THE POWER OF THE RESURRECTION.
By Francis M. Wilcox
THE power of the resurrection is the complete victory over death. This must be true in every nature of the case. Says the apostle: "Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, He also Himself likewise took part of the same; that through death He might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil." If the one who has the power of death is to be destroyed, then death also must share in the same defeat. This is more emphatically stated in the Second Epistle to Timothy, where it says that "our Saviour Jesus Christ, . . . hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the Gospel." But does resurrection power embrace more than deliverance of Christ from the thraldom of death? If it does not, the human family would still be lost and undone. But, O blessed consolation, the deliverance of Christ through His resurrection wrought deliverance for every soul in Christ! Heb. 2:15; Rom. 4:24, 25. The Life-giver entered the prison-house of the strong man, and, defeating him in his own stronghold, brought away with Him the keys of his dominion. He says: "I am He that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive forevermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death." As Christ brought with Him the keys of death and of the grave, so there is lodged with Him the power to unlock every grave at will. "The hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall4hear His voice, 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." "For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first." This is the comfort of the sleeping saints. Their enemy does not hold the key to the tomb, but the keys of death and of the grave are in the control of One who is their Friend, and who, in their experience, both in life and death, has become fully identified with them. The Power of the Resurrection Is Victory over Sin.
That this likewise is true in the very nature of the case must be self-evident. The fullest development of sin is death. "When lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin; and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death." Death is the final fruition of sin, as sin is of lust. "For the wages of sin is death." Hence to obtain victory over the strength and power of sin,—that is, death,—is to obtain the victory over sin in its detail and fulness. Rom. 5:8-10, 17. Where There Is No Sin There Can Be No Death.
It follows logically that if death is the result of sin, then where there is no sin, there can be no death. While the end of sin is death, the end of righteousness is declared to be life eternal. Rom. 6:20-23. Christ "did no sin, neither was guile found in His mouth." He was the spotless One from God. He Himself declares, "Satan cometh unto Me and hath nothing in Me." But Christ came under the power of death. How was this possible, if there can be no death where there is no sin? In entering under the dominion of death Christ fell not as the lawful prey to the grim destroyer, but, standing in the sinner's place, He met the penalty of a broken law, suffering in man's stead, that, by the power thus attained, He might recover man from the thraldom of sin and death, and raise him up to sit with Himself in righteousness and glory. Eph. 2:4-7. "He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities." "The Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all." Christ voluntarily entered the dominion of the enemy. His soul was made an "offering for sin." He "poured out His soul unto death." He Himself declared, "I have power to lay it [My life] down, and I have power to take it again." But as Christ, on account of His righteousness, voluntarily submitted to the power of death, it could have no authority to retain Him under its dominion. He could not be holden of it. Acts 2:24. Death Can Not Hold the Children of God.
As death could not hold Christ under its dominion, when He was manifested in this world in the person of Jesus, neither can death hold Christ under its dominion when He is manifested in this world in the lives and characters of His followers. There is an antithesis between righteousness and death. Life is the fruit of righteousness, as death is the fruit of unrighteousness, and these are two great opposing principles; but righteousness and life through Christ have triumphed, and triumphed most gloriously; hence in every conflict righteousness and life must come out triumphant. "If the Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, He that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by His Spirit that dwelleth in you." Rom. 8:11. See, also, 1 Cor. 6:14. Resurrection Power in Christian Experience.
While the resurrection of the literal body is an oft-emphasized doctrine, a figure is drawn from this display of God's power at the last day to indicate the change which must take place in the life of His children in this world. Col. 2:12, 13. This, for convenience, might be termed the spiritual resurrection as distinguished from the literal resurrection at the coming of the Lord. The apostle Paul refers to this when he says that we may "know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being made conformable unto His death." Phil. 3:10. As the fellowship of Christ's sufferings will be known to His children in this life, so must the power of His resurrection be likewise experienced; and in knowing the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, and in being made conformable unto His death, we really come to know God. See Eph. 1:18-20. This resurrection is the resurrection "from dead works to serve the living God." Heb. 9:14. It is the change whereby the "old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin." He that is thus dead to sin is freed from its power. He rises to a new plane of existence; he comes to know the power of the resurrection. Rom. 6:3-11. "He is a new creature" in Christ Jesus. 2 Cor. 5:14-17. He has then risen with Christ, and his affections twine around the things of God instead of the things of this earth. Col. 3:1, 2. He has heard the call, "Awake, thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light;" and, heeding this call, he has come into the light and liberty of the sons of God. Rom. 8:14-16. He believes on the Son; hence there has been given to him the precious boon of eternal life. John 3:16; 6:47; 5:11, 12. His life may be surrendered to the Master's service. There may be a short interim of sleep; but in God's purpose it exists, and, like the life and righteousness of Christ, can not be holden by the power of the tomb. The mortal body may die, but the life will be hid "with Christ in God;" and when Christ, who is the life, shall appear, then shall every individual of his children appear with Him in glory. Col. 3:3, 4. May this be the attainment of our victory in Him. May we know the power of the spiritual resurrection in our lives here, that we may experience the transforming power of God in our mortal bodies when Jesus comes. 1 Cor. 15:51-55; Phil. 3:20, 21.