Resurrection and the Kingdom of God

The Resurrection of Jesus Christ and the Explosion of the Kingdom of God into the World

The Church or as it is commonly called "the Christian Church," the group composed of billions of people and thousands of denominations, has an existence that cannot be explained apart from the Resurrection of Jesus Christ the Lord. And Jesus set the tone for the church in that he broke with tradition. It is interesting to think about it this way; for Jesus was a different kind of Messiah. He was in no way bound to the tradition of Messiahship. The Jewish people were primarily expecting someone to come and vanquish the pagans from the land of Israel. They were expecting a conquering king; instead, they got a suffering servant. Jesus came to establish the kingdom of God; not a kingdom like the one they already knew. This kingdom would be a place where God himself established his own Lordship over the people. He would rule over them and in them and transform them into his image. This is not to say that Jesus did not fit the prophetic writings proclaimed about the Messiah. Rather, it explains that "the tradition of the prophets" and what the prophets actually said are completely different. Jesus fulfilled scripture and not the tradition surrounding the scripture. In other words, Jesus defied convention—based on their expectation—not prophecy. It is for this reason that Jesus warned against following the traditions of men in Matthew 15 (see "The Principality of Tradition"). Jesus made it clear to say that we can make the Word of God lose its effectiveness. Why? Because traditions have us believing something the scriptures do not say. Jesus broke with so many traditions it is hard to recount all of them. For our purpose, the most significant is his breaking from the tradition of staying dead.

Usually when people are hung on a cross, one can say that is pretty much it. That person is gone. He's dead and not coming back. But Jesus ultimately defied tradition and did something no one else had ever done. He died and rose again, never to die anymore. We cannot say he was the first to die and rise again. We can point to several Old Testament examples of that and many in the New Testament as well. We cannot say he was the first one to be killed unjustly for it tells us in Hebrews 11, and several places in the gospels, that the prophets before Christ were persecuted and slain for being righteous. He was the only one after being martyred to return in a glorified body; never again to succumb to the pains of death. "Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him. For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God" (Romans 6:9-10). Following the example of Christ, The Church also broke from Jewish tradition. They spoke about "eternal life" and the "Spirit of God" not just for the select few but for all people. Such talk broadened the scope like never before: for the first time the people of God extended far beyond the boundaries of Israel to include "sheep" that were not of this original flock (John 10:16). It was not only the inclusiveness of a diverse group of people that marked its separation from tradition; it was also a change in what it meant to be God's people. The Church believed that they were chosen by God to represent him in the earth through their worship of and adherence to Jesus and his teachings. Many books were written, which we call the New Testament, that all testify, by the power of the Holy Ghost, to who Christ is and was. These people no longer trusted in a physical temple, ritual, and religious rites to attain salvation; they believed solely in Jesus. His example was not only one that these people chose to emulate but he was the very object of their faith. Since this point, The Church has not necessarily held to the initial outlay of what was to be called Christian. Instead, there have arisen several thousands of denominations and traditions—many of which contradict one another—and as a result we have strayed away from the original teaching of the church. The church is referred to as the "body of Christ" and we are instructed that "the Body" is one. If we are to look at the way Christianity is lived out today, we cannot see this. Rather, we see several different bodies that have their own procedures, rituals, and beliefs. There is much division and there has been for many centuries.

In this chapter, we will outline many of the beliefs that one could have seen in the earliest Church when it began as one. We do this in an effort to explain where the church was and why we are in the predicament we are in at this particular point. We want the reader to have a general understanding of the church's past so that he or she may fully understand why the "Body of Christ" is not what it claims to be. In many ways, it is more the "Body of the Antichrist" because most of our doctrines favor selfish desires, anything else except Christ.

The Power of the Resurrection

The beginning of the church starts with the resurrection of Jesus. It is only after his resurrection that we find his disciples ready to contend with the forces of darkness, for before this point they did not believe. Let us look at some of the amazing resurrection accounts included in scripture:

In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre. And, behold, there was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it. And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified. He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. And go quickly, and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead ... Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them. And when they saw him, they worshipped him: but some doubted. And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen. (Matthew 28:1-2, 5-7, 16-20)

And as they thus spake, Jesus himself stood in the midst of them, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you. But they were terrified and affrighted, and supposed that they had seen a spirit. And he said unto them, Why are ye troubled? and why do thoughts arise in your hearts? 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. And when he had thus spoken, he shewed them his hands and his feet. And while they yet believed not for joy, and wondered, he said unto them, Have ye here any meat? And they gave him a piece of a broiled fish, and of an honeycomb. And he took it, and did eat before them. And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me. Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures, And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behooved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And ye are witnesses of these things. (Luke 24:36-48)

Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you. And when he had so said, he shewed unto them his hands and his side. Then were the disciples glad, when they saw the LORD. Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you. And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost ... But Thomas ... was not with them when Jesus came ... But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe. And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst ... Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing. And Thomas answered and said unto him, My LORD and my God. Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed. And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book: But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name. (John 20:19-22, 24, 26-31)

With the resurrection of Jesus comes a commandment. There is transformation and then a commandment of what is next for the people. The resurrection is the foundation for the formation of the work of the church. After his resurrection, Jesus charged his disciples to go out and to continue his work. As John 20 and Luke 24 explain, they would be given the Holy Ghost to accomplish this feat. Jesus, in doing this, set forth a pattern for the church. His representative was to be reborn or resurrected, by receiving the Spirit of God, to accomplish the tasks of the kingdom of God.

The Spirit of God and the Work of the Church

With the precedent of resurrection set, believing in Jesus and his work, the Spirit of God came to dwell in and among the people who were recently appointed by God to do his work. Jesus broke the people from the power of tradition so that they may receive the presence of God in them. Acts 1 explains the promise of Christ to his people, "But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth" (Acts 1:8). The promise was fulfilled in Acts 2 (see "Baptize with the Holy Ghost and with Fire" and "God Bearing Witness"); the power was received to accomplish the works of the kingdom of God. Notice, once the commitment was made by the people to serve Jesus by believing they were given God's presence to dwell in them and give them power. The Holy Ghost, as is explained throughout this book, empowers the people of God to manifest the kingdom of God that Jesus spoke about in the Gospels. As Jesus operated with the power of the Spirit of God, he wanted his people to operate with this same power. In Acts 2, the first people to hear the Gospel message, the message of the kingdom of God, were the Jews. And if you follow the history outlined in Acts you will find that it follows the outline given by Jesus in Acts 1. They first preach to Jews in Jerusalem and Judea, then to the Samaritans, and then to everybody else. In doing so, the church was fulfilling the promise of God, "to the Jew first" then everyone else. "God's people" was beginning to mean more than just a group in a particular land but a group that believed in Jesus Christ the Son of God.

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