In Acts 4:10-12 Peter again preaches concerning the resurrected Christ: “Let it be known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that in the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, in this name this man stands before you well. This is the stone which was despised by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. And there is no salvation in any other; for neither is there another name under heaven given among men in which we must be saved.” Here we see that the crucified Jesus, the One whom God raised up from the dead, is the cornerstone rejected by the Jewish leaders.
If we read these verses carefully, we shall see that salvation is in the resurrected Christ. Furthermore, this salvation is for God’s building. The Savior in resurrection is the cornerstone for God’s building, which is also in resurrection. By this we see that the Lord’s resurrection is not only for our salvation but also for God’s building. Both our salvation and God’s building are in the resurrected Christ.
In Acts 5:30 and 31 Peter says, “The God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you slew, hanging Him on a tree. This One God has exalted to His right hand as a Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.” God has exalted Christ to be the Leader and Savior. We need to see that Jesus is the Lord, the Christ, and the cornerstone for God’s building. He is also the Leader and our Savior for our salvation. Furthermore, He gives repentance and forgiveness. All of this takes place in resurrection. In his gospel messages Peter testifies that the Lord Jesus is the One in resurrection.
According to the book of Acts, Peter also pointed out that Christ, the resurrected One, has been exalted and is now in the heavens. Furthermore, Christ has poured out Himself as the Spirit upon His believers, God’s chosen ones, to make them the members of His Body. This is for the composition of the new man.
The new man is the expression of the resurrected Christ. The resurrected Christ is everything to the new man; He is the content and reality of the new man. As we have seen, this new man is actually the kingdom of God, where God rules, reigns, and acts to fulfill His desire. Hence, the kingdom of God is the sphere of God’s reign for His expression. This is in resurrection.
In the book of Acts Peter says that the Christ whom he saw and followed is now in resurrection and ascension. It is not possible to divide the Lord’s ascension from His resurrection. Both resurrection and ascension are very much involved with the Spirit. Today the Spirit is the reality of the crucified, resurrected, and ascended Christ. When we have this Spirit, we have Christ. In particular, we have the pneumatic Christ. Having this pneumatic Christ, we also have the reality of His resurrection and ascension.
If we have an understanding of the New Testament as a whole, we shall realize that the New Testament reveals to us a Person who is the Triune God incarnated to be the God-man. This God-man went to the cross and died a marvelous all-inclusive death. That event was greater than the event of God’s creation. The Lord’s all-inclusive death took away our sins, condemned sin, crucified our old man, terminated the old creation, destroyed the Devil, Satan, judged the satanic cosmos, and abolished the ordinances among the different races and social classes. By this we see that the Lord’s death has taken care of every negative thing in the universe once for all.
In the sight of God, all negative things have been cleared up for eternity. Of course, in our experience we still face the matters of sins, sin, the old man, the old creation, Satan, the world, and the ordinances. Nevertheless, the day is coming when in our sight, as well as in God’s, these things will be no more.
Praise the Lord for what has been accomplished by the all-inclusive death of Christ! As we read the account of the Lord’s crucifixion in the Gospel of Mark, we need to realize that His death was all-inclusive, terminating all negative things. As we have seen, the Lord’s death also released the divine life from within Him.