The God who Called us is the God of Resurrection, the Resurrecting Triune God

When God comes to call us, first we see who we are (thornbush, men of flesh under God’s curse – yet with the divine fire burning in us and not consuming us) and then we see who God is.

The God who calls us is the great I am, the ever-existing and self-existing God, the God who is everything to us meeting all our needs. The God who calls us is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our spiritual fathers!

Today we want to see what it means that the God who calls us is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He is NOT the God of the dead, but of the living (Matt. 22:29-33) – He is the God of resurrection, the resurrecting Triune God!

Right now in our being, we have the God of resurrection, and He is resurrecting our being as we daily turn to Him and enjoy Him. He is filling us with His resurrection life, and we as called ones will eventually fully be in resurrection!

Inwardly, God is operating as the resurrecting Triune God, and outwardly, we need to cooperate with His operation by being in resurrection and doing everything in resurrection for the building up of the church! Hallelujah for the God of resurrection, the resurrecting Triune God!

If There Were No Resurrection….

Our Christian life and hope is based on the matter of resurrection – we firmly believe that God has raised Jesus Christ from the dead, and now this Jesus Christ is the life-giving Spirit coming into our spirit and being the resurrection life in us (1 Cor. 15:45).

In Corinth, there were some who taught that there was no resurrection….what would happen if there is no resurrection? There’s a footnote in 1 Cor. 15:12 in the Recovery Version that speaks clearly concerning “what if there’s no resurrection” – I’ll quote a portion of it below,

Resurrection is the life pulse and lifeline of the divine economy. If there were no resurrection, God would be the God of the dead, not of the living (Matt. 22:32). If there were no resurrection, Christ would not have been raised from the dead. He would be a dead Savior, not a living One who lives forever (Rev. 1:18) and is able to save to the uttermost (Heb. 7:25). If there were no resurrection, there would be no living proof of our being justified by His death (Rom. 4:25 and note), no imparting of life (John 12:24), no regeneration (John 3:5), no renewing (Titus 3:5), no transformation (Rom. 12:2; 2 Cor. 3:18), and no conformity to the image of Christ (Rom. 8:29). If there were no resurrection, there would be no members of Christ (Rom. 12:5), no Body of Christ as His fullness (Eph. 1:20-23), and no church as Christ’s bride (John 3:29), and therefore no new man (Eph. 2:15; 4:24; Col. 3:10-11). If there were no resurrection, God’s New Testament economy would altogether collapse and God’s eternal purpose would be nullified.

But Hallelujah, there is resurrection, and our God is the God of resurrection! Even more, our God is the resurrectING Triune God – He is continually and constantly resurrecting our being!

As we are enjoyING Him He is resurrectING us; as we are callING on His name He is renewING us; as we are praisING and singING, He is resurrectING our being! It is all in the present continuous tense!

It’s not, we called on the Lord a while ago, and He gave us some life.… NO! Today, right now, we are those calling on His name, praising the Lord, enjoying Him, and singing to Him, and He is continually resurrecting us, renewing us, transforming us, conforming us, and even glorifying us! Hallelujah for resurrection and the resurrecting God!

The God of Resurrection, the Resurrecting Triune God

Paul believed in the God of resurrection, knowing that while in prison he can enjoy God as the One who is everything he needs, and if he is martyred, he will enjoy God as the God of resurrection! He even desired to be conformed to His death that he may attain to the out-resurrection from the dead (Phil. 3:10-14).

Today we are enjoying God not as the God who does all kinds of outward things for us, but as the God of resurrection. In every situation of death, He has an opportunity to manifest His resurrection life. We don’t want to know God merely according to what He does outwardly, but know God in His ways, in His being (Psa. 103:7).

Whether or not God does something for us outwardly to save us from a certain unpleasant situation or suffering-inducing environment means nothing. God simply is – He is the resurrection life, and He operates inwardly, in our being, to remove any death in our being and fill our being with life.

Outwardly things may change or they may not, but inwardly we know the God of resurrection! Specifically from the lives of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, we see:

• Our God is God the Father who calls us, justifies us, and equips us to live by faith and live in fellowship with Him our entire Christian life (see the life of Abraham, Gen. 12:1; 15:6; chs. 17—18; 19:29; 21:1-13; 22:1-18). We have been called, justified, and equipped to live a life by faith (Gal. 2:20), and we eat the Lord to live because of Him (John 6:57).
• Our God is God the Son who blesses us with the inheritance of all His riches, with the life of the enjoyment of His abundance, and with a life in peace (see the life of Isaac, Gen. 25:5; 26:3-4, 12-33). We are so “fortunate”, just like Isaac: all we have to do is enjoy God’s absolute and unconditional grace, which is the Triune God Himself with all His riches!
• Our God is God the Spirit who works in all things for our good – He transforms us and makes us mature in the divine life so that we may be able to bless all the people, rule over the earth, and satisfy people with Christ as the life supply (see the life of Jacob with Joseph, Gen. 27:41; 28:1—35:10; chs. 37; 39—49; Rom. 8:28-29). The Spirit makes sure we are transformed and also matured, so that we may be filled with life and minister life to others, blessing them with the Triune God!

Triune God, we love You! Thank You for being in us as the resurrection life, giving us the hope of fully resurrecting our being to make our body a glorious one to match You for ever! Thank You for calling us, justifying us, and equipping us to live a life by faith, a life by enjoying You. Thank You for bringing us into the enjoyment of the unconditional and absolute grace of God! Thank You for operating in us as the Spirit to transform us and mature us in the divine life that we may bless others with the Triune God! We love You, Triune God!

References and Further Reading

• This sharing is inspired from brother Dick Taylor’s speaking in this message and portions in, The History of God in His Union with Man (ch. 10), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, ITERO spring 2013 “The Experience, Growth, and Ministry of Life for the Body“, week 5 entitled, Being a Qualified Servant of God by Having the Complete Experience of a Called One.
• Similar sharing on other blogs:
  # What is Resurrection? (via, lifeandbuilding.com).
  # Quotes from Watchman Nee in, The Normal Christian Life (via holdingtotruth.com).
  # About the Recovery Version Bible – why I love it (via stefanmisaras.com).
• Hymns on this topic:
  # But there is a resurrection / Which is the vitality, / Both the life pulse and the lifeline / Within God’s economy.
  # Lord, by Your mercy You consume me. / It’s all according to God’s plan. / By resurrection life renew me, / Day by day, my inner man.
  # 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.
• Pictures credit: my edited instagram and Matt. 22:32 here.