Right here. Right now.

Christ's resurrection & our enjoyment of God

What difference would it make to you if Jesus’ resurrection hadn’t happened? And I don’t just mean about what you believe, but also how you experience life.

As we’ve have been seeing in this recent series of posts, Jesus’ resurrection wasn’t just an add-on to his death on the cross. No, like the cross, the resurrection was an instrumental part of God’s plan of salvation in Christ. So let me ask you again, what difference would it make to you if Jesus’ hadn’t been raised from the dead?

A chirpy Charnock

When I recently asked that question to a room full of guys at the South West Men’s Convention, there was a range of answers. Some talked about the difference Christ’s resurrection makes to their future. Others discussed the impact it had on their past. But there were some who didn't talk about either of those things. Instead, they talked about the influence Christ’s resurrection had on their experience of life right here, right now.

Stephen Charnock would be pleased. This is because Charnock saw in Christ’s resurrection not only the declaration of our righteous relationship with God (which we thought about last time) but also our enjoyment of our relationship with him. And, at least if my experience is anything to go by, you don't tend to hear many Christians talk about that today. Perhaps it's the same for you too.

Resurrected bodies

My sense is that lots of believers have a fairly clear idea of the relationship between Christ’s resurrection and the promises which God has made about what will happen to us when Christ returns in the future. So, for example, we might think of what the Apostle Peter said near the beginning of his first letter:

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you. (1 Peter 1:3-4, ESV)

Christ’s resurrection has secured for us all the blessings that we will enjoy when he comes again. And when you read these verses alongside what the Apostle Paul has to say in passages like 1 Corinthians 15, it soon becomes clear that these will include the resurrection of our own bodies.

Resurrected souls

But, as important as Christ’s resurrection is for our enjoyment of life in the future, we shouldn’t miss its impact on our life now. As Charnock wrote, after quoting 1 Peter 1:3,

The spiritual resurrection of any one soul is as much the effect of this resurrection of Christ, as the resurrection of bodies shall be at the last day.

I must admit that, when I first read what Charnock said here, it came as a surprise to me. Because whilst I often think of the connection between Christ’s resurrection and the bodily resurrection promised to us on the last day, I don’t normally think about it in relation to the spiritual resurrection which God has worked in me ever since I first became a Christian. I suspect that I am not the only one.

Charnock elaborated on his thinking like this.

[B]y the resurrection of Christ, God having declared himself pacified, hath opened all the treasures of his grace to Christ for the framing a new generation in the world to serve him; without which merit of the suffering, and discharge thereupon, there could not have been a mite of grace given out of God’s treasury for the renewal of the image of God in any one person.

Charnock was saying that, without first reconciling our relationship with him through Christ’s death and resurrection, God could not graciously work in our lives to help us grow into the people God made us to be.

Peace making

It’s an unusual point, so it’s worth dwelling on a little further. Charnock went on:

That power which doth raise any soul from a death in sin, would never have wrought in any heart without this antecedent to it, it would have wanted the foundation of satisfaction, for God only sanctifies as a God of peace. And therefore the power which was exerted for the raising of Christ from the grave was put forth as a power to work in the hearts of all his seed.

Because God cannot graciously work in the life of someone who is at war with him, God must first make peace with them. And because God has declared that peace to his people in Jesus’ resurrection, all of his work in them can only flow out of Jesus’ resurrection.

Soul saving

Before thinking about our bodies on the last day, we should think of the difference Christ’s resurrection makes to our souls today. This is not only important for our understanding of Jesus’ resurrection but all manner of things in the Christian life.

Take evangelism, for instance. I am sure we have all got people in our lives whom we sometimes doubt whether even God is powerful enough to save. For me, the first person I always think of is my dad. He has been an atheist for over 70 years. Sure, I still look for opportunities to talk about God in conversations. I occasionally buy him books that I think my persuade him of the truth of the gospel. He even watches my preaching online. But with every year that passes I find myself increasingly doubting whether God can save him.

But in those sorts of moments, there is something we can do. We can think of that first Easter and remind ourselves that when Jesus was buried in the ground, his disciples doubted God too. Jesus’ resurrection gives us the courage to keep going. To keep praying. To keep saying. Because, if God was able to raise Jesus from the dead, he can certainly save my dad. And he can certainly save that person in your life too.

Sin breaking

But its not just our evangelism. What Charnock highlights here about the impact of the resurrection on our life now also has an impact on our discipleship. Because Jesus’ resurrection is not only the cause of our conversion, it is also the cause of our ongoing sanctification. After quoting Ephesians 1:19-20, Charnock explains that Jesus’ resurrection 

was also a pattern of that power which should be employed for doing all works necessary in the hearts of those that believe. It is the fountain from whence all spiritual life streams down to us; by this God put into him the spring of the Spirit of life to flow out upon all his seed.

As we think of the problems that we might have with anger or selfishness or jealousy or money or alcohol or pornography - whatever they might be - we don’t need to lose heart. Yes, the thought of addressing those issues might seem daunting. Frankly, at times it might seem all but impossible. But in the minds of the disciples the resurrection of Jesus was impossible too. Because the reason God did the impossible in raising Jesus from the dead was not only so that he might resurrect your body on the last day. It was also so that all the things you need to grow spiritually might be given to you. Right here. Right now.

I hope you have enjoyed this installment of Stephen Charnock on the resurrection. Join me again next time as we come to the final thing Stephen Charnock had to say on the resurrection of Christ.