This life-power has a number of functions. The first function is that of conquering. Resurrection is able to conquer every negative thing, including death. Apart from God Himself, the most powerful thing in the universe is death. Whenever death visits anyone, that one cannot resist it; he must yield to its power. Although death is so powerful, resurrection is even more powerful. Death cannot hold resurrection (Acts 2:24). On the contrary, resurrection conquers death and overcomes it.
In 1 Corinthians 15:26 Paul says, “The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.” This indicates that death is the strongest enemy. Such a strong enemy can be defeated only by resurrection. Therefore, the first function of resurrection, of the life-power, is that of conquering the negative things, especially death. The more resurrection is placed in a situation of death, the more opportunity it has to function to conquer death.
The second function of the life-power is to swallow up death. Resurrection not only conquers death and overcomes it, but it also devours it. In Numbers 14:9 Caleb said that the enemies of the children of Israel would be their food. Death, the last and greatest enemy, is food for resurrection. Sometimes an enemy is conquered, but he is still present. Through the function of the life-power, death is not only conquered, but is swallowed up to the point that it disappears. When the life-power swallows death, death vanishes.
The functions of conquering and swallowing are negative functions. Resurrection, however, also has many positive functions. The first of these is to produce growth and transformation. The more something grows, the more it is changed, transformed. Once again the growth of a carnation flower illustrates this. The carnation begins as a small seed. But after the seed is sown into the soil, it begins to grow, firstly into a tender sprout and eventually into a full-grown, blossoming carnation plant. When the carnation is still a sprout, it is difficult to distinguish it from other types of plants. But the more it grows, the more it changes and is transformed. It is transformed by growth.
In principle, the same kind of change takes place in children. As a child grows, his body assumes a certain shape. As the life-power transforms, it also shapes. The more we grow, the more we are shaped. Hence, resurrection causes growth, change, and shaping.
Resurrection also releases the positive things. Fruit-bearing is one kind of release brought about by the function of resurrection. In the bearing of fruit there is the release of the life-essence from within a certain tree. This indicates that through fruit-bearing the riches of the life within that tree are released. By the releasing function of the life-power all that is in a seed—the root, the stem, the branches, the leaves, the flower, and the fruit—is released. As the seed is resurrected, everything positive in it is released.
We often speak about the riches of Christ. Christ with all His riches has been sown into us as a seed. We see this in the parable of the sower in Matthew 13. According to this parable, Christ has sown Himself into us as a seed of life. This seed includes all kinds of positive things: love, holiness, righteousness, humility, patience, endurance. In this seed are both the divine attributes and the human virtues. The only thing that is needed is the release. Resurrection releases the essence of all the riches of Christ from within the seed.
With resurrection there is also the power to rise up. Resurrection, like the calamus used in making the anointing oil in Exodus 30, rises above the “muddy” situations. This calamus is a picture of the power in Christ to rise up.