Please turn with me tonight to Romans chapter 1, Romans 1, as we read together the first seven verses, with a particular focus on verse 4, Romans 1, and when you have found that, if you would turn in the back of the Psalter hymnal to page 24, page 24, Lord's Day 17, One question and answer for us as we now begin to consider the exaltation of our Savior. The first step in His exaltation, the resurrection. Page 24, Lord's Day 17, we will first confess what we believe concerning this question 45. How does Christ's resurrection benefit us? First, by his resurrection, he has overcome death so that he might make a share in the righteousness he won for us by his death. Second, by his power, we too are already now resurrected to a new life. Third, Christ's resurrection is a guarantee of our glorious resurrection. Romans chapter 1, beginning at verse 1, as we now hear the inspired, infallible, inerrant word of God. Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God, The gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures regarding his Son who, as to his human nature, was a descendant of David and who, through the Spirit of holiness, was declared with power to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord. Through him and for his name's sake we receive grace and apostleship to call people from among all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith. And you also are among those who are called to belong to Jesus Christ. To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints, grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. Beloved, let's bow together in prayer. Father, once again as we bow before you, we do so to thank you in a particular way for Your Word. Your Word of life, which You have given to us, even Your Son, Jesus Christ. Your inscripturated Word that testifies to the truth of Him and the salvation that He alone came to bring. We confess, Father, that apart from the working of Your Holy Spirit, we cannot understand what You have to say to us here, what You have written for us. But with your Spirit, we can see clearly. We pray that you would bless us now, work in our hearts and lives, bless the one who brings your word. Father, that he might do so with humility in and of himself, but in the strength of your Spirit. And remove from us anything that would hinder us from receiving your word in faith. And may we ever live to give you thanksgiving and praise for all of your blessings to us. Hear us, we pray, for Jesus' sake. And in his name alone we pray. Amen. Beloved in the Lord Jesus Christ, the angel said to the women, Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. He is not here. He has risen, just as he said. What an announcement. What an unbelievable announcement for those women to hear on that first Easter morning. Yet no doubt in their minds, how could that be? In fact, it's an announcement that's so unbelievable that again we have to say that there have been so many throughout history and there continue to be so many today. So many who have not believed it, so many who do not believe it. You see, boys and girls, when it comes to the resurrection of Jesus, We can't prove it with the tools of science. Even historically, it's hard to prove. After all, He didn't appear after His resurrection to the world of unbelievers. He only appeared to His followers. And even today, we know that there is a group that continues to search in a quest to search for the historical Jesus. Yet we know and we believe the truth of Christ's resurrection because of the testimony of His apostles and His followers recorded for us in the inspired Word of God and worked in us by the Holy Spirit through faith. And we also know, as has been said, that the truth of Christ's resurrection is the hinge upon which the door of salvation turns, upon which it opens or closes. It is the hinge upon which salvation stands or falls. Even as Paul says in Romans chapter 10, Whoever confesses with his mouth that Jesus is Lord and believes in his heart that God raised him from the dead, he will be saved. We confess it in our creeds, the Apostles' Creed, that's what we're considering tonight. But also, you may recall, in the Athanasian Creed, another faithful summary of the Word of God with regard to the Trinity. In article 29, it says, it is necessary to everlasting salvation that the believer also believe rightly. And then it lists the steps of Christ's humiliation and His exaltation, including the resurrection. It is necessary to everlasting salvation that he also believe rightly the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The resurrection is the hinge upon which salvation stands or falls because without it, Christ's humility and suffering unto death is meaningless. Without Christ's resurrection, it isn't finished. He has failed. But the resurrection is the God, the Father's amen, as it were, to the sons. It is finished. And the resurrection of Jesus Christ means that God is satisfied. He is satisfied with the work of His Son. And He is satisfied with us as His children. and I think that might be one of the reasons why the Catechism, the Heidelberg Catechism in Lord's Day 17 does not ask if the resurrection is a fact. It doesn't even consider that, as you notice. But it assumes it. It assumes it's a fact. And instead, Lord's Day 17 focuses on how the resurrection benefits us. It points to Christ's work accomplished through His suffering, and that work then applied to us. And therefore tonight, as we consider this first step in our Lord's exaltation, I would like to consider with you what the resurrection meant and means for Christ, and then how it flows to us. And I believe that Romans 1-7 is helpful in this respect, especially verse 4. Now, I trust you could see very clearly that these verses are Paul's introduction to the entire letter, But within this introduction, he speaks of the Son in verse 4, who through the Spirit of holiness was declared with power to be the Son of God by His resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord. Now, before we go any further, there are a couple of details that we need to consider here, and that is because this verse really is a very difficult verse in the Greek. And therefore, we need to ask, well, what is meant by Spirit of holiness? Does it mean Holy Spirit? Or is it talking about the holiness that characterizes Christ's nature, His Spirit? There are faithful theologians on both sides of the fence, as it were. And then with regard to the two words, with power, what are they modifying? Do they modify the word declared so that Paul is talking about declared or declaration with power, a powerful declaration, or do they modify Son of God so that He is the Son of God with power, or do they modify resurrection, that it's a powerful resurrection? Because in a sense, we could agree with either one of those three. Now the New International Version that we have in our pews, really, I have to say, those who put that together did us a bit of a disservice because they lead us in one particular direction. they lead us to read it as if Spirit of Holiness is talking about the Holy Spirit. And as if the words with power modify declaration, or declare so that it's declaration with power. But there are other faithful translations, the English Standard Version, the New King James, the New American Standard, for example, as well as others, that together closely follow the Greek more literally, and all together they say something to the effect that Jesus Christ was declared to be the Son of God in or with power according to the Spirit of holiness by His resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord. And therefore at the beginning I have to say to you that I believe, I agree with those who say that Spirit of holiness is not talking about the Holy Spirit, but it's talking about holiness that characterized Christ, Spirit, and nature. And I also agree with those who say that the words with power modify Son of God so that He is the Son of God with power. Now Paul says here, he identifies himself, and says that he is called to preach the gospel of God. And very succinctly then, he points to the fact that the essence of the gospel of God has to do with the truth of the central figure of that Gospel. Jesus Christ and His salvation. And in very few words, Paul points out that Jesus Christ alone is the uniquely qualified mediator between God and man. Paul says in verse 3 regarding His Son, who as to His human nature was a descendant of David, pointing to His human nature, the fact that He is a man. But Paul would have us know that the Gospel has to do with a central figure who is more than just a man. And it's as if he goes on to say, if you didn't believe it before, consider his resurrection. You see, with regard to the other details that we talked about, whatever you may think of those, one thing is clear from this verse, and that is that the resurrection of Jesus Christ gives a declaration. It declares something. And therefore, tonight, we consider Christ's resurrection declaration. And with regard to that declaration, notice first of all, it's undeniable proof. And I point you to it's undeniable proof of the truth of His claims. As Paul says, by the resurrection, He was declared to be the Son of God. The resurrection of Jesus Christ declares Him to be the Son of God. It is undeniable proof of the truth of His claims of Himself. You see, Jesus, we know, when He walked this earth, He was open about the fact that He is the Son of God. He never tried to cover that up. He set it straightforward throughout the Gospels. You read it over and over and over again. Uncountless times. Uncountable times. That He speaks of God as His Father. In John 10, verse 30, He says, I and my Father are one. In John chapter 17, verse 1, that prayer which we call his high priestly prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane before his crucifixion, he says, Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son that your Son may glorify you. That was his claim. And the resurrection is undeniable proof of the truth of his claim. But it was not only a claim that he made about himself, it's a claim that others made about him. His own Father, Heavenly Father, made that claim. In Psalm 2, the Lord says, You are My Son, pointing forward to the Messiah to come, Jesus Christ. At His baptism, the heavens opened and a voice was heard, This is My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. But also by His followers. In John 1, verse 49, Nathanael says, You are the Son of God. Martha, in John 11, verse 27, I believe you are the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world. Peter's powerful testimony in Matthew 16, verse 16, You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. The resurrection is undeniable proof of the truth of the claims of Jesus, that He is the Son of God. But the resurrection did not make Him the Son of God, boys and girls. He always was the Son of God. He always has been from eternity. He claimed to be before Abraham was. And again, in that high priestly prayer, He speaks to the Father of the glory that I had with you before the world began. And as well, beloved, these claims we know are claims that led to the cross. In John 19, verse 7, we read, The Jews insisted, as that is trial, the Jews insisted we have a law, and according to that law, He must die because he claimed to be the Son of God. And we know that already earlier in his ministry, the Jews wanted proof. They demanded proof of his identity, that he was who he claimed to be. In John 6, verse 30, right after the miraculous feeding of the 5,000 men, plus women and children, so a whole multitude, with just a few loaves and a few fish, we read, So they asked him, what miraculous sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? Right after that miraculous feeding. What arrogance. You see, beloved, the proof was plentiful. The proof was plentiful in the writings of the prophets. The prophets pointed forward to him. He was fulfilling already at that time the words of the prophets. It was plentiful in the signs that Jesus already performed in addition to this miracle, healing the sick, casting out demons. It was plentiful in his own testimony, his own powerful word, but that plentiful proof was not enough. Because in the eyes of the people, visibly, he still looked like the servant that he came to be. And therefore, in essence, they demand that he glorify himself in the flesh before their very eyes. But Jesus did not give in to their demands. He would not let anyone or anything sidetrack him from the purpose for which he came. But he would soon give proof that was more powerful and more certain than the proof for which they asked. And that proof would be in the offering of himself. Yet, that proof that he would give, that proof that was powerful and certain that he would give, would make it seem like he was anything but the Son of God. You see, beloved, Christ's suffering and death, unto death, as the one cursed of God, would prove his enemies right. Right? Wrong. You see, only the way of death for the Lord of glory, only that way of death that seemed to make his glorification and his revelation impossible, Only the way of death would prepare the way to give a powerful proof of his identity more than any other way could have. Christ's sonship would be made known by nothing less than his resurrection. A resurrection which was unique to him and a resurrection which also gives undeniable proof to the fact of his power. His resurrection declared him to be the son of God with power. Divine power. A power that was not recognized by man before and during his suffering and crucifixion unto death. But a divine power that raised himself from the dead, even as he said he would in John 2.19. He said, destroy this temple and I will raise it again in three days. And of course, he was talking about the temple of his body. And by rising from the dead, he kept his word and he affirmed that the resurrection was his own work. And that then also pointed to the fact of his power in himself to raise himself. In John 10, verse 18, he says, No one takes my life from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority or power to lay it down, and authority or power to take it up again. And that authority or power to take up his life also points to the fact that he has life in himself. He depends upon nothing else, but he has life in himself. In John 5, verse 26, he said, For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son to have life in himself. And that means, very simply, beloved, that by revealing through the resurrection, through his resurrection, what he was able to do, he reveals who and what he is. He is the Son of God with power. And as well, His power demonstrated in His resurrection is unique to Himself. Think about Lazarus and all the others throughout biblical history that we read about who were raised back to life. They did not raise themselves. They did not have life in themselves. But they were objects of the working of the power of God. And that power is a power that our Lord also gave and later on was used by His followers. as we think in Acts chapter 3 of the crippled beggar. And Peter says, In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk. And Paul casting out the evil spirit out of that servant girl. In the name of Jesus Christ. And that divine power also then answers to His divine nature. His is a spirit of holiness. He is the Holy One of God. He is God Himself in the flesh. Beloved Christ's resurrection, which in some ways is so up here to us. It's so above our heads because we can't even begin to imagine it. Because when we happen to see a dead person in a casket, that person is just so dead. There is no life. And we can't even hardly begin to imagine one who was dead being raised to life. but Christ's resurrection is undeniable proof of His claims to be the Son of God. It's undeniable proof of His power. It's undeniable proof that He is God Himself, but also it is undeniable proof of the beginning of His exaltation. His humiliation ended with His death and burial, but His exaltation began with His resurrection as He rose in royal splendor. Boys and girls, when you think about Jesus after He rose from the dead, He not only, when He came back to life, He not only received His old life back, the same as it was before He was nailed on the cross. His life, His body, He was glorified in the flesh. Again, something we can't begin to imagine. But the most unique, the most significant change that He accomplished in Himself through the resurrection was that, as it were, He severed His body completely from, He makes it totally independent of the material and the natural world. He just appeared in a house, in a room. He was just there. He still has his human nature. He still has his physical body with scars, but he is his own fountain of life. He is no longer subject to the weakness of the flesh. He no longer needs sleep. He is no longer bound to the material world to support his human nature. And again, his resurrection is unique from the others who were raised. Those, all the others who were raised in the history of redemption and revelation, as someone has rightly said, their resurrections gave them back to Adam. They remained dependent on the physical elements. It did not free them from the power of death. But not so our Lord and Savior. He has life in Himself, never to die again. And this too then points to undeniable proof of the effectiveness of His work. He is the victor. Death could not keep Him. Death could not decay His body. His resurrection is the end of the burden of sin that was upon Him. His resurrection is proof that He can be conquered by no one and nothing, but instead He has conquered everything that torments you and me. Death, the grave, hell, sin, Satan. And Christ's resurrection declaration also then includes a wonderful statement for us. And we consider in the second place its unbelievable guarantee. Now, as we have considered, especially over the last couple of weeks, as we have considered together the steps of Christ's humiliation, his work of suffering all the way unto death, as we have considered those together in the previous two Lord's days, we have been reminded of all that our Lord accomplished by his work and all that that work means for us. And his resurrection declares to us that no one less than the Son of God, God Himself accomplished this and His resurrection again is God the Father's stamp or seal of approval. That that work is perfect. That He didn't fail. That it was done for us. And because He lives, that work could now be applied to us. And that's why Paul could confidently say in 1 Corinthians 15, if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile. You are still in your sins. Remember that door? Open or closed? If He has not been raised, it's closed tight. It is locked up tight. And you and I cannot get through it. If He has not been raised, you and I, we are still in our sins. And that's a dreadful thought. We are still under the curse of sin. And we are facing eternal hell. But, Paul says, Christ has indeed been raised from the dead. the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. And therefore, beloved, his resurrection comes with an unbelievable guarantee of a transformed life for you and me. That's what we consider with Lord's Day 16. And in many ways, Lord's Day 17 now recaps from the other side, from the other side of Christ's death, the benefits of all that we have talked about before. And that unbelievable guarantee includes, first of all, my justification. How does Christ's resurrection benefit us? First, by His resurrection, He has overcome death so that He might make us share in the righteousness He won for us by His death. He won it for us by His death because by His suffering and death, He has paid for sin. He has conquered Satan. Hebrews 7, verse 27 says, He sacrificed for their sins, the sins of His people, once for all when He offered Himself. And that resurrection points to victory. Indeed, the one who is living is the victor. And his resurrection points to victory for you and me. And the result is, and this is so amazing, isn't it? The result is that God declares us righteous. He looks at you, the believer. He looks at me, the believer, and he says, You are righteous. That's how I see you. That's what God says. about those who have faith in Christ Jesus. I see you as righteous because of the perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ in whom was the spirit of holiness which qualified him as the God-man to be the perfect instrument of salvation. And you know the beauty of all this is that that righteousness is not just part-time. Righteousness is not just for a short period of time. It's guaranteed. It's lasting. It's forever. In Romans 8, Paul says, beginning in verse 33, Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who is He that condemns? Christ Jesus who died. More than that who was raised to life is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Indeed, He died. But more than that, He was raised to life. And therefore, you are just fine. And who can bring a charge against you? Not even Satan. Oh, he tries. But he cannot bring a charge against you and me because that righteousness of Christ is given to you and me freely and it is guaranteed eternally. But secondly, the unbelievable guarantee includes my sanctification. By His power, we too are already now resurrected to a new life. You see, without resurrection power, There could be no change in me because nothing would be fixed again. We would still be lost in sin, still be under the curse of sin. But the Holy Spirit, because Jesus lives and He has poured out His Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit gives new birth, He makes us alive with Christ and we are no longer dead men walking. That's what the world of wicked men is. A bunch of spiritually dead men walking. But the Holy Spirit gives the gift of faith to you and me to believe and to receive all of Christ's benefits merited for us. And by His work of sanctification, He is busy removing little by little and more day by day the pollution of sin whose power is broken. And the instruments of sanctification include, among many other things, attending faithfully the faithful preaching of the true Word of God, partaking of the sacraments, personal study and devotions and prayer, fellowship with the community of the saints, and many other things, all of these things to remind us of our great need, of our sinful condition apart from Jesus Christ. And to remind us of what Jesus Christ has done. And to remind us how we are called to be thankful to Him for all that He has done. We are called to live consciously, as we have said before, with that life of Christ living with us, a life that is pleasing to Him. But one more thing, its unbelievable guarantee includes my glorification. Christ's resurrection is a guarantee of our glorious resurrection. Indeed, again, already in this life, we are raised to new life. But one day when this life comes to an end, if Christ hasn't come first and we face death, we have the comfort that our soul will be in glory. Paul says in Philippians 1.21, For to me to live is Christ and to die is gain, and to be absent from the body is to be at home with the Lord. But ultimately we look forward to the promise of the glorification of the body. In Philippians 3.21 of the Lord Jesus Christ we read, By the power that enables Him to bring everything under His control will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like His glorious body. Again, something we cannot even begin to fathom, but one day when He comes again and our bodies are raised, reunited with our souls, and we are raised incorruptible. We will not be raised only to be given back to Adam. We will not be raised only to be put under death again. But we will be raised to live with our Lord of glory forever. Dear people of God, Christ's resurrection declares that he is the Son of God. It declares his victory over sin and Satan and death and the grave and hell. His resurrection guarantees the victory of those who put their faith and hope in him alone. And therefore, his resurrection also removes for you and me the fear of the things that torment us most, like death and the grave. And his resurrection, because he lives. By the power of his spirit, he transforms this very life of the child of God. Paul was an example of that. Notice he identifies himself as a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle. A servant, a doulos is the word. And the idea of that word servant there has the idea of one who is bound to his master with bonds so strong that only death could break them. one who served his master without regard to his own interests, but one whose will was entirely in service to the will of his master. We are called to be servants of the Lord Jesus Christ, our exalted Lord of glory. And may it be that our will, too, would be completely in service to the will of our master. May His will be our delight in all of our lives, in all that we think and say and do. And because we serve the Lord of glory, the one who is risen and lives today, we do not live in fear. We do not have to live in fear. We do not live in fear when things look grim, when you or a loved one receives that deadly diagnosis, when the economy looks weak, When your retirement investments are down. We do not live in fear, beloved, because we do not put our hope and our faith and our confidence in those things that will fade away. But we live in confidence. The confidence that whoever confesses with his mouth that Jesus is Lord, and whoever believes in his heart that God raised him from the dead, will be saved. Jesus Christ is he who lives forevermore. He is the one who is the only hope for a dying humanity. He is the life where we might drink unto immortality. He is the Savior for all who look to Him, only those who look to Him, but all who look to Him in repentance and faith, for you, for me, who come to Him in faith. You see, without the resurrection of Jesus Christ, we have no Savior and therefore no hope. But with Christ's resurrection, we have both a Savior, an eternal Savior. And we have the salvation he brings. He is not here. He is risen, just as he said. Amazing words. Unbelievable words of triumph. Words of hope. Words of life. We serve a risen Savior with whom we shall live forever and ever. Amen. Let's pray together. Father, indeed, as we look around and we see so much hopelessness in this world, and we see so much hatred for you and for one another, Father, you give to us such an unbelievable and amazing comfort that Jesus Christ not only accomplished salvation for us, but because he lives and reigns both now and forever, that salvation is applied to us. All of his benefits. And therefore too, Father, may we be a people who delight in our risen Savior. May it be in our lives, in the things that we say and do, may it be clear to those around us that we serve Jesus Christ. May there be no doubt about it, O Lord. And help us to live in a way that pleases you out of thankful hearts for all that you have done for us. Father, we are so amazed because we could not even begin to think but how we could get out of the mess of sin ourselves but you have done it all and we thank you for that precious gift of life with you forever and ever in Jesus name, Amen