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firstborn of the dead,” Col. 1:18; Rev. 1:5, since others were restored to life before Him. It
consisted rather in this that in Him human nature, both body and soul, was restored to its
pristine strength and perfection and even raised to a higher level, while body and soul were re-
united in a living organism. From the analogy of the change which, according to Scripture, takes
place in the body of believers in the general resurrection, we may gather something as to the
transformation that must have occurred in Christ. Paul tells us in I Cor. 15:42-44 that the future
body of believers will be incorruptible, that is, incapable of decay; glorious, which means
resplendent with heavenly brightness; powerful, that is, instinct with energy and perhaps with
new faculties; and spiritual, which does not mean immaterial or ethereal, but adapted to the
spirit, a perfect instrument of the spirit. From the Gospel story we learn that the body of Jesus
had undergone a remarkable change, so that He was not easily recognized and could suddenly
appear and disappear in a surprising manner, Luke 24:31,36; John 20:13,19; 21:7; but that it
was nevertheless a material and very real body, Luke 24:39. This does not conflict with I Cor.
15:50, for “flesh and blood” is a description of human nature in its present material, mortal,
and corruptible state. But the change that takes place in believers is not only bodily but also
spiritual. Similarly, there was not only a physical but also a psychical change in Christ. We
cannot say that any religious or ethical change took place in Him; but He was endowed with
new qualities perfectly adjusted to His future heavenly environment. Through the resurrection
He became the life-giving Spirit, I Cor. 15:45. The resurrection of Christ had a threefold
significance: (1) It constituted a declaration of the Father that the last enemy had been
vanquished, the penalty paid, and the condition on which life was promised, met. (2) It
symbolized what was destined to happen to the members of Christ’s mystical body in their
justification, spiritual birth, and future blessed resurrection, Rom. 6:4,5,9; 8:11; I Cor. 6:14;
15:20-22; II Cor. 4:10,11,14; Col. 2:12; I Thess. 4:14. (3) It is also connected instrumentally with
their justification, regeneration, and final resurrection, Rom. 4:25; 5:10; Eph. 1:20; Phil. 3:10; I
Pet. 1:3.
b. The Author of the resurrection.
In distinction from others who were raised from the dead,
Christ arose through His own power. He spoke of Himself as the resurrection and the life, John
11:25, declared that He had the power to lay down His life, and to take it up again, John 10:18,
and even predicted that He would rebuild the temple of His body, John 2:19-21. But the
resurrection was not a work of Christ alone; it is frequently ascribed to the power of God in
general, Acts 2:24,32; 3:26; 5:30; I Cor. 6:14; Eph. 1:20, or, more particularly, to the Father,
Rom. 6:4; Gal. 1:1; I Pet. 1:3. And if the resurrection of Christ can be called a work of God, then
it follows that the Holy Spirit was also operative in it, for all the opera ad extra are works of the
triune God. Moreover, Rom. 8:11 also implies this.