Christ’s Resurrection Is the Resurrection Itself

There are persons who rose before the resurrection of Christ and after the resurrection of Christ. The resurrection of those individuals was a private personal experience that did not exceed a return of the person to the first life in the earthly body for a period, and then death again. But the resurrection of Christ was a comprehensive event—not individual—an absolute horizon upon the whole creation and all that is in it, with a new cyclical effect that surpasses both death and life together in their natural material state.

The resurrection of the dead was a widespread doctrine and a meaning essentially connected to death—and indeed to life itself—even before the resurrection of Christ. Christ addressed it during His life to prove that it is a great matter that takes its being after death, and that it is connected not only to man because he dies, but also to God who is the source of life:

“But concerning the dead, that they rise, have you not read in the book of Moses, in the burning bush passage, how God spoke to him, saying, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living.” — Mark 12:26–27

The Resurrection Was the Goal of Christ

As for the Apostle Paul, he clearly sees the resurrection of the dead in its comprehensive form as a subject before him, and he determined to complete it no matter the cost of suffering and death:

“Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn Him to death and deliver Him to the Gentiles to mock Him and scourge Him and crucify Him. And on the third day, He will rise.” — Matthew 20:18–19

Therefore, the Apostle Paul places, in sequential order, the existence of the principle of the resurrection of the dead before the resurrection of Christ—not only in terms of cause and reason, but also in terms of faith and doctrine. Thus, if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not risen; and if Christ has not risen, then our preaching is in vain and also in vain is your faith (1 Cor 15:14). Meaning that Christ came to complete or inaugurate a work that has been suspended throughout the ages, and it is a fundamental part of man’s creation, his salvation, his happiness, and his relationship with God. For Christ, and Christ alone, first abolished the power of death and thus the power of sin, and thereby bound Satan to open the way for man to eternal life and immortality.

The Resurrection of Christ Was Confirmed, and Extended Throughout All Human Nature

The resurrection of Christ is not merely one of Christ’s deeds, but an inherent being with its complete positional meaning. So the resurrection and eternal life were hidden in Him, but they were manifested by His power:

“Martha said to Him, ‘I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.’ Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live.’” — John 11:24–25

The resurrection of Christ is not confined to His person, but extends as a comprehensive work that permeates all human nature, i.e., mankind as a whole:

“For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive, but each in his own order.” — 1 Corinthians 15:22–23

The resurrection here is not merely an affirmative answer to the problem of death, but a deep-seated need inherent in the essence of man’s creation, which God created in His image, tending towards perfection. So the resurrection from the dead to attain eternal life is the ultimate goal of God’s wisdom towards us.

“For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead.” — 1 Corinthians 15:21

“And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses... and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.” — Ephesians 2:5–6

“For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection.” — Romans 6:5

That is, if the death Christ died for all mankind was a universal act that embraced human nature as a whole—meaning He became human—then likewise the resurrection embraced human nature as a whole, and thus every human being, because the human nature that His divinity united with is in reality an absolute essence representing all humanity.

This does not mean in any way that our resurrection equals His resurrection, but rather it only means that His resurrection contained us, considering Him the Absolute All:

“...who is before all things, and in Him all things consist . And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence. For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell.” — Colossians 1:17–19

This is for everyone who believes, because union with Christ remains an act of faith, acceptance, and will—both from God and from man:

“No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day.” — John 6:44

This is because our resurrection derives its being, strength, light, and form from the power of His resurrection. It resembles His resurrection inasmuch as it is united with Him, but at the level of the union of the limited with the absolute.

Therefore, the Apostle Paul clearly explains this point by saying about our union with His death and resurrection:

“For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection.” — Romans 6:5

For if by faith and baptism we resemble Him in the death of the cross and resemble Him in the glory of the resurrection, that is because He was the first to seek to resemble us in everything to facilitate our union with Him, so that we may invest in the power of His death and the power of His resurrection:

“Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.” — Hebrews 2:14–15

“Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For in that He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted.” — Hebrews 2:17–18

And thus, the saying of the Apostle Paul becomes clear:

“But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.” — 1 Corinthians 15:20

Meaning, He rose, declaring the beginning of God’s kingdom—arising as the usher of the age of resurrection and as the one who will undertake the raising of all the departed who died in faith with the hope of resurrection, each in his own order, and that on the Last Day. “And I will raise him up on the last day”—this statement was continually on the lips of Christ to declare the essence of His message and the manifestation of the peak of His power and wisdom together.