death to life. The Christian was born spiritually dead in sin, but now in Christ is raised up to new life. This has many applications, but one is that the believer is no longer mastered by sin, unable to pursue the things of God. The believer is alive in Christ, and now they can put to death the deeds of the flesh and seek the things of God. Colossians 3 explains the truth of the believer’s new life in Christ and on that basis offers an exhortation to holiness.[3]
Before concluding this article, it is worth considering another aspect of Christ’s resurrection and its implications for the believer. The resurrection demonstrates that the sacrifice that Christ has offered is truly sufficient for the people of God. At the resurrection, God has announced, as it were, that He has accepted the atonement of Christ and that Christ has accomplished the mission He had come to earth to fulfill.
It is nearly impossible to speak properly about the resurrection without considering the death of Christ. What Christ has done at the Cross is to substitute Himself for guilty sinners, though He had no guilt of His own. The just wrath and curse of God that we deserved[4] fell upon Him. The One who lived sinlessly was crushed in the stead of sinners. And what we see at the resurrection is that all that our sins deserve has truly been paid for. We see that all that Christ did in His perfect life and in His atoning death was enough to deal with sin’s guilt and curse for His people. Geerhardus Vos writes:
By raising Christ from death, God as the supreme Judge set his seal to the absolute perfection and completeness of his atoning work. The resurrection is a public announcement to the world that the penalty of death has been borne by Christ to its bitter end and that in consequence the dominion of guilt has been broken, the curse annihilated forever more.[5]
Later in the same sermon Vos expresses this truth in an even more deeply personal and experiential way:
…knowing ourselves one with Christ, we find in the resurrection the strongest possible assurance of pardon and peace. When Christ rose on Easter morning, he left behind him in the depths of the grave every one of our sins; there they remain buried from the sight of God so completely that even in the day of judgment they will not be able to rise up against us anymore.[6]
The resurrection teaches us that we have in Jesus an all-sufficient Savior. He has borne our guilt; if you now stand in Jesus Christ you are covered by His blood and clothed in His righteousness. 1 Peter 1:3 says, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” The resurrection of Jesus Christ is a living hope for the believer. If we are found in Him we have a living hope for all eternity. Are you found in this all-sufficient Savior? Have you found rest for your soul in Jesus Christ? He has, indeed, He is exactly what our souls need.
[1] Richard B. Gaffin, Jr., “Redemption and Resurrection,” found in Gaffin, “Word and Spirit: Selected Writings in Biblical and Systematic Theology,” ed. By David B. Garner and Guy Prentiss Waters (Glenside: Westminster Seminary Press, 2023), article found on pages 103-120, quotation from 106.
[2] The Apostles’ Creed.
[3] For a more in-depth discussion of these truths, see Richard B. Gaffin, Jr. By Faith, Not By Sight: Paul and the Order of Salvation(Philipsburg: Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing, 2007), 77-84.
[4] See Westminster Shorter Catechism 84.
[5] Geerhardus Vos, “The Joy of Resurrection Life,” found in Grace and Glory: Sermons Preached at Princeton Seminary (Edinburgh: The Banner of Truth Trust, 2020), pgs. 165-178, quotation on page 171.
[6] Ibid, 172.