Mt. 27:62-28:8, What do ya’ know: Christ is Exalted! (1)

Doctrinal Statement: We believe in the resurrection of the crucified body of our Lord, in His ascension into heaven, and in His present life there for us, as High Priest and Advocate.

In our last post we concluded that Christ died for us.  We believe that!  In todays post proclaim that Christ is exalted.  We also believe that!  Just so we all know that there is no conflict between these two things, here are some passages that teach both the suffering and the glory of Christ, in the same passage.

His Suffering Psalm 22:1-21 Psalm 69:1-21 Isaiah 52:13-53:10 Philippians 2:6-8 1 Peter 1:11a

His Glory Psalm 22:22-31 Psalm 69:30-36 Isaiah 53:11-12 Philippians 2:9-11 1 Peter 1:11b

In that last passage Peter tells us that the OT prophets (up through John the Baptist) struggled to understand how both these things could be true.  After Jesus came, died for our sins, and then was resurrected and ascended to heaven there was no longer any struggle. 

1)    God has highly exalted Christ in His resurrection from the dead.  All four of the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John) tell the story.  Today’s reading was from Matthew’s version.

a)    Christ’s resurrection proves His Lordship.  His resurrection declares in a most powerful way that He is the Son of God (Rom. 1:4).  For to this end Christ died and rose and lived again, that He might be Lord of both the dead and the living (Rom. 14:9).  Part of His exaltation is that He is given a name above all names and everyone, both His followers and His enemies, will declare this to be true (Phil. 2:9-11).

b)    Christ’s resurrection provides new life for us.  The Bible calls it newness of life (Rom. 6:4).  It is Christ’s “resurrection life” because by it we are made alive who were dead in trespasses and sin (Rom. 6:5; Col. 2:12-13). 

c)    Christ’s resurrection provides future resurrection for us.  If the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you (Rom. 8:11).  The NT is emphatic on this (1 Cor. 15:20-23; 1 Th. 4:13-18).

d)    All of this is true for us ONLY if we believe in Christ, the resurrected Lord.  His righteousness is “imputed” or “put to our account” who believe in Him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead (Rom. 4:24).  If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe i your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved (Rom. 10:9).