The Resurrection Promise – Part 1
We preach the resurrection
1 Corinthians 15:1-8 Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; 2 By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. 3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; 4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures: 5 And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve: 6 After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep. 7 After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles. 8 And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time.
We often take it for granted. Its so foundational that we don’t often teach on it. But the resurrection is the singular most important event in the past, present and future of mankind’s existence.
There are other things that we often focus on when we preach and teach the gospel, and when we divide truth from error and the pure gospel from the leavened bread. But the resurrection of Jesus Christ is singular the most important part of our gospel.
It is essential, it is required. It is required to have happened, and it is required for us to believe.
If you don’t believe in the resurrection, you don’t believe the gospel of Jesus Christ..
Acts 4:1-2 And as they spake unto the people, the priests, and the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees, came upon them, 2 Being grieved that they taught the people, and preached through Jesus the resurrection from the dead.
The Sadducees held the doctrine there is no resurrection, and subsequently after He rose they denied His resurrection. And when they infiltrated the churches, they held that we will not rise.
That is why they were “sad, you see”!?
We don’t encounter many modern day Sadducees, so we don’t often feel the need to preach against these errors on resurrection doctrine. But nonetheless, there are those that defile the doctrine, so we do need to strengthen ourselves, and be sure we divide truth from error on the resurrection.
The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the most essential, critical piece of the gospel for a Christian to understand and believe. I don’t think that is unfair to say. Our salvation, our gospel, stands or falls based on the truth of, and one’s belief in, that singular event.
Acts 17:18 Then certain philosophers of the Epicureans, and of the Stoicks, encountered him. And some said, What will this babbler say? other some, He seemeth to be a setter forth of strange gods: because he preached unto them Jesus, and the resurrection.
Paul preached the resurrection. All the Apostles preached the resurrection. When we preach the gospel, we preach the resurrection. But the resurrection is not just a part of the gospel. It IS the gospel.
2 Timothy 2:8 Remember that Jesus Christ of the seed of David was raised from the dead according to my gospel:
The resurrection is a required thing to believe and to confess to be saved: to be a Christian.
Romans 10:9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
The resurrection is foundational: it is part of the foundation of the Church, and it is a required doctrine to understand and confess as part of one’s salvation.
Hebrews 6:1-2 Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God, 2 Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.
When the writer lists the foundation principles, the foundation stones, the resurrection is there.
It is a foundational stone of the Church. Its so foundational a piece of the gospel that I believe it is fair to say, the resurrection is the chief and very first stone of the foundation.
Mark 12:10 And have ye not read this scripture; The stone [Jesus] which the builders rejected [killed] is become [resurrected and ascended] the head of the corner [the foundation – the chief corner stone]:
The rejection of Jesus, and His resurrection WAS ITSELF the laying of the chief corner stone. The foundation of the doctrine of Christ, the foundation of the Church, the foundation of New Jerusalem is the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Without the resurrection (the laying of the chief corner stone), there is no house of God, there is no Church, there is no eternal life.
–
It is a foundational doctrine (THE foundational doctrine) of the Church. And it is not a new doctrine. It is not a new thing at all. It was a mystery, it was hidden, but it was ordained and prophesied from the beginning.
Acts 26:21-23 For these causes the Jews caught me in the temple, and went about to kill me. 22 Having therefore obtained help of God, I continue unto this day, witnessing both to small and great, saying none other things than those which the prophets and Moses did say should come: 23 That Christ should suffer, and that he should be the first that should rise from the dead, and should shew light unto the people, and to the Gentiles.
It was kept secret since the world began, but it was prophesied and it was promised. And if Satan had known and understood it, he would never have killed Jesus. (1Co 2:7-8)
Promise of Resurrection
The Resurrection of Jesus Christ is much more than a historical event that Christians believe happened. I The Resurrection of Jesus Christ is a promise.
Acts 13:29-33 And when they had fulfilled all that was written of him, they took him down from the tree, and laid him in a sepulchre. 30 But God raised him from the dead: 31 And he was seen many days of them which came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are his witnesses unto the people. 32 And we declare unto you glad tidings, how that the promise which was made unto the fathers, 33 God hath fulfilled the same unto us their children, in that he hath raised up Jesus again; …
Belief in the resurrection of Jesus is crucial to our faith. It is required for true belief unto salvation. If you don’t believe the resurrection, you are not saved.
Why is that? Because the resurrection of Jesus Christ is a promise. It is THE PROMISE that God made to Abraham. It’s the promise of eternal life that God made to all of mankind in Abraham Isaac and Jacob.
Acts 2:31 He [David] seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption. 32 This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses. 33 Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear.
What was the promise Jesus received of the Father? The Holy Ghost. The Spirit of Life. Eternal life. The promise was the resurrection. The resurrection is the promise that was promised to Abraham, fulfilled in Jesus, the seed of Abraham. Jesus received the promise of resurrection. He had to become a man to receive the promise for men. (Psalms 68:18)
Titus 1:2 In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;
1 John 2:25 And this is the promise that he hath promised us, even eternal life.
The resurrection of Jesus is a PROMISE. The resurrection of Jesus was a fulfillment of God’s promise, and also a sign to all men that God has kept for Abraham, and will keep for all Abraham’s children, His promise of resurrection and eternal life. And He will keep it through the Seed of Abraham: God’s Son Jesus Christ.
Hebrews 9:15 And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.
It’s a promise of eternal inheritance, and you don’t get an eternal inheritance without eternal life. The promise to Abraham was that His seed, and HIMSELF included would inherit the earth in the resurrection.
Gen 17:8 And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.
Romans 4:13 For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith.
The promise to Abraham was eternal inheritance, eternal life, through his own Seed: Jesus Christ.
The promise to Abraham and to his Seed was an eternal inheritance in the resurrection.
This is the promise that we must believe to be saved: the promise of eternal life in the resurrection.
And this promise is to us, if we are of faith.
Romans 4:16 Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law [Jesus – the lawful Seed], but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all,
If we are “of faith”, “of the faith of Abraham”, then we are counted as the children of Abraham, and are also inheritors – heirs of the world.
Galatians 3:7 Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham.
They who are “of faith” are counted for the seed and SURELY receive the promise of Abraham.
We receive the promise of Abraham (the resurrection) through faith. But notice: “of the faith of Abraham”. It must be the same faith that Abraham had.
Romans 4:11-12 And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had yet being uncircumcised: that he might be the father of all them that believe, though they be not circumcised; that righteousness might be imputed unto them also: 12 And the father of circumcision to them who are not of the circumcision only, but who also walk in the steps of that faith of our father Abraham, which he had being yet uncircumcised.
That’s a big deal. We have to walk in the steps of that faith of Abraham or we do not receive the promise of Abraham: eternal life: the resurrection.
—
Romans 4:3 For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.
So what are the steps of this faith of Abraham that we must walk in to be counted children of Abraham and receive the promise of eternal life in Abraham?
Firstly, what did Abraham believe? Abraham believed God’s promise. The promise that God would make of him, by his own Seed proceeding out of his own bowels, and also out of Sarah’s womb, a son, a Seed. And all the promises of God to Abraham (“an everlasting possession”) would be through this Seed.
“In Isaac shall thy seed be called.”
But there are two times / events concerning which Abraham is said to have believed God’s promise.
Romans 4:19-22 And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sara’s womb: 20 He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; 21 And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform. 22 And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness.
The First event – Abraham believed that God would bring life out of his own (possibly dead) body and out of a dead place (Sarah’s womb). Jesus is called “the first begotten of the dead”, and also “the firstborn from the dead”. Isaac (as a figure of Christ) was born of the dead – life out of death. Abraham believed in the resurrection (the promise) before Isaac’s birth: that God would cause Isaac to be born of the dead: Sara and himself.
The Second event – Abraham believed in the resurrection (the promise), when he offered Isaac. Abraham believed that God was able to resurrect Isaac from the dead. He believed that Isaac would be raised from the dead.
Hebrews 11:17-19 By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, 18 Of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called: 19 Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure.
And this is when the Scripture was fulfilled which saith “Abraham believed God.”
Abraham believed no matter if he was dead, or Sarah was dead, or Isaac was dead, God’s promise would be kept IN ISAAC. Abraham had to believe in the resurrection of the dead: the promise of God.
Abraham had to believe in the promise (the resurrection) to receive the promise (the resurrection).
And we, walking in these same steps of the faith of Abraham, must believe that God will keep His promise to us: the promise of eternal life in Jesus. We must believe in the resurrection (being fully persuaded) to receive the resurrection.
To receive the promise, we must be fully persuaded that God is both able to, and will raise us from the dead to an eternal inheritance. But, if God is not able to resurrect this mortal body from the dead, if God cannot keep His promise through my death, if my body, or my sins, or my works or my own death could make void His promise, then I have not believed God according to the faith of Abraham, and thus I am not a child of Abraham.
Like Abraham, I must believe in the resurrection and life of Jesus (Isaac), and that I will partake of that promise of inheritance and life in Jesus, NO MATTER WHAT.
We must believe that the dead will be raised. We cannot be Sadducee.
1 Corinthians 15:12-18 Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen: 14 And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain. 15 Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ: whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not. 16 For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised: 17 And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. 18 Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished.
If there is no resurrection, then Christ is not raised, and if Christ is not raised, then there is no resurrection. The resurrection of Jesus is not just about whether Jesus rose from the dead. It is about whether we will rise from the dead. The resurrection of Christ is our only hope for resurrection.
If you don’t believe the resurrection, you are not saved. If you don’t have this hope (expectation) in you, you are not saved.
John 11:23-25 Jesus saith unto her, Thy brother shall rise again. 24 Martha saith unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day. 25 Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:
Jesus IS the resurrection. There is no one rising without Jesus. The dead cannot rise without Jesus. There is no resurrection at the last day without Jesus.
—
John 5:28-29 Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, 29 And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.
If Jesus did not rise, then NO ONE will rise. If Jesus, who is the resurrection, did not conquer death, and him that had the power of death, that is the devil, then there can be no resurrection and there can be no ending, and final judgment and giving of eternal life.
Revelation 5:3-5 And no man in heaven, nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the book, neither to look thereon. 4 And I wept much, because no man was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon. 5 And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof.
Without the resurrection of Jesus, the end cannot come; and the dead cannot rise, but all the dead would stay in the grave. And if Jesus did not rise incorruptible, the saved will not rise incorruptible.
If you don’t believe the resurrection of Jesus Christ, then you don’t believe you will be raised, and if you don’t believe that you will be raised, you don’t believe in eternal salvation. You neither understand nor believe the gospel of Jesus Christ. If you don’t believe in your own eternal salvation, if you don’t have an assurance of your salvation in the resurrection, you don’t have it.
The Sadducees could never be saved holding their doctrine. Thus Jesus told them:
Mark 12:26 … ye therefore do greatly err.
Because the resurrection of Jesus is the assurance of OUR resurrection.
Acts 17:31 Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.
The resurrection is a promise. And the resurrection of Jesus was an assurance to us that God has kept and will keep His promise. The promise that we have life in Christ. A promise that we, in Christ have, and will have, conquered death.
2 Timothy 1:1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, according to the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus,
Ephesians 3:6 That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel:
The promise of Abraham, which promise we must believe to obtain, is the promise of resurrection and eternal life in Jesus Christ, obtained by faith in the gospel of Jesus Christ.
1 John 5:10-12 He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son. 11 And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12 He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.
This is the record of Jesus Christ. This is believing on Jesus. I must believe that God gave His Son Jesus to be my resurrection and eternal life. If I have Jesus, I have the resurrection, and if I don’t have Jesus , I will not have the resurrection.
You either believe this promise, the promise of resurrection in Jesus, or you don’t have eternal life.
Owen asked me, what if you die with Him, but you don’t come back to life with Him?
That CANNOT happen. Unless God is a liar. But if God keeps His promises, we cannot stay dead.
Romans 6:8 Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him:
2 Timothy 2:11 It is a faithful saying: For if we be dead with him, we shall also live with him:
Not only can it not happen, but we cannot believe that it will happen.
“Yeah, well I gave my life to Jesus, so I died with him, but if I became a serial killer, uh yeah, that would probably hurt my chances…” THAT is NOT a faithful saying.
The resurrection of Christ, and our future resurrection in Him, is what our whole faith stands on.
2 Timothy 2:18 Who concerning the truth have erred, saying that the resurrection is past already; and overthrow the faith of some.
IF you mess up the resurrection, you overthrow faith. You defile up the gospel. You hinder your salvation. You reject your eternal life.
The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the most important event that ever has or ever will take place. It was the fulfilling of the promise of eternal life to Abraham, and it is the assurance to all men that God will keep His promise to all those that be “of faith”.
The resurrection of Jesus is the promise of life that we must believe. If it did not happen, or if we do not believe it happened, then we cannot believe that WE will have eternal life, and thus we CANNOT one day have it.
Apr 4 2021
The Resurrection Promise – Part 1
Downloadable Word document:
The Resurrection Promise – Part 1
The Resurrection Promise – Part 1
We preach the resurrection
1 Corinthians 15:1-8 Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; 2 By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. 3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; 4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures: 5 And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve: 6 After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep. 7 After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles. 8 And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time.
We often take it for granted. Its so foundational that we don’t often teach on it. But the resurrection is the singular most important event in the past, present and future of mankind’s existence.
There are other things that we often focus on when we preach and teach the gospel, and when we divide truth from error and the pure gospel from the leavened bread. But the resurrection of Jesus Christ is singular the most important part of our gospel.
It is essential, it is required. It is required to have happened, and it is required for us to believe.
If you don’t believe in the resurrection, you don’t believe the gospel of Jesus Christ..
Acts 4:1-2 And as they spake unto the people, the priests, and the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees, came upon them, 2 Being grieved that they taught the people, and preached through Jesus the resurrection from the dead.
The Sadducees held the doctrine there is no resurrection, and subsequently after He rose they denied His resurrection. And when they infiltrated the churches, they held that we will not rise.
That is why they were “sad, you see”!?
We don’t encounter many modern day Sadducees, so we don’t often feel the need to preach against these errors on resurrection doctrine. But nonetheless, there are those that defile the doctrine, so we do need to strengthen ourselves, and be sure we divide truth from error on the resurrection.
The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the most essential, critical piece of the gospel for a Christian to understand and believe. I don’t think that is unfair to say. Our salvation, our gospel, stands or falls based on the truth of, and one’s belief in, that singular event.
Acts 17:18 Then certain philosophers of the Epicureans, and of the Stoicks, encountered him. And some said, What will this babbler say? other some, He seemeth to be a setter forth of strange gods: because he preached unto them Jesus, and the resurrection.
Paul preached the resurrection. All the Apostles preached the resurrection. When we preach the gospel, we preach the resurrection. But the resurrection is not just a part of the gospel. It IS the gospel.
2 Timothy 2:8 Remember that Jesus Christ of the seed of David was raised from the dead according to my gospel:
The resurrection is a required thing to believe and to confess to be saved: to be a Christian.
Romans 10:9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
The resurrection is foundational: it is part of the foundation of the Church, and it is a required doctrine to understand and confess as part of one’s salvation.
Hebrews 6:1-2 Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God, 2 Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.
When the writer lists the foundation principles, the foundation stones, the resurrection is there.
It is a foundational stone of the Church. Its so foundational a piece of the gospel that I believe it is fair to say, the resurrection is the chief and very first stone of the foundation.
Mark 12:10 And have ye not read this scripture; The stone [Jesus] which the builders rejected [killed] is become [resurrected and ascended] the head of the corner [the foundation – the chief corner stone]:
The rejection of Jesus, and His resurrection WAS ITSELF the laying of the chief corner stone. The foundation of the doctrine of Christ, the foundation of the Church, the foundation of New Jerusalem is the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Without the resurrection (the laying of the chief corner stone), there is no house of God, there is no Church, there is no eternal life.
–
It is a foundational doctrine (THE foundational doctrine) of the Church. And it is not a new doctrine. It is not a new thing at all. It was a mystery, it was hidden, but it was ordained and prophesied from the beginning.
Acts 26:21-23 For these causes the Jews caught me in the temple, and went about to kill me. 22 Having therefore obtained help of God, I continue unto this day, witnessing both to small and great, saying none other things than those which the prophets and Moses did say should come: 23 That Christ should suffer, and that he should be the first that should rise from the dead, and should shew light unto the people, and to the Gentiles.
It was kept secret since the world began, but it was prophesied and it was promised. And if Satan had known and understood it, he would never have killed Jesus. (1Co 2:7-8)
Promise of Resurrection
The Resurrection of Jesus Christ is much more than a historical event that Christians believe happened. I The Resurrection of Jesus Christ is a promise.
Acts 13:29-33 And when they had fulfilled all that was written of him, they took him down from the tree, and laid him in a sepulchre. 30 But God raised him from the dead: 31 And he was seen many days of them which came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are his witnesses unto the people. 32 And we declare unto you glad tidings, how that the promise which was made unto the fathers, 33 God hath fulfilled the same unto us their children, in that he hath raised up Jesus again; …
Belief in the resurrection of Jesus is crucial to our faith. It is required for true belief unto salvation. If you don’t believe the resurrection, you are not saved.
Why is that? Because the resurrection of Jesus Christ is a promise. It is THE PROMISE that God made to Abraham. It’s the promise of eternal life that God made to all of mankind in Abraham Isaac and Jacob.
Acts 2:31 He [David] seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption. 32 This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses. 33 Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear.
What was the promise Jesus received of the Father? The Holy Ghost. The Spirit of Life. Eternal life. The promise was the resurrection. The resurrection is the promise that was promised to Abraham, fulfilled in Jesus, the seed of Abraham. Jesus received the promise of resurrection. He had to become a man to receive the promise for men. (Psalms 68:18)
Titus 1:2 In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;
1 John 2:25 And this is the promise that he hath promised us, even eternal life.
The resurrection of Jesus is a PROMISE. The resurrection of Jesus was a fulfillment of God’s promise, and also a sign to all men that God has kept for Abraham, and will keep for all Abraham’s children, His promise of resurrection and eternal life. And He will keep it through the Seed of Abraham: God’s Son Jesus Christ.
Hebrews 9:15 And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.
It’s a promise of eternal inheritance, and you don’t get an eternal inheritance without eternal life. The promise to Abraham was that His seed, and HIMSELF included would inherit the earth in the resurrection.
Gen 17:8 And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.
Romans 4:13 For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith.
The promise to Abraham was eternal inheritance, eternal life, through his own Seed: Jesus Christ.
The promise to Abraham and to his Seed was an eternal inheritance in the resurrection.
This is the promise that we must believe to be saved: the promise of eternal life in the resurrection.
And this promise is to us, if we are of faith.
Romans 4:16 Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law [Jesus – the lawful Seed], but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all,
If we are “of faith”, “of the faith of Abraham”, then we are counted as the children of Abraham, and are also inheritors – heirs of the world.
Galatians 3:7 Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham.
They who are “of faith” are counted for the seed and SURELY receive the promise of Abraham.
We receive the promise of Abraham (the resurrection) through faith. But notice: “of the faith of Abraham”. It must be the same faith that Abraham had.
Romans 4:11-12 And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had yet being uncircumcised: that he might be the father of all them that believe, though they be not circumcised; that righteousness might be imputed unto them also: 12 And the father of circumcision to them who are not of the circumcision only, but who also walk in the steps of that faith of our father Abraham, which he had being yet uncircumcised.
That’s a big deal. We have to walk in the steps of that faith of Abraham or we do not receive the promise of Abraham: eternal life: the resurrection.
—
Romans 4:3 For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.
So what are the steps of this faith of Abraham that we must walk in to be counted children of Abraham and receive the promise of eternal life in Abraham?
Firstly, what did Abraham believe? Abraham believed God’s promise. The promise that God would make of him, by his own Seed proceeding out of his own bowels, and also out of Sarah’s womb, a son, a Seed. And all the promises of God to Abraham (“an everlasting possession”) would be through this Seed.
“In Isaac shall thy seed be called.”
But there are two times / events concerning which Abraham is said to have believed God’s promise.
Romans 4:19-22 And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sara’s womb: 20 He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; 21 And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform. 22 And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness.
The First event – Abraham believed that God would bring life out of his own (possibly dead) body and out of a dead place (Sarah’s womb). Jesus is called “the first begotten of the dead”, and also “the firstborn from the dead”. Isaac (as a figure of Christ) was born of the dead – life out of death. Abraham believed in the resurrection (the promise) before Isaac’s birth: that God would cause Isaac to be born of the dead: Sara and himself.
The Second event – Abraham believed in the resurrection (the promise), when he offered Isaac. Abraham believed that God was able to resurrect Isaac from the dead. He believed that Isaac would be raised from the dead.
Hebrews 11:17-19 By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, 18 Of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called: 19 Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure.
And this is when the Scripture was fulfilled which saith “Abraham believed God.”
Abraham believed no matter if he was dead, or Sarah was dead, or Isaac was dead, God’s promise would be kept IN ISAAC. Abraham had to believe in the resurrection of the dead: the promise of God.
Abraham had to believe in the promise (the resurrection) to receive the promise (the resurrection).
And we, walking in these same steps of the faith of Abraham, must believe that God will keep His promise to us: the promise of eternal life in Jesus. We must believe in the resurrection (being fully persuaded) to receive the resurrection.
To receive the promise, we must be fully persuaded that God is both able to, and will raise us from the dead to an eternal inheritance. But, if God is not able to resurrect this mortal body from the dead, if God cannot keep His promise through my death, if my body, or my sins, or my works or my own death could make void His promise, then I have not believed God according to the faith of Abraham, and thus I am not a child of Abraham.
Like Abraham, I must believe in the resurrection and life of Jesus (Isaac), and that I will partake of that promise of inheritance and life in Jesus, NO MATTER WHAT.
We must believe that the dead will be raised. We cannot be Sadducee.
1 Corinthians 15:12-18 Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen: 14 And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain. 15 Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ: whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not. 16 For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised: 17 And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. 18 Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished.
If there is no resurrection, then Christ is not raised, and if Christ is not raised, then there is no resurrection. The resurrection of Jesus is not just about whether Jesus rose from the dead. It is about whether we will rise from the dead. The resurrection of Christ is our only hope for resurrection.
If you don’t believe the resurrection, you are not saved. If you don’t have this hope (expectation) in you, you are not saved.
John 11:23-25 Jesus saith unto her, Thy brother shall rise again. 24 Martha saith unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day. 25 Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:
Jesus IS the resurrection. There is no one rising without Jesus. The dead cannot rise without Jesus. There is no resurrection at the last day without Jesus.
—
John 5:28-29 Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, 29 And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.
If Jesus did not rise, then NO ONE will rise. If Jesus, who is the resurrection, did not conquer death, and him that had the power of death, that is the devil, then there can be no resurrection and there can be no ending, and final judgment and giving of eternal life.
Revelation 5:3-5 And no man in heaven, nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the book, neither to look thereon. 4 And I wept much, because no man was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon. 5 And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof.
Without the resurrection of Jesus, the end cannot come; and the dead cannot rise, but all the dead would stay in the grave. And if Jesus did not rise incorruptible, the saved will not rise incorruptible.
If you don’t believe the resurrection of Jesus Christ, then you don’t believe you will be raised, and if you don’t believe that you will be raised, you don’t believe in eternal salvation. You neither understand nor believe the gospel of Jesus Christ. If you don’t believe in your own eternal salvation, if you don’t have an assurance of your salvation in the resurrection, you don’t have it.
The Sadducees could never be saved holding their doctrine. Thus Jesus told them:
Mark 12:26 … ye therefore do greatly err.
Because the resurrection of Jesus is the assurance of OUR resurrection.
Acts 17:31 Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.
The resurrection is a promise. And the resurrection of Jesus was an assurance to us that God has kept and will keep His promise. The promise that we have life in Christ. A promise that we, in Christ have, and will have, conquered death.
2 Timothy 1:1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, according to the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus,
Ephesians 3:6 That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel:
The promise of Abraham, which promise we must believe to obtain, is the promise of resurrection and eternal life in Jesus Christ, obtained by faith in the gospel of Jesus Christ.
1 John 5:10-12 He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son. 11 And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12 He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.
This is the record of Jesus Christ. This is believing on Jesus. I must believe that God gave His Son Jesus to be my resurrection and eternal life. If I have Jesus, I have the resurrection, and if I don’t have Jesus , I will not have the resurrection.
You either believe this promise, the promise of resurrection in Jesus, or you don’t have eternal life.
Owen asked me, what if you die with Him, but you don’t come back to life with Him?
That CANNOT happen. Unless God is a liar. But if God keeps His promises, we cannot stay dead.
Romans 6:8 Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him:
2 Timothy 2:11 It is a faithful saying: For if we be dead with him, we shall also live with him:
Not only can it not happen, but we cannot believe that it will happen.
“Yeah, well I gave my life to Jesus, so I died with him, but if I became a serial killer, uh yeah, that would probably hurt my chances…” THAT is NOT a faithful saying.
The resurrection of Christ, and our future resurrection in Him, is what our whole faith stands on.
2 Timothy 2:18 Who concerning the truth have erred, saying that the resurrection is past already; and overthrow the faith of some.
IF you mess up the resurrection, you overthrow faith. You defile up the gospel. You hinder your salvation. You reject your eternal life.
The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the most important event that ever has or ever will take place. It was the fulfilling of the promise of eternal life to Abraham, and it is the assurance to all men that God will keep His promise to all those that be “of faith”.
The resurrection of Jesus is the promise of life that we must believe. If it did not happen, or if we do not believe it happened, then we cannot believe that WE will have eternal life, and thus we CANNOT one day have it.
By Pastor • Salvation • 0