All that is in the past tense. So, because of our identification with Jesus we’re made alive, we’re resurrected and, don’t stop there, we are enthroned. That’s our destiny. And Paul doesn’t put it in the future. In essence, he says if you can receive it, you’re sharing the throne with Jesus right now. But this is the outworking of Hosea 6:1B2. See how marvelously the Scripture interprets itself.

Then Paul gives a list of human witnesses. That is not irrelevant but it secondary. We’ll just look at that briefly. 1 Corinthians 15:5–8. Verse 4 says:

“He was buried, He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures.”

Verse 5:

“...that He was seen by Cephas [that’s Peter], then by the twelve apostles. After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to this present and some have fallen asleep...”

Most of them are still alive which indicates they were probably pretty young when they saw him.

After that He was seen by James, then by all the apostles. Then last of all He was seen by me also, as one born out of due time.

That’s a list of the people that were eyewitnesses of the resurrection of Jesus. Now according to Jewish law the testimony of any two reliable men was sufficient to establish something at law. But God has given far more than two testimonies for the resurrection of Jesus.

Incidentally, and this I’ll just say because it interests me, Paul says he saw Jesus as one born out of due time—as a premature birth. I’ve pondered on that for a long while but I really believe Paul was a foreshadowing of the ultimate salvation of Israel when they see the Messiah. But Paul was two thousand years in advance, he was born out of due time. You can disagree with me about that and still be saved.

Now I want to speak about the importance of the resurrection. We cannot overestimate the importance of the resurrection of Jesus. It is the decisive fact of the history of the universe. The whole history of the universe, not just the human race, revolves around the fact of the resurrection of Jesus. First of all, it was God’s vindication of Jesus. Remember, two courts had condemned Him to death: a secular Roman court, a religious Jewish court. And when He was buried He was under that condemnation but when He rose God vindicated His Son. This is expressed in Romans 1:3–4:

“Concerning His Son Jesus Christ our Lord who came of the seed of David according to the flesh and was declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of Holiness...”

And that’s a Jewish phrase of saying the Holy Spirit because actually the Hebrew for the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Holiness. Some translators don’t realize that Paul was writing in Greek but thinking in Hebrew.

“...declared to be the Son of God with power by the Holy Spirit by the resurrection of the dead.”

So when Jesus came forth out of the tomb God said, “I’ve reversed those unjust decisions. I’ve vindicated my Son. He never sinned, there’s no cause for death in Him and by my Holy Sp

Laying the Foundation

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