Raised and Made Lord and Christ

The Good News · Article 5 of 10 · 2026-10-27 · Key passages: 1 Corinthians 15:4; Luke 24:39; Acts 2:32–36. Quotations are from the World English Bible (WEB); please check each one in your own Bible.

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Early on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and found the stone taken away (John 20:1). She ran to Simon Peter and the other disciple and said, “They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have laid him!” (John 20:2). Afterward she stood outside the tomb, weeping. A man spoke to her, and she took him for the gardener:

“Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned and said to him, “Rabboni!” which is to say, “Teacher!”

— John 20:15–16

Article 4 ended at the cross. Paul’s gospel goes on: “that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,” (1 Corinthians 15:4). At Pentecost, Peter told a crowd in Jerusalem, “God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.” (Acts 2:36). This article takes those two lines in turn. Who saw him alive? How did he rise? What did God make him? What does his rising mean for those who are his? It speaks of death, of graves, and of people we have lost. Some readers were taught to fear death, or to wonder whether they would be found worthy to rise. We ask you to read what the text says, and to check every word.

Passages: Acts 2:1, 14.

Read These First

• John 20:1–18: Mary Magdalene at the empty tomb.
• Luke 24:36–49: the risen Jesus with his disciples.
• 1 Corinthians 15:1–23: the gospel, the witnesses and the first fruits.
• Acts 2:22–36: Peter’s sermon at Pentecost.
• 1 Corinthians 15:35–58: how the dead are raised.
• Philippians 2:5–11: God highly exalted him.

God Raised Him on the Third Day, as the Scriptures Said

What the text says. Paul lists what he delivered to the church “first of all” (1 Corinthians 15:3), and the witnesses who saw the risen Christ:

For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to over five hundred brothers at once, most of whom remain until now, but some have also fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all, as to the child born at the wrong time, he appeared to me also.

— 1 Corinthians 15:3–8

Jesus had told his disciples ahead of time that he would “be killed, and the third day be raised up.” (Matthew 16:21). On the third day the women “didn’t find the Lord Jesus’ body.” (Luke 24:3). Two men in dazzling clothing said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? He isn’t here, but is risen.” (Luke 24:5–6). Peter preached, “God raised him up the third day and gave him to be revealed,” (Acts 10:40). The witnesses were those “who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead.” (Acts 10:41). Luke says, “To these he also showed himself alive after he suffered, by many proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days and speaking about God’s Kingdom.” (Acts 1:3). Passages: Matthew 28:5–7; Mark 8:31; Luke 24:6–8, 34; John 20:11–18.

The apostles said that this, too, was written. Peter quoted David at Pentecost: “because you will not leave my soul in Hades, neither will you allow your Holy One to see decay.” (Acts 2:27). He explained that David “spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that his soul wasn’t left in Hades, and his flesh didn’t see decay.” (Acts 2:31). Paul quoted the same psalm: “You will not allow your Holy One to see decay.” (Acts 13:35). He added, “For David, after he had in his own generation served the counsel of God, fell asleep, was laid with his fathers, and saw decay. But he whom God raised up saw no decay.” (Acts 13:36–37). The risen Jesus said, “Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day,” (Luke 24:46). Passages: Psalm 16:8–11; Acts 2:24–32; 13:30–37; Luke 24:25–27, 44–45.

What we conclude. Paul does not list which Scriptures he means in 1 Corinthians 15:4. Peter and Paul both apply Psalm 16:10 to the resurrection of Jesus, a canonical connection by quotation (Acts 2:27, 31; 13:35). Our conclusion is that the Scriptures Paul means include Psalm 16. Scripture says plainly that the tomb was empty, that many saw the risen Jesus, and that his witnesses ate and drank with him (Luke 24:3; 1 Corinthians 15:5–8; Acts 10:41). Paul says of the five hundred, “most of whom remain until now” (1 Corinthians 15:6). Our conclusion is that he invites his readers to check his testimony, as we invite you to check ours.

The disciples were not expecting their teacher to rise. When the women told them, “These words seemed to them to be nonsense, and they didn’t believe them.” (Luke 24:11). John writes of Peter and the other disciple at the tomb, “For as yet they didn’t know the Scripture, that he must rise from the dead.” (John 20:9). Mary’s own explanation lasted until Jesus spoke her name (John 20:16). Paul stakes his testimony on it openly: “Yes, we are also found false witnesses of God, because we testified about God that he raised up Christ, whom he didn’t raise up if it is true that the dead are not raised.” (1 Corinthians 15:15). Our conclusion is that Scripture does not rest on an empty tomb alone, but on witnesses who saw him alive, ate with him and were sent to say so (Acts 10:39–42). We invite readers to read Matthew 27:62–28:15, Luke 24 and John 20 whole, and to weigh them for themselves.

He Rose in His Body, with Flesh and Bones

What the text says. On the evening of that first day, Jesus stood among his disciples. “But they were terrified and filled with fear, and supposed that they had seen a spirit.” (Luke 24:37). He answered that thought directly:

“Why are you troubled? Why do doubts arise in your hearts? See my hands and my feet, that it is truly me. Touch me and see, for a spirit doesn’t have flesh and bones, as you see that I have.” When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet.

— Luke 24:38–40

Then he asked for food: “They gave him a piece of a broiled fish and some honeycomb. He took them, and ate in front of them.” (Luke 24:42–43). John records the same evening: “he showed them his hands and his side.” (John 20:20). Thomas was not there, and said he would not believe unless he could touch the print of the nails (John 20:24–25). A week later Jesus said to him, “Reach here your finger, and see my hands. Reach here your hand, and put it into my side. Don’t be unbelieving, but believing.” (John 20:27). Passages: Luke 24:36–43; John 20:19–29; 21:9–14.

Jesus had said this beforehand: “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” (John 2:19). John explains, “But he spoke of the temple of his body.” (John 2:21). Peter preached that the Christ’s “flesh didn’t see decay.” (Acts 2:31). Writing after the resurrection, Paul calls him a man: “For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,” (1 Timothy 2:5). God will judge the world “by the man whom he has ordained; of which he has given assurance to all men, in that he has raised him from the dead.” (Acts 17:31). Paul says that the Lord Jesus Christ “will change the body of our humiliation to be conformed to the body of his glory,” (Philippians 3:21). Passages: John 2:18–22; Acts 13:37; Romans 6:9.

What we conclude. Scripture says plainly that the risen Jesus had flesh and bones, bore the marks of the nails, ate, and did not see decay (Luke 24:39–43; John 20:25–27; Acts 2:31). Jesus himself said that the temple of his body, once destroyed, would be raised (John 2:19–21). Scripture also says that the risen Christ “dies no more” (Romans 6:9), and Paul calls his body “the body of his glory” (Philippians 3:21). Our conclusion is that the one who rose is Jesus himself, in the body that died, now raised to a life that cannot die. As he said, “it is truly me.” (Luke 24:39).

On 1 Peter 3:18. Peter does not say in these verses what became of the body. At Pentecost he said that David “spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that his soul wasn’t left in Hades, and his flesh didn’t see decay.” (Acts 2:31). Paul said, “But he whom God raised up saw no decay.” (Acts 13:37). Peter says that David “both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day.” (Acts 2:29). Our conclusion is that both sermons set David, who saw decay, against the one God raised, who saw none (Acts 2:29–32; 13:36–37). Neither sermon speaks of a body removed by God and left unraised. Jesus said, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” (John 2:19), and John explains, “But he spoke of the temple of his body.” (John 2:21). Paul also sets flesh beside Spirit when he speaks of the resurrection. He writes of God’s Son, “who was born of the offspring of David according to the flesh, who was declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead,” (Romans 1:3–4). Our conclusion is that Peter sets the death Christ suffered in the flesh beside the life God gave him in the Spirit. Our conclusion is also that the one made alive is the one put to death, in the body that was destroyed and raised (John 2:19–21). What Peter says next, of the spirits in prison (1 Peter 3:19–20), does not say what became of the body, and our answer does not rest on it. Nor does it rest on whether Spirit is printed with a capital letter. Passages: 1 Peter 1:1; 3:21–22; Romans 8:11.

On 1 Corinthians 15:44. Paul does not say that the dead are raised without a body. He says “it is raised a spiritual body.” (1 Corinthians 15:44). He does say, “That which you sow, you don’t sow the body that will be, but a bare grain,” (1 Corinthians 15:37). He also says of what is sown, “that which you yourself sow is not made alive unless it dies.” (1 Corinthians 15:36). “But God gives it a body even as it pleased him,” (1 Corinthians 15:38). Then he applies the picture: “It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory.” (1 Corinthians 15:43). He says, “this mortal must put on immortality.” (1 Corinthians 15:53). In the same letter Paul writes of a believer, “But he who is spiritual discerns all things,” (1 Corinthians 2:15). The one he contrasts is “the natural man” (1 Corinthians 2:14). Both are living people with bodies. Our conclusion is that what is raised is what was sown, given by God a body of glory as the grain is given its body. Our conclusion is also that in 1 Corinthians 15:44 natural and spiritual describe the kind of life the body has, not whether it is a body.

On 1 Corinthians 15:45. Paul quotes Scripture: “The first man Adam became a living soul.” (1 Corinthians 15:45). Genesis says that God “formed man from the dust of the ground” (Genesis 2:7), and that “man became a living soul.” (Genesis 2:7). Paul then says the last Adam “became a life-giving spirit.” (1 Corinthians 15:45). In another letter he names the risen Christ’s body: “the body of his glory” (Philippians 3:21). Our conclusion is that life-giving spirit speaks of the life the risen Christ gives, as living soul speaks of the life God gave Adam. Adam had a body formed from the dust (Genesis 2:7), and our conclusion is that Paul’s words do not deny the body he names in Philippians 3:21.

On 1 Corinthians 15:50. Paul’s sentence goes on: “neither does the perishable inherit imperishable.” (1 Corinthians 15:50). The next verse says, “We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed,” (1 Corinthians 15:51). Hebrews also uses flesh of Jesus: “He, in the days of his flesh, having offered up prayers and petitions with strong crying and tears to him who was able to save him from death,” (Hebrews 5:7). Our conclusion is that flesh and blood in 1 Corinthians 15:50, like the days of his flesh in Hebrews 5:7, means the body as it is now, perishable and mortal. Paul says it must be changed: “this mortal must put on immortality.” (1 Corinthians 15:53).

On 2 Corinthians 5:16. The verse begins, “Therefore we know no one according to the flesh from now on.” (2 Corinthians 5:16). The reason Paul gives comes just before: “that one died for all, therefore all died.” (2 Corinthians 5:14). “He died for all, that those who live should no longer live to themselves, but to him who for their sakes died and rose again.” (2 Corinthians 5:15). The next verse says, “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.” (2 Corinthians 5:17). Our conclusion is that Paul speaks here of how believers now regard everyone, Christ included, not of what kind of body Christ was raised with.

On the sacrifice. Hebrews says we are sanctified “through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.” (Hebrews 10:10). It says what followed that offering: “he, when he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of God,” (Hebrews 10:12). Christ was “offered once to bear the sins of many,” (Hebrews 9:28). Jesus said, “Therefore the Father loves me, because I lay down my life, that I may take it again.” (John 10:17). Paul says, “For the death that he died, he died to sin one time; but the life that he lives, he lives to God.” (Romans 6:10). Christ “was delivered up for our trespasses, and was raised for our justification.” (Romans 4:25). And if Christ has not been raised, “you are still in your sins.” (1 Corinthians 15:17). Our conclusion is that the body was offered once, in his death. Our conclusion is also that God’s raising him does not take that offering back, for Paul names the death and the rising together as the good news (1 Corinthians 15:3–4).

On the locked doors and the moments when he was not known. Luke gives the reason the two on the road did not know him: “But their eyes were kept from recognizing him.” (Luke 24:16). Later, “Their eyes were opened and they recognized him;” (Luke 24:31). Mark says that he “was revealed in another form to two of them as they walked” (Mark 16:12), but he does not say what that form was. Our conclusion is that these are the two on the road whom Luke describes (Luke 24:13–15), and that Luke gives the reason they did not know him. John gives no reason why Mary did not know him at first (John 20:14), or why the disciples on the shore did not (John 21:4). Mary knew him when he said her name (John 20:16), and on the shore the disciples knew “that it was the Lord.” (John 21:12). The women who met him that morning “came and took hold of his feet,” (Matthew 28:9). In the room with the locked doors, “he showed them his hands and his side.” (John 20:20). A week later, with the doors again locked, he told Thomas to touch the wounds (John 20:26–27). Our conclusion is that the risen body could do what ours cannot, and that it was still the body that bore the wounds. We invite readers to read Luke 24, John 20 and 1 Corinthians 15:35–58 whole, and to weigh them for themselves.

God Exalted Him and Made Him Both Lord and Christ

What the text says. After appearing to the apostles over a period of forty days (Acts 1:2–3), Jesus was taken up: “When he had said these things, as they were looking, he was taken up, and a cloud received him out of their sight.” (Acts 1:9). Jesus had told them they would be baptized in the Holy Spirit “not many days from now.” (Acts 1:5). At Pentecost, Peter told the crowd what God had done:

This Jesus God raised up, to which we all are witnesses. Being therefore exalted by the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this which you now see and hear. For David didn’t ascend into the heavens, but he says himself, ‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit by my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.”’ “Let all the house of Israel therefore know certainly that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.”

— Acts 2:32–36

In the same sermon Peter said that David knew “that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his body, according to the flesh, he would raise up the Christ to sit on his throne,” (Acts 2:30). Before his death Jesus had told the high priest, “You will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of the sky.” (Mark 14:62). Passages: Psalm 110:1; Acts 1:3–11; 2:22–31; Luke 24:50–51.

The apostles say the same thing in other words. “The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom you killed, hanging him on a tree. God exalted him with his right hand to be a Prince and a Savior, to give repentance to Israel, and remission of sins.” (Acts 5:30–31). Paul writes that God “raised him from the dead and made him to sit at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule, authority, power, dominion, and every name that is named,” (Ephesians 1:20–21). The risen Jesus said, “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth.” (Matthew 28:18). Paul writes:

And being found in human form, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to the point of death, yes, the death of the cross. Therefore God also highly exalted him, and gave to him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, those on earth, and those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

— Philippians 2:8–11

Some read Philippians 2:5–8 as life before his birth, and Article 3 and the Statement of Faith, section 15, answer them. Our conclusion is that Jesus came into existence when the Holy Spirit came on Mary (Luke 1:35; see Article 3).

“For to this end Christ died, rose, and lived again, that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living.” (Romans 14:9). Peter says he is the one “who is appointed by God as the Judge of the living and the dead.” (Acts 10:42). Paul writes, “For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.” (1 Corinthians 15:25). Hebrews says that Christ “sat down on the right hand of God, from that time waiting until his enemies are made the footstool of his feet.” (Hebrews 10:12–13). Passages: 1 Peter 3:21–22; Romans 1:4; 1 Corinthians 15:24–28; Acts 17:31.

What we conclude. Scripture names God as the one who raised Jesus, exalted him and made him both Lord and Christ (Acts 2:32–36). It names the reason: he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, and “Therefore God also highly exalted him,” (Philippians 2:9). Paul writes that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, “to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:11). Our conclusion is that to confess Jesus is Lord is to confess what God has done. God raised the one who was crucified and set him over all. Paul joins the two in one sentence: “if you will confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Romans 10:9). How a person responds is the subject of Article 7.

Christ Is the First Fruits, and Those Who Are His Will Be Raised

What the text says. Some in Corinth said “that there is no resurrection of the dead” (1 Corinthians 15:12). Paul answers that everything depends on Christ’s resurrection:

But if there is no resurrection of the dead, neither has Christ been raised. If Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith also is in vain.

— 1 Corinthians 15:13–14

“If Christ has not been raised, your faith is vain; you are still in your sins.” (1 Corinthians 15:17). “If we have only hoped in Christ in this life, we are of all men most pitiable.” (1 Corinthians 15:19). Then Paul turns:

But now Christ has been raised from the dead. He became the first fruit of those who are asleep. For since death came by man, the resurrection of the dead also came by man. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, then those who are Christ’s at his coming.

— 1 Corinthians 15:20–23

“Now God raised up the Lord, and will also raise us up by his power.” (1 Corinthians 6:14). Paul writes of “knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also through Jesus, and will present us with you.” (2 Corinthians 4:14). He says the Lord Jesus Christ “will change the body of our humiliation to be conformed to the body of his glory,” (Philippians 3:21). And: “For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus.” (1 Thessalonians 4:14). Jesus told his disciples, “Because I live, you will live also.” (John 14:19). Passages: Romans 8:11; 1 Corinthians 15:42–57; 1 Thessalonians 4:13–18; 1 Peter 1:3.

What we conclude. Paul says plainly that if Christ has not been raised, faith is vain and we are still in our sins (1 Corinthians 15:17). He says plainly that Christ has been raised as the first fruits, and that those who are Christ’s will be made alive at his coming (1 Corinthians 15:20–23). He says plainly that our bodies will be conformed to the body of his glory (Philippians 3:21). Our conclusion is that the first fruits show what the harvest will be, and that what God did for Jesus in raising him, he will do for those who are his. Our conclusion is also that the believer’s hope is a body raised, changed and made like his (1 Corinthians 15:42–44, 53; Philippians 3:21). Jesus also said that “all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and will come out” (John 5:28–29); what follows his coming is the subject of Article 10.

Questions Answered

These questions touch this article. Each is answered from Scripture and labeled. The Statement of Faith, section 15, gives the same answers.

When Jesus takes David’s throne. Our conclusion: Jesus takes David’s throne at his return. Now he sits with his Father on the Father’s throne, at God’s right hand.

Jesus said: “But when the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory.” (Matthew 25:31).

Read the other way: Acts 2:30; 15:16. Confidence: Solid. Matthew 25:31 and Revelation 3:21 are plain; Acts 2:30 is answered by its own context. Peter “spoke about the resurrection of the Christ,” (Acts 2:31).

Whether the dead are conscious before the resurrection. Our conclusion: the dead know nothing and sleep until the resurrection, when Jesus raises them.

The Preacher wrote: “For the living know that they will die, but the dead don’t know anything, neither do they have any more a reward; for their memory is forgotten.” (Ecclesiastes 9:5).

Read the other way: Luke 23:43; Philippians 1:23; 2 Corinthians 5:8; Luke 16:19–31; Matthew 22:32; Revelation 20:4; 1 Samuel 28:11–19. Confidence: Solid. The plain statements are on our side; Luke 23:43 turns on punctuation, which we say openly, and in 1 Samuel 28 Samuel speaks after he was brought up, which presses against us.

Whether salvation depends on these questions. Our conclusion: salvation depends on believing the good news about Jesus and remaining in his teaching. It does not depend on settling every question in this document.

Jesus said: “I said therefore to you that you will die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am he, you will die in your sins.” (John 8:24).

Read the other way: John 8:24; 1 John 2:23; Galatians 1:9. Confidence: Solid. John 8:24 and 2 John 9 name what is required; Romans 14:1 shows that not every question divides.

“The secret things belong to Yahweh our God; but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.” (Deuteronomy 29:29).

Where We Stand

Scripture says

• Christ was buried and was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and he appeared to Cephas, to the twelve, to over five hundred at once, to James, to all the apostles, and to Paul (1 Corinthians 15:4–8).
• The women did not find his body in the tomb, and his witnesses ate and drank with him after he rose (Luke 24:3; Acts 10:41).
• The risen Jesus said, “a spirit doesn’t have flesh and bones, as you see that I have.” (Luke 24:39); he showed his hands and his side, and he ate in front of them (John 20:20; Luke 24:43).
• Jesus spoke of the temple of his body, which would be destroyed and raised in three days, and his flesh did not see decay (John 2:19–21; Acts 2:31).
• God exalted Jesus by his right hand and made him both Lord and Christ (Acts 2:33, 36).
• God highly exalted him, so that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (Philippians 2:9–11).
• If Christ has not been raised, faith is vain; but Christ has been raised, the first fruits, and those who are Christ’s will be made alive at his coming (1 Corinthians 15:17, 20–23).
• Paul names two men who “have erred concerning the truth, saying that the resurrection is already past” (2 Timothy 2:18).

We conclude

• Our conclusion: the Scriptures Paul means in 1 Corinthians 15:4 include Psalm 16 (Acts 2:27, 31; 13:35).
• Our conclusion: the one who rose is Jesus himself, in the body that died, now raised to a life that cannot die (Luke 24:39; John 2:19–21; Romans 6:9).
• Our conclusion: 1 Peter 3:18 sets the death Christ suffered in the flesh beside the life God gave him in the Spirit (Romans 1:3–4).
• Our conclusion: the one made alive is the one put to death, in the body that was destroyed and raised (Acts 2:29–32; 13:36–37; John 2:19–21).
• Our conclusion: the body he told his disciples to touch was the body that was crucified, not one taken on for the meeting (Luke 24:39; John 2:19–21; 20:25–27).
• Our conclusion: what is raised is what was sown, given by God a body of glory as the grain is given its body (1 Corinthians 15:36–38, 42–44, 53).
• Our conclusion: natural and spiritual in 1 Corinthians 15:44 describe the kind of life the body has, not whether it is a body (1 Corinthians 2:14–15).
• Our conclusion: Peter speaks of what God gave the one born Christ the Lord, by raising him and seating him at his right hand (Acts 2:32–36; Luke 2:11).
• Our conclusion: this was authority over all, in power, as both Lord and Christ (Matthew 28:18; Philippians 2:9; Romans 14:9).
• Our conclusion: what God did for Jesus, the first fruits, he will do for those who are his (1 Corinthians 15:20–23; Philippians 3:21).
• Our conclusion: Scripture speaks of a new life now and of the raising of the body at Christ’s coming, and the first does not replace the second (Colossians 3:1, 4; Romans 6:4–5).
• Our conclusion: Paul counts his own sight of the risen Lord as a true appearance, and this does not make the earlier appearances visions (1 Corinthians 9:1; 15:8; Luke 24:39; Matthew 28:9; Acts 10:41).

Hope

Hebrews says that Jesus shared in flesh and blood “that through death he might bring to nothing him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and might deliver all of them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.” (Hebrews 2:14–15).

To John, who fell at his feet, the risen Jesus said:

“I was dead, and behold, I am alive forever and ever. Amen. I have the keys of Death and of Hades.”

— Revelation 1:18

Near the end of his chapter on the resurrection, Paul gives thanks:

But when this perishable body will have become imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then what is written will happen: “Death is swallowed up in victory.” “Death, where is your sting? Hades, where is your victory?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

— 1 Corinthians 15:54–57

Jesus said, “This is the will of the one who sent me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him should have eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.” (John 6:40).

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his great mercy caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,” (1 Peter 1:3). To those who grieve, Paul writes that he does not want them to “grieve like the rest, who have no hope.” (1 Thessalonians 4:13). Jesus said, “Because I live, you will live also.” (John 14:19).

Passages: Revelation 1:17; 1 Thessalonians 4:14, 18.

Living It Out

These are applications, offered as invitations.

• Try reading Luke 24 and John 20 in one sitting, slowly, as the first readers heard them.
• When you think of someone you have lost who belonged to Christ, you might read 1 Thessalonians 4:13–18, and share its comfort with someone else who grieves.
• Paul joins confessing Jesus as Lord with believing that God raised him (Romans 10:9). You might say both, aloud, in your own words.
• When fear of death rises, you might read Hebrews 2:14–15 and 1 Corinthians 15:54–57 again.
• Paul ends his chapter on the resurrection, “your labor is not in vain in the Lord.” (1 Corinthians 15:58). Consider what work for the Lord you might take up with that in mind.

Questions for Reflection

1. What did Mary Magdalene think had happened at the tomb, and what changed her mind? (See the opening.)
2. What did the risen Jesus say about a spirit in Luke 24:39, and what did he do next? (See He Rose in His Body, with Flesh and Bones.)
3. What did Peter say about the Christ’s flesh in Acts 2:31, and how does it help in reading 1 Peter 3:18? (See the objection under He Rose in His Body.)
4. According to Acts 2:32–36, what did God do for Jesus after raising him? (See God Exalted Him and Made Him Both Lord and Christ.)
5. What would be true, Paul says, if Christ has not been raised, and what does he say instead in 1 Corinthians 15:20? (See Christ Is the First Fruits.)
6. How does Jesus’ resurrection speak to the fear of death, or to a grief you carry? (See Hope.)

Check It Yourself

• Opening: John 20:1–18; 1 Corinthians 15:4; Acts 2:1, 14, 36.
• The third day: 1 Corinthians 15:3–8; Matthew 16:21; 28:5–7; Mark 8:31; Luke 24:1–12, 25–27, 34, 44–46; John 20:11–18; Acts 10:39–42; 1:3; Psalm 16:8–11; Acts 2:24–32; 13:30–37; John 20:2, 9, 16; Matthew 27:62–66; 28:11–15; Luke 24:11; 1 Corinthians 15:15; Acts 9:3–8; 26:13–19; 1 Corinthians 9:1.
• In his body: Luke 24:13–43; John 20:19–29; 21:1–14; Matthew 28:8–10; Genesis 19:1–3, 10; Acts 2:29; 13:36–37; 1 Peter 3:19–20; Hebrews 5:7–9; 9:28; 10:10–12; Mark 16:12; 2 Corinthians 5:14–17; John 2:18–22; Acts 2:31; 13:37; 1 Timothy 2:5; Acts 17:31; Philippians 3:21; Romans 6:9–10; 1 Peter 1:1; 3:18–22; Romans 1:3–4; 8:11; 1 Corinthians 15:36–53; 2:14–15; Genesis 2:7; John 6:51; 10:17–18; Romans 4:25.
• Lord and Christ: Acts 1:3–11; 2:22–36; Psalm 110:1; Mark 14:61–62; Luke 24:50–51; Acts 5:30–31; Ephesians 1:19–23; Matthew 28:18; Philippians 2:5–11; Romans 14:9; Acts 10:38, 42; 1 Corinthians 15:24–28; Hebrews 10:12–13; 1 Peter 3:21–22; Romans 1:4; 10:9; Luke 2:11; John 13:13.
• The first fruits: 1 Corinthians 15:12–23; 6:14; 2 Corinthians 4:14; Philippians 3:20–21; 1 Thessalonians 4:13–18; John 14:19; Romans 8:11; 1 Peter 1:3; Colossians 3:1–4; Ephesians 2:4–7; Romans 6:1–11; 1 Corinthians 15:52; 2 Timothy 2:16–18; John 5:28–29.
• Answered: Statement of Faith, section 15; Matthew 25:31; Ecclesiastes 9:5; John 8:24; Deuteronomy 29:29.
• Hope: John 6:39–40; Hebrews 2:14–15; Revelation 1:17–18; 1 Corinthians 15:54–58; 1 Peter 1:3; 1 Thessalonians 4:13–14; John 14:19.

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Next in The Good News: The Good News of the Kingdom. What was the good news of God’s Kingdom that Jesus and his apostles preached?

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© 2026 Elvis Lucas, Open the Text. Original: https://openthetext.com/series/the-good-news/05-raised-and-made-lord-and-christ/
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