The Resurrection Reveals the God Who Makes All Things New

Last week, we discussed the God who was killed. Jesus from Nazareth, the God-man, died by Roman execution. This is Good Friday, the main event to which the Christian calendar points. In death, Jesus showed us what it meant to be truly human. He demonstrated a full submission to the powers and authorities, laying down his life for the sake of his creation.

We stopped there last week, but the Christian narrative doesn’t stop there at all. Paul, the prolific evangelist of the first century, says,

If Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins. Those, then, who have fallen asleep in Christ have also perished. If we have put our hope in Christ for this life only, we should be pitied more than anyone. (1 Cor. 15:17-19)

For the Christian, the Resurrection of Jesus is where it all starts and stops. I’ve heard some argue that if we don’t believe in a literal seven-day creation or world-wide flood, then we aren’t truly Christians. That’s not what Paul says. He says that Christ is our hope in the here and thereafter because the Resurrection happened.

When Jesus arrives at the scene of his friend Lazarus’ funeral, Lazarus’ sister Martha says, “Lord, if you have been here, my brother wouldn’t have died.” She recognizes Jesus’ power over life and death.

Jesus responds, “Your brother will rise again.”

Martha affirms her belief in the resurrection, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”

Jesus declares, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me, even if he dies, will live. Everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?”

“Yes, Lord,” she tells him, “I believe you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who comes into the world.” (John 11:21-27)

Resurrection and faith are closely aligned in the Christian worldview, as demonstrated in Jesus’ conversation with Martha and then his well-recorded reappearance after having been confirmed dead. Paul affirms that hundreds witnessed Jesus’ return from the dead (1 Cor. 15:3-5). Luke describes a wonderful scene in which Jesus appears to two disciples on their way home after the untimely death of their rabbi (Luke 24:13-35). John tells us no less than three times that Jesus appeared to various disciples, including a personal appearance to Mary Magdalene and an odd instance of walking through a locked door to where his disciples gathered (John 20:11-29).

I’ve heard it said that the Christian faith isn’t only about being saved from death, but also being saved to life.

Many traditions seem to stop at the Cross (this was discussed in detail last week). The Resurrection seems almost an afterthought.

In our series on the biblical foundations of salvation, we’ve walked through the story of God meeting his people where they were at each stage.

How does the Resurrection continue this story?

Firstly, the Cross and the Resurrection ought not to be separated. While the Church has historically celebrated them in very different tones (Good Friday is somber and gloomy as we mourn the death of Christ, while Easter Sunday is joyful in celebration of Christ’s victory over sin and death), they are the same event—Jesus overturns the ways of this world to create an entirely new creation and way of life. The kingdom of God is at hand.

And yet, there is a parallel to the events of the Garden, Exodus, and Exile. Just as the humans were exiled from the presence of God at the Garden and the Promised Land, Jesus is exiled to death. Three days are spent in the wilderness of death, and then he returns to the land of the living, just as Israel returned to the land after their exile.

Jesus embodies all of humanity, carrying on the story that began at Creation. He also embodies Israel, God’s chosen people, and perfectly carries out their divine prerogative to bring life to the land by defeating the enemy—Death.

All the symbolism of the Bible is carried forward in Jesus. Humanity is restored to wholeness as Jesus absorbs the rebellion of violent, hateful humans when they nail him to a cross.

This is where I see the atonement theory of Christ the Victor as most dominant of all the theories. Christ descended to the depths and emerged victorious, like Jonah who spent three days in the belly of Sheol (Jon. 2). Unlike Jonah, Christ emerged and preached the gospel to his disciples, who then brought the good news to all the nations, and they were glad. (Peter even goes so far as to say that the dead Christ preached the gospel to the dead—quite a theological puzzle for the traditional orthodox Christian belief of eternal damnation… whoops.)

Paul agrees that victory over death is a key component of the resurrection.

When this corruptible body is clothed with incorruptibility, and this mortal body is clothed with immortality, then the saying that is written will take place: Death has been swallowed up in victory. Where, death, is your victory? Where, death, is your sting?… But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ! (1 Cor. 15:54-55, 57)

But it isn’t only victory over death in the spiritual sense; this is where some interpretations take on a Platonic twist by suggesting that the physical body is somehow less important than the spiritual body which will be resurrected.

Let’s make no mistake—the resurrection is physical.

The hope of Jesus’ resurrection is that he is raised from the dead in his entirety—body, soul, mind, spirit, and whatever else you think makes up the human person.

Jesus makes this clear when he eats fish and bread with his disciples (Luke 24:30, 42-43). His resurrected humanity includes his body. He’s not a ghost or spirit. This means that the Christian worships in body and spirit; therefore, going for a walk or playing a basketball game can be just as “spiritual”—by which we usually mean an experience in which we intentionally draw near to God and feel God’s presence—as attending a church service or reading the Bible.

The biblical text says that the entire human being is resurrected; this is demonstrated by Jesus as the “first” of the resurrection and points forward to the whole resurrection of humanity.

I’ve heard this abused in charismatic traditions that say that physical healing is and must be the reality of all Christians here and now. I don’t deny that God is still at work and healing the illnesses and brokenness of humanity; I see this at work everyday. I do, however, reject the notion that all Christians are or ought to be entirely healed of their physical and mental illnesses, generational trauma, and systemic brokenness right now. I’ve seen too many suffering people to say that this is true. It’s not a matter of not having “enough faith.”

We are working toward the goal of full Resurrection, yes. Our medical systems, health research, psychological breakthroughs, and social programs point toward this kingdom reality. However, our present human reality states that we will not achieve this reality on this side of Jesus returning to our world.

This is the Christian hope and worldview—we eagerly await the return of our Lord, who will make this earth and all creation new and whole again.

Other religions (and some Christian branches) take very different perspectives of the end of humanity, either

Annihilistic (the world will burn anyway),
Exclusivistic/monastic (only the faithful will achieve enlightenment by holy separation from the rest of the world), or
Reincarnationist (perfection will be possible eventually, if not in this lifetime, then then next).

In contrast, the biblical story says,

God created humans to be his image bearers in the world that he created. Human rejected this in favour of their own rule and power. God exiled them from his presence.
God didn’t give up on his people, but saw their suffering and released them from captivity. He named them as his own people and himself as their God.
God made it possible for his people to draw near to him by setting up rules and regulations for worship and life.
When they insisted on rebellion (again), God exiled them from his presence into the land of the enemy. Even then, he saved a remnant, promising to return them to their land again in exchange for their worship (maybe this time they’ll learn).
The return to their land isn’t as glorious as they hoped; God’s presence doesn’t return to the land (yet) and they are subjected to the rule of other foreign powers.
Finally, God returns to the land, this time as a human named Jesus. He teaches and shows the people what the kingdom of God is all about—it’s a fulfillment of the prophets who foresaw the glorious return of God and the true worship that would happen in the land.
Unfortunately, the way Jesus proclaimed this kingdom was offensive to the Jewish ruling elite and was potentially dangerous to Rome, so he was killed. Exiled. The end.
In a stunning turn of events, this exile is not the end, and Jesus returns to the land (AGAIN), demonstrating that these powers have no effect on him; he is God and God cannot be defeated. Instead, he offers a way of life contrary to the assumptions of the people—a way of humility, love, kindness, gentleness, and forgiveness, even to their sworn enemies.
Thus, God’s presence is in the land, and not only the Jewish land, but begins to spread through the entire world as his disciples bring this good way of life everywhere they go (more on that next week!).

Exile and return, the age-old story of the Bible.

This return, the healing of the land and the presence of God, is salvation. The resurrection teaches us that God has been weaving a story of redemption throughout the entirety of Scripture, and that it culminates in Jesus the Messiah.

It’s unexpected. The Jews didn’t expect this kind of Messiah, and many found it offensive. Many Romans also found it offensive, since their allegiance was to Caesar as Lord and to swear otherwise was potentially dangerous. Today, many in the modern secular world find it offensive that Christians hold to a resurrected God-man as our Lord, since rationality reigns as cultural king and faith is a remnant of a bygone superstition.

Except, as I interact with others, I find that many are open to spirituality. There is a new burst of interest in the spiritual, because we’ve found that rationality and logic only carry us so far and that’s not very far at all. Love and empathy are left out in the cold approach of Western modernism. Apparently, there is a desire for connection with the Divine despite the secular push against it.

It is to this faith-seeking population that I ask, What if the resurrection of Jesus was real? What might it mean that God became human, died, and rose again so that all of creation could be reconciled to him and to one another?

Notice that I don’t talk much about a personal relationship with Jesus. It’s not that the relationship isn’t important; it is. But the biblical narrative is about more than “me and Jesus.” It’s about us and Jesus—us here and now, but also us historically and globally, humanity and nature alike. Jesus came to bring restored life everywhere, not for me to keep to myself, but to live in a community and world that is living and working toward a better world that is made possible because he showed us how to live it.

In Miss Congeniality, the primary desire of each debutante is “world peace,” which is mocked by undercover agent Gracie Hart. And yet, as the film closes and her true identity is revealed after successfully deterring an attack on the competition, she states tearfully, “I really do want world peace!”

Don’t we all? We may mock the dream of world peace or ending world hunger, mostly out of fear that it will never come true. Or, can we, like so many who have dedicated their lives to advocating for the poor, war refugees, illiterate, sex workers, or AIDS-stricken, say that we, too, have a vision for world peace, as the book of Isaiah says,

The wolf will dwell with the lamb,
and the leopard will lie down with the goat.
The calf, the young lion, and the fattened calf will be together,
and a child will lead them.
The cow and the bear will graze,
their young ones will lie down together,
and the lion will eat straw like cattle.
An infant will play beside the cobra’s pit,
and a toddler will put his hand into a snake’s den.
They will not harm or destroy each other
on my entire holy mountain,
for the land will be as full
of the knowledge of the Lord
as the sea is filled with water. (Is. 11:6-9)

Salvation for all, made possible in the Resurrection of Jesus the Christ, the God Who Makes All Things New.

The Cross and the Quill is all about diving deep into various theological topics and considering how the biblical and historical context informs how we think about these things. If you liked this article, consider sharing it with your friends or subscribing to the newsletter below!

Photo by Zdeněk Macháček on Unsplash

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