In His resurrection, the Lord Jesus as the Son of Man was raised from the dead and as the Son of God He resurrected Himself from the dead; furthermore, He offered Himself to the Father as the firstfruits in resurrection for His satisfaction. Hallelujah!
In 2 Tim. 2:8 Paul said, Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, of the seed of David, according to my gospel.
At a glance, this is a fairly common expression, and nothing seems to strike us.
But if we consider this a little deeper, we will realize what is being revealed here.
On the one hand, Christ died on the cross to nullify death and destroy the devil, the one who has the might of death.
On the other hand, He was resurrected from the dead!
On one hand, we need to see the Lord’s work in His death; His death is an all-terminating death, an all-inclusive death, even a death that nullifies death.
Hallelujah for the Lord’s work in His death!
On the other hand, we need to see the Lord’s person in His resurrection so that we may appreciate Him, enjoy Him, and experience Him as the resurrected Christ.
Paul’s gospel was concerning this One, Jesus Christ, who died and was raised from the dead.
Rom. 1:3-4 further strengthens this, for here Paul said that the gospel is concerning His Son who came out of the seed of David according to the flesh, who was designated the Son of God according to the Spirit of holiness, out of the resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord.
Hallelujah for Jesus Christ, our Lord, the One who not only was incarnated and died on the cross but even more, was raised from the dead and was designated the Son of God in power!
In the first part of this week we have been enjoying the wonderful work of the Lord Jesus on the cross, in which everything that was negative was done away with, and death itself was nullified to be made of none effect.
Now we want to go further and see not only what Christ accomplished in His resurrection but what He is in resurrection. His person is very important.
When we know Him, when we know who He is and what He has accomplished, we will have a proper experience of Christ, and we will enjoy and experience Him in an uplifted way.
Who is Jesus Christ? He is not only the incarnated Christ or the crucified Christ; He is the Son of God who became the Son of Man, even the seed of David according to the flesh, and He is now in resurrection.
In resurrection this One, Jesus Christ, was transfigured to become a life-giving Spirit, and He was glorified to be the firstborn Son of God!
Wow, a son of a man became the Son of God through resurrection!
The Lord Jesus Christ was Raised from the Dead as Victorious over Satan, Sin, and Death
Praise the Lord for His resurrection! The Lord Jesus Christ was raised from the dead (2 Tim. 2:8).
This word “raised” indicates Christ’s victory over death by His divine life with its resurrection power.
In Acts we see both that God raised up Jesus (Acts 2:24, 32) and that He rose from the dead (10:40-41).
How can this be? How can the Lord Jesus be raised from the dead and at the same time raise Himself from the dead?
The answer is simple yet so profound: He is the God-man, that is, He is both God and man.
![But God raised Him from the dead. Acts 13:30 Whom God has raised up, having loosed the pangs of death, since it was not possible for Him to be held by it...This Jesus God has raised up, of which we all are witnesses. Acts 2:24, 32 For Christ died and lived [again] for this, that He might be Lord both of the dead and of the living. Rom. 14:9](https://i0.wp.com/www.agodman.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/But-God-raised-Him-from-the-dead-683x1024.jpg?resize=400%2C600&ssl=1 "But God raised Him from the dead. Acts 13:30 Whom God has raised up, having loosed the pangs of death, since it was not possible for Him to be held by it...This Jesus God has raised up, of which we all are witnesses. Acts 2:24, 32 For Christ died and lived [again] for this, that He might be Lord both of the dead and of the living. Rom. 14:9")
As a man, the Lord Jesus was raised by God from the dead; God raised up Jesus from the dead as a Man (Rom. 8:11).
But as God, the Lord Jesus rose from the dead (14:9). Wow!
The Lord Jesus came as God incarnated to be a man, lived a perfect life on the earth, did the will of the Father in every way, and went to the cross to be crucified and die for us.
Through His death on the cross He terminated everything negative in the universe, accomplished the work of redemption, and released the divine life concealed within Him.
As a sign of approval, God raised Jesus Christ from the dead on the third day.
Death could not hold this One; it was not possible for the Lord Jesus to be held by death (Acts 2:24).
The Lord Jesus is both God and resurrection (John 1:1; 11:25), and He possesses the indestructible life (Heb. 7:16).
As such an ever-living One, death cannot hold Him. So the Lord delivered Himself to death, but death had no way to detain Him; rather, Christ defeated death, death was defeated by Him, and Jesus Christ rose from the dead!
Praise the Lord!
We human beings cannot fight death and overcome, but the Lord Jesus can, for He is both God and resurrection, and He has the power of an indestructible life.
Since He is resurrection, death cannot hold the resurrection life.
The more death tries to put down, kill, and hold the resurrection life, the more this life flourishes, buds, and brings forth fruit, overcoming every obstacle in its way. Praise the Lord!
One chapter in particular in the Bible speaks of resurrection; it is 1 Corinthians 15.
Here we see that Christ’s resurrection is monumental and critically necessary for our Christian life and faith.
Through His resurrection, Christ obtained the victory over Satan, the enemy of God, over the world, over sin, and over death.
Through His death He seemed to be overcome by Satan, the world, sin, and death, but His resurrection certified that Jesus Christ, a God-man, obtained the victory over Satan, the world, sin, and death! Praise the Lord!
After resurrection, Christ had a triumphal ascension to the height (Eph. 4:8) and God subdued all the enemies for Him (1 Cor. 15:25).
He will one day come to the earth with the kingdom of God (Dan. 7:13-14) to exercise God’s power and subdue everything on earth. Hallelujah!
As the Son of God, Christ raised Himself from the dead; as the Son of Man, God raised Jesus Christ from the dead.
Because this One overcame death, we can ask like Paul in 1 Cor. 15:55, Where, o death, is your victory? Where, o death, is your sting?
When we see what the Lord Jesus accomplished in His resurrection, we cannot but exclaim that death has no power over us, for He is in us as the resurrection life!
What the Lord has accomplished on the cross was not something objective but very subjective to us, for He as the life-giving Spirit came into us to live in us and impart His resurrection life into our being.
The overcoming Christ, the One who has overcome sin, death, Hades, the grave, and Satan, now lives in us.
We are one with Him (1 Cor. 6:17). We can enjoy His resurrection life day by day. Hallelujah!
When we hear that the Lord Jesus has a dual status, being both God and man, we may not be touched by it so much.
However, we need to realize that, up to the Lord Jesus’ time, since God created man, there was man on the earth and God in heaven, but they could not indwell one another.
But here was Jesus Christ, a man in whom God dwells and lives, for God put on humanity, the human nature.
Praise the Lord for this God-man!
This first God-man went through death and resurrection, and in resurrection, He was raised by God as a man, and He raised Himself up as God. What a wonderful Person!
Today He is still both God and man.
He is not just the only begotten Son of God; He is now the Firstborn Son of God, possessing both divinity and humanity.
He brought His humanity into His divinity, uplifted it, and deified it. Hallelujah!
Praise You, Lord Jesus, for Your resurrection! Hallelujah, God raised Jesus Christ from the dead, and the Lord Jesus as God raised from the dead! Praise the Lord, death cannot hold the resurrection life! God raised Jesus from the dead and He obtained victory over everything negative in the universe! Wow, it was not possible for death to hold back the Lord Jesus, for He is both God and resurrection! Amen, Lord Jesus, You possess an indestructible life, and You are ever-living. We praise You for going through death and coming out in resurrection as the first God-man. Praise the Lord Jesus for His victory over Satan, the world, sin, and death in His resurrection! Hallelujah, all of God’s enemies are under the Lord’s feet, and He is now in resurrection, even ascended far above all! Where, o death, is your victory? Where, o death, is your sting? Jesus Christ is Lord! God raised Jesus from the dead! Jesus is on the throne! Praise the Lord Jesus, our ascended Head and our life today!
In His Resurrection Christ rose from the dead to be the Firstfruits of Resurrection Offered to God for His Satisfaction
Praise the Lord Jesus for what He is and for what He has accomplished in His death and especially in His resurrection!
In His resurrection Christ accomplished the work of rising from the dead, and in particular, He rose from the dead to be the firstfruits of resurrection (John 20:17) to offer Himself to the Father for His satisfaction. Wow!
According to the record in the Gospels, we can see that there was a “secret ascension to the Father” before the open ascension of the Lord Jesus to the Father.
In John 20:17, when Mary lingered at the tomb for she wanted to see the Lord Jesus, her beloved and her Master, the Lord Jesus appeared to her.
But He said to her not to touch Him, for He had not yet ascended to the Father.
On the day of His resurrection, the Lord Jesus ascended to the Father to be the firstfruits of resurrection for His satisfaction.
This was something done in secret, only between the Father and the Son, but this lover of the Lord Jesus – Mary – delayed the Lord in His ascension because she really wanted to see Him. How sweet this is!
The type of the firstfruits is seen in Lev. 23:10-11 and Exo. 23:19.
In Leviticus we see that the sheaf of the firstfruits of the harvest needed to be brought to the priest, and he was to wave the sheaf before Jehovah; all this had to be done on the day after the Sabbath.
The sheaf of the firstfruits is a type of Christ in resurrection (1 Cor. 15:20, 23).
Christ did not resurrect on the Sabbath but on the day after the Sabbath, the first day of the week.
The Sabbath is the seventh day, and the day after the Sabbath is the first day of the week, the day on which the firstfruits of the harvest were to be offered to God. Hallelujah!
Christ resurrected from the dead on the first day of the week to offer Himself as the firstfruits of resurrection to the Father for His satisfaction.
The type and prophecy concerning the Lord Jesus as such a one was fulfilled in John 20. Praise the Lord!
On the one hand, the Lord’s resurrection was monumental and age-changing, for it was the raising up of a human being from death, overcoming death, and being victorious over Satan, death, the grave, and sin. Wow!
On the other hand, in His resurrection the Lord Jesus intimately ascended to the Father in a private way as the firstfruits of resurrection for the Father to be satisfied.
Before He could be for our enjoyment and life, He was first for the satisfaction of the Father.
The Father had to be satisfied first.
The Lord Jesus lived a life for the Father’s satisfaction, did the Father’s will, spoke the Father’s words, and did the Father’s work, and He took the Father’s will to the end, even to the end of being crucified.
The Father, therefore, was fully pleased with Him, found His delight in Him, and approved His work on the cross.
God the Father accepted the Lord’s work on the earth and sacrifice on the cross and justified Him by raising Him from the dead.
In His resurrection, the Lord Jesus secretly ascended to the Father as the firstfruits of resurrection for the Father to be satisfied. Hallelujah!
Lord Jesus, we praise You as the resurrected Christ who not only died but was also raised from the dead. We praise You as the One who rose from the dead to be the firstfruits of resurrection for the Father’s satisfaction. How we appreciate Your incarnation, human living, death, and resurrection, and all the things You did and said, for You were fully one with the Father and did the Father’s will. Amen, Lord, You satisfied the Father and You fully lived a life for the Father’s satisfaction. You are truly the firstfruits of resurrection for the Father God to enjoy and be satisfied privately and secretly. We appreciate You, Lord, and we love You. Thank You that to us You are the holy things of David, the faithful things. You not only bring us salvation and life but You are also the holy and faithful things as a gift given to us by God. We exercise our spirit to enjoy You as such a One today. We appreciate You and we love You, dear Lord Jesus!
Read this article in the Romanian language – citiți acest articol în limba română la următorul link, Domnul Isus a fost înviat din morți în biruință și ca primele roade ale învierii.
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration for this article/sharing comes from the Word of God, the enjoyment in the ministry, a sharing by the brothers in the message for this week, and portions from, Life-study of Acts (msgs. 37-38) by Witness Lee, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Being a Vessel unto Honor, a Fully Equipped Man of God, by being Empowered in the Grace which is in Christ Jesus to Fully Accomplish our Ministry in the Unique Ministry of God’s Economy (2024 April ITERO), week 4, Christ Nullifying Death and Bringing Life and Incorruption to Light, and Our Remembering Jesus Christ, the Seed of David, Raised from the Dead.
- Similar articles on this topic:
– Death and Resurrection for New Jerusalem, via, New Jerusalem blog.
– 3 Wonderful Things That Happened in the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, via, Bibles for America blog.
– 2 – The Ministry of the Spirit and of Righteousness (2), From chapter two of The Ministers in the Lord’s Recovery – Genuine Ministers of the New Covenant, via, Shepherding Words.
– The Body of Christ being produced through death and resurrection, a portion from, A General Outline of God’s Economy and the Proper Living of a God-Man, Chapter 3, by Witness Lee.
– Micah Eades: My Positive Experiences Meeting in the Local Churches, via, Living to Him.
– Resurrecting from the dead, a portion from, The All-Inclusiveness and Unlimitedness of Christ, Chapter 2, by Witness Lee.
– The Last Adam, Christ, Became a Life-giving Spirit, via, Holding to Truth in Love.
– What is the Significance of Christ’s Resurrection? More via, The Hearing of Faith newsletter.
– Resurrection, Glorification, via, New Jerusalem blog.
– Christ’s resurrection proving that He is God, a portion from, Christ is God, Chapter 1, by Witness Lee. - Hymns on this topic:
– Praise Him! Christ is resurrected! / God hath raised Him from the dead! / All the pow’r of death is swallowed, / Man from death to life is led! / Broken through are hell and darkness / And His pow’r exhibited! (Hymns #124 stanza 2)
– Death cannot hold the resurrection life, / Thru every block and barrier it breaks; / Conqu’ring the pow’r of darkness and of hell, / It swallows death and victory partakes. / Death cannot hold the resurrection life, / All of God’s fulness it will manifest; / God’s righteousness and holiness it yields, / His glorious image by it is expressed. (Hymns #639 stanzas 4-5)
– Thou art the wave-oblation, / The resurrected One; / O’er hades, death and darkness, / The vict’ry Thou hast won. / Thou art the heave-oblation, / Thou didst ascend to God; / As such in heav’nly places / Thou art our holy food. (Hymns #195 stanza 5)
About aGodMan
The Conclusion of the New Testament, pp. 785-786, by Witness Lee
Amen, how we love and appreciate the Lord Jesus who not only died for us on the cross but also resurrected from the dead.
As a man, He was raised by God from the dead, but as God, He raised Himself from the dead.
And in His resurrection He obtained the victory over Satan, sin, death, and the world.
Praise the Lord he is the one who overcame death and annulled death, and he is the resurrection life in us!
May we be those who touched this resurrection life to overcome sin, death and satan!
Amen! Thank You Lord for Your resurrection life and we take You as the victorious One in us to overcome death in us.
Amen brother. The resurrected Christ is the holy & faithful things given as a gift to us by God.
Our Christ is both God & resurrection. Therefore, NOTHING can defeat Him.
He can defeat & subdue all the negative elements in our being, and He will come to the Earth to exercise God’s power and subdue everything on Earth.
We need to know, to experience & enjoy, this resurrection life, for death cannot hold this resurrection life.
Richard C. On the one hand God raised Jesus from the dead. On the other He raised Himself up.
This shows us Christ’s dual nature – He was both divine and human; He is God and resurrection.
As the ever-living One death could not hold or detain Him.
Rather He defeated death by the power of an indestructible life! Hallelujah!
The Bible reveals that on the one hand, the Lord Jesus was raised from the dead and on the other hand He Himself rose from the dead. This is to show the dual status of this wonderful person.
The Lord Jesus, as a man, was raised by God from the dead and as God, He Himself, rose from the dead. We remember such One as the gospel!
Praise the Lord! 🙌😃🙋🏼
Amen the resurrection and life.
08/15/24 Christ Nullifying Death, and Bringing Life and Incorruption to Light and Our Remembering Jesus Christ, the Seed of David, Raised from the Dead (Week 4, Day 4)
Romans 6:9, 7:4, 8:11, 10:9, 1 Corinthians 15:20, and 2 Timothy 2:8 reveal to us that Jesus Christ was raised from the dead. But, Acts 10:41, 1 Thessalonians 4:14 reveal to us that Jesus Himself rose from the dead. Was it God Who raised the Lord from the dead, or was it the Lord Who raised Himself up from the dead? Both are correct.
We need to realize that the Lord Jesus was incarnated to be the first God-man; He is not only a man, but He is also God. After He was crucified to redeem us from sin, the Lord Jesus was resurrected. As a man, God raised the Lord Jesus from the dead; as God, He raised Himself up from the dead.
Christ’s being raised from the dead and His raising Himself from the dead indicate that He has a dual status – human and divine. Acts 2:24 says that it was impossible for the Lord to be held by death. The Lord is both Gid and resurrection (John 1:1; 11:25, possessing the indestructible, divine life (Heb 7:16). Since He us such an ever-living One, death is not able to hold Him.
After He was crucified and before He was resurrected, Christ walked through Hades, having a good sightseeing tour. Although Satan and all the powers of death tried to hold Him, at the time of His resurrection, He rose from the grave (Acts 2:24, 27). Later, as He was ascending to the heavens, He overcame the gravitation of earth. The demons desperately tried to prevent Him from leaving the earth, but He made a wonderful takeoff.
Eventually, He ascended to the heavens. As He was passing through the air, the evil spirits, the principalities and powers, tried to grasp Him and hold Him back, but He stripped them off, making a display to the whole universe. This is the meaning of Colossians 2:15, which tells us that Christ stripped off the rulers and the authorities and “made a display of them openly, triumphing over them.”
According to John 20:17, on the morning of the Lord’s resurrection, He told Mary the Magdalene not to touch Him, because He had to ascend to the Father and be offered first to the Father for His enjoyment of the freshness of the Lord’s resurrection. After God enjoyed the freshness of His resurrection, the Lord Jesus came into the midst of the disciples in the evening of His resurrection for their enjoyment (John 20:19). Here, we could see the two-fold significance of Christ’s resurrection:
1.) Christ in resurrection must first be enjoyed by God before we can enjoy Him, and
2.) All the fruit borne in the resurrected Christ should first be God’s food to satisfy Him before they can supply man to satisfy him.
In Leviticus 23:10, 11, and 15, a sheaf of the firstfruit of the harvest was offered to the Lord as a wave offering on the “morrow after the sabbath.” That sheaf of the firstfruits was a type of Christ as the firstfruit in resurrection (1Cor 15:20, 23). Christ resurrected exactly on the day after the Sabbath.
In these verses in Leviticus 23, the term “the first day of the week” is not used; instead, another term is used—“the morrow after the sabbath.” The Sabbath is the seventh day, and the morrow after the Sabbath is the first day of the week. The firstfruits of the harvest were offered to the Lord “on the morrow after the sabbath,” meaning the first day of the following week.
The firstfruits of the harvest typify the resurrected Christ. He is the firstfruit of resurrection. Since the Lord resurrected from the dead as the firstfruit of the harvest, when was the firstfruit of the harvest offered to God? It was on the morrow after the Sabbath, that is, on the first day of the week. This is not only a type but also a prophecy that was fulfilled in John 20:17 ~ the Lord first ascended to the Father for His satisfaction before He came to His disciples to be enjoyed by them.
The resurrected Christ is not only our Savior bringing us God’s salvation, and He is not only the firstborn Son of God. This resurrected One is also the holy and faithful things as a gift given to us by God.
Listen to the audio version of this article via,
Youtube:
https://youtu.be/_BuWtUPvGjE
Rumble:
https://rumble.com/v5b1et1-the-lord-jesus-christ-was-raised-from-the-dead-by-god.html
The resurrection life which is our Lord Jesus whom death could not hold but He defeated, sin, satan and death. Now the Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus Christ from the dead lives in us.
John 20:17, footnote 1 on “ascended”, Recovery Version Bible
A very good hymn on this topic is Hymns #639,
1. Death cannot hold the resurrection life,
The life of God eternal manifest;
’Tis uncreated, indestructible,
’Tis Christ Himself, unconqu’rable, expressed.
2. Death cannot hold the resurrection life,
Though all its force against it may combine;
Death only gives it opportunity
To show the boundless pow’r of life divine.
3. Death cannot hold the resurrection life,
The more interred, the more it multiplies;
All kinds of suff’ring only help it grow
And fruits of life abundant realize.
4. Death cannot hold the resurrection life,
Thru every block and barrier it breaks;
Conqu’ring the pow’r of darkness and of hell,
It swallows death and victory partakes.
5. Death cannot hold the resurrection life,
All of God’s fulness it will manifest;
God’s righteousness and holiness it yields,
His glorious image by it is expressed.
6. Oh, may I know this resurrection life,
In every kind of death its pow’r outpoured,
In my experience ever realize
This life is nought but Christ my living Lord.
Listen to it + sing it via,
https://youtu.be/2YEwSvSAGR8?si=u9pK2zbiN4zZT2Fw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2YEwSvSAGR8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_NE1GGVYuAc
Isn’t it wonderful that the Lord Jesus was a God-man. So that as God He could raise Himself but as a man He could be raised by God! Hallelujah for the wonderful God-man!