Our Resurrection
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"But if the Spirit of him who raised up Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit which dwells in you" Romans 8:11
The apostle, having asserted that "there is now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus," seems to anticipate an objection, "If there is no condemnation, how is it there is any death?" This he had partly replied to when he said, "The body is dead because of sin—but the spirit is life because of righteousness." And now he proceeds to meet the objection further, by showing that, in virtue of union with Christ, a glorious resurrection is sure: "But if the Spirit of him who raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he who raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit which dwells in you" (Romans 8:11). Here is:
A Condition. "If the Spirit of him who raised up Jesus from the dead dwells in you" The Holy Spirit is called the Spirit of the Father, because he proceeds from the Father, and is a paternal gift to his children. It proves our adoption, and displays our Father's love; for after the gift of his Son—the Father could give us nothing greater than his Holy Spirit. Besides this, it is intended to prepare us to be with him, fitting and qualifying us to dwell in his presence. For as Jesus did all that was needful to be done outside us, so the Holy Spirit commences, carries on, and completes the work within us.
He dwells in all the Lord's people, working in them to will and to do of his good pleasure, witnessing to their adoption, and keeping them from ten thousand evils. He dwells in them, in the name of the Father, for the honour of the Son, and to make good the gracious promises of his word. He is our Sanctifier, separating us from the world, consecrating us to God, and producing the image of Christ within us. He is our Guide, leading us to Jesus, guiding us into the truth, and directing us in the way that leads to our Father's house. He is our Comforter, who comforts us in all our tribulations, fills us with joy and peace in believing, and enables us to abound in hope by his power.
When he once takes up his residence within us; he maintains it—He never abandons his temple or gives up his charge. Jesus is before the Father for us, and the Holy Spirit is for Jesus within us, and both the effect of the Father's infinite love to us. Mark:
The Fact Founded On The Condition. "He who raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies, by his Spirit which dwells in you." The Father raised up his Son from the dead; for though the resurrection of Christ is ascribed to himself, and also to the Holy Spirit—yet it is generally ascribed to the Father. For, as the Father delivered him up to justice, and into the hands of wicked men; as it pleased the Father to bruise him, and to put him to grief; as he committed his departing spirit into the hands of his Father; so it was most befitting that he should be raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father. His resurrection was not only his acquittal as the substitute of his people—but it was his public justification before all worlds.
The resurrection of Christ—is the pattern and pledge of ours. As Christ was raised from the dead—so shall we be. Because Christ was raised from the dead—therefore we shall be. We die, for we were represented by Adam; we shall rise again, because represented by Christ. We died through our union with the first man; we shall live through our union with the second. Jesus the head has risen, therefore all his members shall rise. As Jesus shared with us in our degradation, so we shall share with him in his glorification. The rising of the Saviour secures the resurrection of all that are saved by him.
"He shall quicken your mortal bodies."—These very bodies shall rise again. As the very body of Christ which was nailed to the cross arose, with all the marks of the scourge, thorns, nails, and spear upon it, so these very bodies of ours in which we suffer shall be raised from the grave. The same bodies—but O how will they be changed! Everything that rendered them mortal shall be done away. All defects and hindrances, all the causes of pain or suffering, gone—are gone forever. Sown in corruption, it will be raised in incorruption. Sown in dishonour, it will be raised in glory. Sown in weakness, it will be raised in power. Sown a natural body, it will be raised a spiritual body. Sown in the likeness of the first Adam, it will be raised in the likeness of the second.
Nor will our resurrection be merely by the exercise of authority, or by the exertion of power—but by his Spirit who dwells in us. On account of his Spirit, who possesses us as his temple, and claims us in the name of Christ. "By his Spirit;" by the agency and power of the Spirit, who is the bond of union between Christ and his people. As the breath appears to be the bond of union between the soul and the body, so the Spirit, whose well-known emblem is the breath, is the bond of union between Christ and the soul. The Spirit is in all the members, as he was in the Head; and as we read of Jesus, that he was "put to death in the flesh—but quickened by the Spirit," so shall we also be quickened by the Spirit. For as the germ of life lies hidden in the tiniest seed, and bursts forth into a plant or flower in the spring; so the Spirit will keep possession of the dust ot the saints until the command is given, "Awake and sing, you who dwell in dust; for your dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead."
As the Spirit wrought in Christ, so he does and will work in us; and he is in us as the earnest of our inheritance, until the redemption of the purchased possession—which is at the first resurrection. Until then he has sealed us, so that we are sacred to the Lord, and shall be kept safe until Jesus comes, who will break the seal and publicly exhibit his hidden ones before all worlds.
We are now freed from the dominion and power of sin, not being under the law—but under grace; and we shall be freed from the power of death, when Jesus comes to call us from the grave. As neither sin nor death has now any power or dominion over Jesus; so, soon, neither sin nor death shall have any power over us. We shall be free, as Jesus is free; and glorious, as Jesus is glorious! By the indwelling of the Spirit, we have a right to rise; being the children of the resurrection, we come to resurrection by heir ship! As Jesus said, "They shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world, and the resurrection from the dead," (from among the dead, the first resurrection), "neither marry, nor are given in marriage: neither can they die anymore; for they are equal unto the angels; and are the children of God, being the children of the resurrection."
And Paul seems to teach something very like this, when he says, "He who sows to his flesh, shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he who sows to the Spirit, shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting." The Holy Spirit will, therefore, be an active agent in the resurrection of the saints, when the dead in Christ will rise first. We are sure of a glorious resurrection, for the Spirit within us is the pledge of it. God will not take back the pledge he has given—but will acknowledge it, and honour it, by putting us into the full, perfect, and eternal possession, of all that he engaged to bestow when he gave that pledge—a part of which was a glorious resurrection from the dead, after the example of the resurrection of Christ.
As the Son ship of Christ was cleared, proved, and manifested by his resurrection from the dead—so will ours be. We read, "He was declared," (determined, proved, or manifested), "to be the Son of God with power, according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead." Or, he was powerfully proved or demonstrated to be the only-begotten Son of God, invested with all power, and possessing a divine nature, by the resurrection from the dead. Jesus had declared that he was divine—for this he was charged with blasphemy and condemned to die; he claimed to be the only-begotten Son of God—his claim was denied; but when he arose gloriously from the dead, invested with all power in heaven and in earth, he proved absolutely that he was divine. Well, we also claim to be the sons of God, by adoption and grace; our claim is denied, the world will not acknowledge us to be such; but when we are raised from the dead, by the power of the Spirit, in the likeness of Jesus, the matter will be placed beyond doubt. "Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun, in the kingdom of their Father."
The Spirit never gives up his hold of us, or his possession of us—no, not at death! We are as much united to Christ in death as in life; we are, therefore, said to "sleep in Jesus." The Spirit that formed the union between Christ and the soul, maintains it; so that neither death nor life can separate us from Christ, or from the love of God in him. The pleading Saviour and the indwelling Spirit will secure to us a glorious resurrection unto eternal life. The whole Church will be made alive in Christ, as his perfect, glorious, mystical body.
Lost sinners will be raised from the dead—but they will not be made alive in Christ. This is nowhere asserted of them; it is a privilege peculiar to the saints. Paul, when discussing the doctrine of the saints' resurrection—for he does not refer to the resurrection of sinners, or of those who die in sin—says, "As in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive." As all in Adam died, by virtue of their connection with him; so all in Christ shall be made alive, by virtue of their connection with him.
But are all in Christ, as all were in Adam? Certainly not. Each had his seed in him; he represented them, he communicated to them: as, therefore, Adam communicated guilt, disease, and death to all his seed; so Christ communicates righteousness, the Holy Spirit, and eternal life to all his. They live in Jesus, in life; they sleep in Jesus, in death; and they are made alive in Jesus at the resurrection.
Every man will rise in his order or rank: Christ, as the first-fruits, first; afterward, or next, those who are Christ's at his coming. Christ, the first-born, is risen, has ascended to heaven, and has sent down the Holy Spirit in his name and place into the Church: that Spirit claims, possesses, and pervades the whole Church; he has the care and charge of it, nor will he give up his charge until he raises every member of it from the dead, in the glorious likeness of Jesus; who will receive it, look upon it, and be delighted with it, as a glorious Church, without spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing!
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