- 145. Raise us Up
2 Corinthians 4:14 Knowing that he which raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus, and shall present us with you.
The promise of the resurrection of the body is as certain and sure as the fact that God the Father resurrected the body of the Lord Jesus. He will definitely raise up us by Jesus and present us all together with God in a resurrected and eternal state. “God raised up Jesus.” This eternal truth is the foundation of our life and hope and eternal joy. The raising up of Jesus’ body is the first resurrection. All who believe in Christ share in the first resurrection and so there is no doubt that we shall be included in the second resurrection at the last day.
We who are still alive in the body of this death have not yet been resurrected since we haven’t yet died. However, by faith we live presently in the resurrected life of Christ since we are united with Him. Therefore, New Life surrounds us and lives within us in the midst of our physical life in a physical world. Our future bodily resurrection pervades and permeates our present existence with the certain hope and an unshakable joy and a settled peace; and nothing in the spiritual or the physical world can separate us from The Resurrected Life of Jesus Christ.
The Hope and Promise of our resurrection is as real today as the physical resurrection will be actualized on That Day. This present reality is more solid and real than anything we empirically experience in life. When this life passes That Life will be seen and experienced in eternal fullness. “He will raise up us” also means that He has raised up us to be with Him now, today, and forever. We live and enjoy the resurrected life every time we hear the Gospel: God loves me; God forgives me; God gives me life; God is with me. This Gospel Truth is mine because God raised up the Lord Jesus.