Many would probably give a short, correct answer to the question, “Who raised Jesus Christ from the dead?” A slightly more detailed report from the Holy Scriptures should warm one’s heart and engender great hope.

So, who would you say raised Jesus Christ from the dead? Many, if not most, would respond by saying “God.” That is one correct answer out of four correct replies. Four? Yes four. To understand that, one would need to know the Holy Scriptures. Sadly, most people do not.

When reverentially and prayerfully studying the Holy Bible it becomes very clear there is only one God. But, it is also clear that some type of plurality is seen. Take for example Zechariah 3:1-2, “Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of YHVH (The Existing One), and Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him.

2 YHVH (The Existing One) said to Satan, "YHVH (The Existing One) rebuke you, Satan! Indeed, YHVH (The Existing One) who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is this not a brand plucked from the fire?" 

Since verse 2 begins with “YHVH (The Existing One) said to Satan” why do we not read “I rebuke you, . . . I who have chosen Jerusalem rebuke you!”? It is because God subsists eternally and personally (to us) as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Again, to understand this we may think of ourselves each as one being, but we subsist as body, soul, and spirit. So, there are not three Gods. There is only one God Who is Father, Son, Holy Spirit. Many Christians speak of this as the Trinity. I and others prefer the term “Godhead” because that word is in the Holy Bible.

In 2 Corinthians 13:14 we see God’s beautiful gifts of Himself as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit to us if we are His redeemed child. We cannot be His redeemed child unless we have surrendered our life to Him through Jesus Christ. We must believe (trust in, rely upon) that Christ died for our sins and rose again from the dead. Let us look at the work of the Godhead in Christ’s resurrection. Since most people would say God raised Christ from the dead we will begin there, then continue with His existence as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

I. God - Romans 10:9-10

“if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; 10 for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.”

Those that know Him and know His written Word realize that God is righteous and requires righteousness. Raising Jesus Christ in immortality in the midst of human history and well before the final judgment shows Jesus Christ was, and is, righteous. 

The whole counsel of the Word of God shows that believing this truth in one’s heart means the believer loves God enough to follow through with obedience to Him through Jesus Christ because they have united with Him in His resurrection. And the only way to unite with Him in His resurrection is to unite with Him in His crucifixion.

Because Jesus Christ is righteous, anyone who has Him dwelling within is made righteous. He is made righteous in two ways. Because one dies with Christ and is raised with Him the grace of God establishes the person as positionally righteous. But, as the Holy Scriptures indicate, we are to spiritually grow and when we do so this is progressive righteousness. Godly righteousness is necessary for salvation.

II. The Father - Galatians 1:1 

“Paul, an apostle (not sent from men nor through the agency of man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised Him from the dead)”.

Godly righteous may in one way be described as standing as right in the eyes of God as God requires. No one ever meets that requirement and so all stand in peril of the wrath of God. And though it is true that God is love (1John 4:8 and 16) it is also true that He is holy (1 John 1:5) and will not tolerate anything less than complete righteousness. So if it were not for the mercy of God no one could be saved.

God’s mercy is often presented as the mercy a godly earthly father has towards his children. Given the sinful and rebellious condition of today’s society it might be very difficult to think of such a father. Some people do not have a father. Some do not even know who their father is. Some have fathers who have been maligned by their mother to the degree the child has little or no respect their father. It should be no wonder, then, as why there are so many broken lives!

But the most holy and pure God is also the Father, especially of those who have been born again in Christ. Galatians 1:1 shows forth God as Father in regard to Him raising Christ from the dead which should convey to us unmeritted love and mercy from God toward us.

Each one of us are born sinful and sinners. That means our parents were sinful and sinners. So, whether we had or have a great dad or not, each one of us needs a new father. Though, in a lower way, all are God’s children (Acts 17:28), not all are redeemed and have been fully made as God’s children (John 1:9-12). When we surrender to God through Christ we become powerfully changed by Him. Consider Romans 6:4-6.

“Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. 5 For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, 6 knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; 7 for he who has died is freed from sin.”

III. The Holy Spirit (Ghost) - Romans 8:9B-11

“But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him. 10 If Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness. 11 But 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.”

While verse 11 above speaks of the Holy Spirit in regard to the resurrection of Christ I have included the last sentence of verse 9 and all of verse 10 to once again point out the need to be in Christ. One’s own spirit, which was dead before coming to Christ, is  regenerated by the Holy Spirit because of, and according to, the victorious life of Christ within the true disciple.

As God subsists as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, we ourselves subsist as body, soul, and spirit. With these two truths we see a foundational connection between us and God: our spirit and the Holy Spirit. When the Holy Scripture says “Spirit of Christ” we ought to think of the redemptive aspect of Christ. So, if we remain unredeemed we do not have the Spirit of Christ and are not a redeemed child of His. But if we are redeemed we may look forward to the first (as in “first class”) resurrection.

IV. Jesus (The Son)  John 2:19-22

“Jesus answered them, ‘Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.’ 20 The Jews then said, ‘It took forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?’ 21 But He was speaking of the temple of His body. 22 So when He was raised from the dead, His disciples remembered that He said this; and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had spoken.”

Adding to that, we read in John 10:17d-18, “I lay down My life so that I may take it again.18 No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father.”

And, let us look at one more passage, Colossians 2:9-10 which, when you read the context, refers to Jesus Christ: “For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form, 10 and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority.”

As you see, it is God -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit -- that raised Christ from the dead. One still might get a little stuck on the last sentence in John 10:18, “This commandment I received from My Father.” This speaks of subordination in the Godhead which exists for our salvation because we must be subordinate to God -- like a son. We are enabled to do that if the Son of God dwells within.

Most importantly we must realize and apply to our life that Christ is the Way, the only way, to the Father. We ought to recall that 1 Timothy 6:16 says God “alone possesses immortality and dwells in unapproachable light”. It could be said that Jesus Christ, being all God and all man, is the bridge between God and man {2}.

The New Testament records Christ saying “My God” seven times, viz., twice on the cross (Matthew 27:46, Mark 15:34), once at His resurrection (John 20:17), and four times in Revelation 3:12. This is no accident, but a beautiful indicator from Christ that if you or I make Him King of our life He, and He alone, connects us with God Who “alone possesses immortality and dwells in unapproachable light”.

By being in the Son and the Son being in us we are made a son (child) of God. He is the only true hope for anyone. There will come a time when everyone will be judged by God. The only way to escape the wrath of God is to be in the Son and to have the Son within. With that, Jesus said in John 5:26-28 “For just as the Father has life in Himself, even so He gave to the Son also to have life in Himself; 27 and He gave Him authority to execute judgment, because He is the Son of Man. 28 Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice.”

Some of the things mentioned earlier, like receiving God as our Father and being raised from the dead with Eternal Life, are indeed wonderful resurrection riches from the Godhead. None of these could be possible, though, if it were not for the greatest blessing of all, Christ, Who is the righteousness of those that truly believe. Because of His death and resurrection Christ is the very salvation we need from the wrath of God, hell, sin, the world, and our own self.

Notes:

{1} Please read God’s Beautiful Gifts Of Himself To Us at http://holybibletreasures.expertscolumn.com/article/gods-beautiful-gifts-of-himself-to-us .

{2} Please read “Does It Have To Be Jesus?” at http://newsandsociety.expertscolumn.com/does-it-have-to-be-jesus .

This article was written in the form of a sermon (message) outline with comments. God willing by April 30, 2018 HERE (hopefully much sooner), you should be able to hear the actual message (sermon) by selecting a link at http://www.sapphirestreams.com/life/audioM.html#M495 .

Unless otherwise noted all Holy Scripture is from the New American Standard Bible changing LORD to YHVH as it rightly should be when the text so indicates and adding “(The Existing One)” to readily express the meaning of His Name without making repeated explanations in articles. * = For other versions the spelling of some words is updated for our time in addition to changing LORD to YHVH as it rightly should be when the text so indicates.

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