Our Lord Jesus Christ was born of a virgin, anointed by the Holy Spirit, went about doing good and healing all that were oppressed of the devil, and then was slain because of the murderous hatred of envious religious leaders. His death on the cross was an offering to God, an atonement for our sins.

Then Christ was raised physically from the dead. His body walked away from the burial cave of Joseph of Arimathea. Christ is alive today at the right hand of God and through the Holy Spirit is able to be everywhere at once among all of His saints, both in Heaven and on the earth.

Christ is gloriously, imperishably alive.

But the fact that Christ is alive and at the right hand of the Father is not the issue of central importance in the mind of Christ and the Father. For unlike us, Christ possessed eternal life at the right hand of the Father from eternity. He was eternally alive before He was born of Mary.

Christ was in Heaven before He was born. Also, He appeared many times on the earth. Christ is the "Lord" who called Abraham from Ur of the Chaldees. Christ is the Creator who convinced Job of his frailties. Christ is the "I Am" who appeared to Moses; who dwelled in Glory between the golden wings of the cherubim in the Holy of Holies.

Christ has always possessed eternal resurrection life. It is no new or surprising circumstance that He is alive. The eternal purpose of God has not been accomplished in the fact that Christ is eternally alive at His right hand. There has been one change, however. Christ now is resurrected Man. He is the Firstborn of man from the dead.

The issue of central importance in the mind of Christ and the Father is the resurrection of the saints, of the Body of Christ, of the Church, of the Bride of the Lamb. This is the eternal purpose of God in Christ.

Let us keep in mind that all that we say in this paper is based on the atoning death and triumphant, bodily resurrection of Christ.

The resurrection of the saints is of monumental importance in the eyes of Christ. That Christ Himself is alive forever is merely reestablishing what always has been true.

God already has raised Christ from the dead. That resurrection is the foundation of the Christian redemption. But it is the resurrection of Christ in our heart that is to be the focus of our attention.

Our resurrection is Christ. We are part of His resurrection. He is alive in us. His resurrection from the dead is magnified in us. This is the aspect of His own resurrection that Christ desires. He is seeking to show His Life in us. The world will behold the risen Christ in us.

There are two principal aspects of our resurrection: (1) the outer resurrection; and (2) the inner resurrection.

The outer resurrection.

The inner resurrection.

We will speak first of the outer resurrection.

Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have. (Luke 24:39)

To be continued.