Ocean of Grace (42): TUESDAY – Resurrection Sweetness (p140ff)

 Lent Book: https://www.thegoodbook.co.uk/an-ocean-of-grace

 

My jottings:

 

(Comments welcome)

 

Ocean of Grace (42): TUESDAY – Resurrection Sweetness (p140ff)

 

Reflect on how and why God loved us (Romans 8:37). How was that love demonstrated and proved? Give thanks that nothing can separate us from the love of Christ (Romans 8:35). We are secure because our salvation does not depend on our performance but on God’s grace, his undeserved love for us, and all that he has done for us in Christ. God promises to keep all his people and to bring us safely to glory. We may have real assurance, which is not presumption or self-confidence, as we trust in Jesus. We depend on God and his promises and nothing could be more sure.

 

Notice the unbroken golden chain on Romans 8:28-30. The point here is that none are lost at any stage. God’s people are called, foreknown, predestined; predestined, called, justified, glorified. God’s foreknowledge is not mere prediction or anticipation nor merely an operation of his omnipotence (he knows in advance that we will believe). It is something much more active and personal. God foreknows his people. It is relational as when Adam knew Eve. It speaks of God’s sovereign choice.

 

We are glorified spiritually speaking in Christ (we are joined to him by faith in the Spirit) in the heavenly realms and we will be glorified. Our future glorification is so certain it can be spoken of as a past event which is already accomplished in Christ. Now it is a reality already in Christ; one day we will have the full enjoyment of it when sorrow and sin are ended.

 

* * *

 

We rightly emphasise the centrality of the cross. But all Christ’s saving work incarnation-birth-life-death-resurrection-reign-return etc. really belongs together. We sometimes concentrate on the importance of the historical evidence for the resurrection: we want to show that the tomb was empty, and that’s vital. But we would also do well to reflect on its significance. Jesus was raised from the dead. So what? Certainly the resurrection proves that Jesus was who he claimed to be and that the cross worked, but the Bible has much more to say about why the resurrection matters and what it means for us.

 

You might find something in the following notes useful (which I think are based on Sam Allberry’s book, which I highly recommend):

 

Why the resurrection matters (1 Cor 15)

 

The meaning / significance on the resurrection

So what? What the resurrection can do for you:

 

Sam Allberry, Lifted: Experiencing the resurrection life (IVP, 2010) 144 pages ISBN: 9781844744237 £6.99

 

(1) ASSURANCE

 

(a) The resurrection assures us that Jesus was who he claimed to be

 

(b) The resurrection assures us of what Jesus has done

 

Rm 4:25; 1 Cor 15:17

 

“the resurrection is the consequence and demonstration of our salvation because death is the consequence and demonstration of our sin.”

 

Death as the wages of sin Gen 2:17; 3:2-5, 19; Rm 6:23

 

(2) TRANSFORMATION

 

Spiritually raised now (Col 3:1), physically raised at Final Day (Rm 8:23)

 

God gives life & new life - Rm 4:17; 1 Sam 2:6; Ez 37; Ps 16:10; Phil 2

 

(a) New life - Eph 2:1-10

(b) New perspective - Col 3:1-4

(c) New conduct - Eph 5:8, 11-14 Col 3:5, 8–10; Acts 4:32–35

(d) New power - Rom 8:9–11; Rom 6:5–14

(e) New ambition - Phil 3:10-11

 

(3) HOPE

 

Mistake 1: The mistake that the resurrection has already taken place (2 Tim 2:17-18)

 

(a) Wrong to think: We have it all now

 

 

 (b) Wrong to think: This is all there is

 

Mistake 2: There is no resurrection of the dead (1 Cor 15:12)

 

Jesus is the first of many - Rm 8:11

 

Look at nature:

(i) put death in, get life out - 1 Cor 15:36

(ii) what you get out wasn’t what you put in - 1 Cor 15:37-38

(iii) God is, of course, able to give things the appropriate kinds of bodies - 1 Cor 15:39-41

 

Look at the risen Jesus:

1 Cor 15:49; Phil 3:21

 

Continuity & discontinuity - 1 Cor 15:42–44

 

Resurrection hope for creation - Rev 21:1, 5; Is 65:17; 11:6–9; Gen 9:11; Mt 19:28; 1 Cor 15:58

 

“God says, ‘I will make all things new’, not ‘I will make all new things’.”

 

Frustration & Promise - Rm 8:19-22

 

(4) MISSION

 

Acts 17:30-31

 

The exaltation of Jesus - Phil 2:5-11

 

The reality of judgement - Rm 1:3-4; Dan 12:2; John 11:25; Acts 4:1-2

 

The necessity of mission - Mt 28:19-20

 

 

 

Hymn: Love’s redeeming work is done

 

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzmjFmXZVo8

 

Words: https://www.jubilate.co.uk/songs/loves_redeeming_work_is_done_jubilate_version