The power play of the Resurrection

The Resurrection is one of those things we Christians can easily become accustomed to, because it's been so much a part of our thinking. It almost is a given. We take it for granted because we know very well that God can do anything.

And it's familiar. We've read about it many times before. These days we might even just skim over it. We've become inoculated. It's similar to our familiarity with John 3:16. Everybody knows the verse.

I think we've robbed the Resurrection of its incredible power.

And that's what I got to thinking about: The power of the Resurrection. When we stop and think about it, the Resurrection is crazy. Coming back to life is crazy. Rising from the dead is crazy. How did we allow this to become routine and unremarkable?

When we examine the Scriptures, we discover that the Resurrection is God's power move. It is a unique and powerful statement of God's mighty move into the events of history. The Resurrection may be the top expression of God's power ever. If not number one, certainly the top five.

The resurrection is like a Michael Jordan, one of the greatest basketball players to ever play the game. Michael Jordan doesn't just beat his defender and make the shot. No, he leaves the defender in his tracks, spins around, floats 15 feet through the air, and slams it home in a.power move. The defender is not just beaten, he is humiliated. It leaves everyone speechless. How did he do that?

That's a power move. That's the power of the Resurrection.

The difference is between being effective and being exorbitant. Jesus' resurrection was much more than effective, it were an over-the-top power move. It was designed to be untoppable. There would never be anything better than the Resurrection.

Scripture tells us that satan was humiliated.

Col. 2:13-15 When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, 14 having cancelled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross. 15 And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.

He made a public spectacle of disarming the powers and authorities. Humiliation. Public shaming. Embarrassing. Totally defeated. Again, using the Michael Jordan illustration, this is like having 3 seconds left in the game, and Michael Jordan jumps from center court, does three spins, changes direction in mid air, and slams the ball through the hoop from an altitude of 20 feet.

Plus, he shatters the backboard.

Game over, we win. That's the Resurrection.

Further, the Resurrection is a power declaration from God:

Ro. 1:2-4 ...the gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures 3 regarding his Son, who as to his human nature was a descendant of David, 4 and who through the Spirit of holiness was declared with power to be the Son of God, by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord.

When God speaks it is powerful. When He makes a declaration, it shakes mountains. And when He declared Jesus, the very foundations of the universe trembled.

Power. Once I started looking at the Scriptures with this mindset, I discovered that resurrection power is a recurring theme. How did I miss this before? Let's look at some examples:

2Co. 13:4 For to be sure, he was crucified in weakness, yet he lives by God’s power. 

He. 7:15-16 And what we have said is even more clear if another priest like Melchizedek appears, 16 one who has become a priest not on the basis of a regulation as to his ancestry but on the basis of the power of an indestructible life.

Jesus is the ministering high priest who lives forever. His power is the power of the living God, indestructible and more than sufficient  He will never face the grave again, it has been so utterly defeated. The King of kings reigns in power. Power over sin, death, and the grave. Power to save completely. Power that glorifies Father and gives hope to men. He is king, and He reigns in splendor.

And, His kingdom is not a matter of talk but of power. (1Co. 4:20)

This power is about Jesus, but we need to note that it is not only for Him:

1Co. 6:14 By his power God raised the Lord from the dead, and he will raise us also.

We get to participate in this power. We benefit by also being raised to life. Resurrection power redounds to us. This verse could refer to the last day, when we are raised with Christ, but I actually think that Paul is talking about the power we enjoy as members of His body. I say that because a couple of verses later in 1Co. 6:19 where Paul talks about the indwelling Holy Spirit. He has already raised us from death to life by His power, and He also indwells us with His powerful Holy Spirit. That power is for today.

Paul wants us to know this. He wants us to understand this power at work in us, this resurrection power:

Ep. 1:18-21 I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, 19 and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, 20 which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, 21 far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come.

There it is. That resurrection power in us is the mighty strength He exercised when He raised Christ from the dead. Imagine that, the power of God in us is akin to what He exerted raising Christ from the dead! And Paul desperately wants us to know this power. That power is "for us who believe."

The message of the Cross, the Gospel, the Good News that has gone out all over the earth, that is the power we are talking about:

1Co. 1:18 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

Col. 2:11 In him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of the sinful nature, not with a circumcision done by the hands of men but with the circumcision done by Christ, 12 having been buried with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead.

 Paul himself wanted to know it:

Ph. 3:10-11 I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.

Interesting. The apostle, having himself performed signs and wonders, having seen the risen Christ on the road to Damascus, having evangelized the entire region, still longed to know the Resurrection power. Oh that we had that kind of passion!

Why wouldn't we want this kind of power in our lives?

2Pe. 1:3 His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.

Ah. That power is what we need to live our lives in godliness. We NEED this power. It is required, necessary. No option.

Ep. 6:10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.

2Ti. 1:7 For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.

I think this understanding of resurrection power is so crucial, that to not have it, or not desire it, or not pursue it, is a serious matter. In second Timothy, Paul writes about evil men in the most withering of language. They are guilty of all sorts of sin, and they are at work in the church. Paul says to Timothy that these men

2Ti. 3:5 ...having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them.

Those who deny the Resurrection power of godliness should be avoided. This is sobering. Now, we all know people who seem to be godly, and maybe they are, but perhaps they live powerless lives. In fact, they don't think the ministry of the Holy Spirit is for the church today in any fashion except through the testimony of Scripture. I wouldn't go so far as to say that these people are the people Paul is describing, but it seems prudent of us to simply obey the command to be filled with the Spirit (Eph 5:18) and get well-acquainted with the power at work in us.

The event of the Resurrection is a profound power statement. We would do well not to take it for granted, because that same power is at work in us today. We should get to know it well.