What to Do Now That Easter Has Passed

A few years ago at Easter, our church put on a traditional Sunday morning drama.

In it, Christ was to emerge from His “tomb” and announce His victory over sin and death forever. Unfortunately, as the drama unfolded, there was a slight hiccup behind the scenes.

Having successfully reenacted a bloody, suffering Christ who gave up the ghost and was taken down from the cross by caring friends, our Jesus was whisked away, quickly washed down backstage, re-dressed in white, and installed into the backside of his tomb. He waited for his cue to appear in glory. But the director got ahead of himself and sent Jesus out before the songs anticipating his appearing had ended. The other actors and the audience were surprised to see him in his “resurrection.”

A confused look was on the “savior’s” face as he emerged and the audience gave a collective gasp. But, being quick on his feet, our Jesus quickly realized he had been given the wrong cue. He shrugged and ducked back into his tomb. As he disappeared, a voice was heard from the audience, “I guess this means six more weeks of winter!”

Eyewitness Account

Fortunately for all of us, there were no missed cues or second thoughts when the real Jesus came out of the grave on resurrection morning! More than five hundred people saw, spoke to, walked with, and ate with Jesus after He emerged alive from the tomb. The winter of sin and death was vanquished forever. The glory of His resurrection is experienced in small foretastes as we walk in communion with the Spirit who raised Jesus up. The consummation of this glory will come when we are raised up to be with the Lord on the last day.

In His death, Jesus sealed off the entire corrupted heritage of Adam together with its sentence of death. Christ became the Last Adam when He came in a body of flesh. He became the Second Man, the Progenitor of the new race, in His Resurrection. On the cross, Jesus declared the words that were said by the High Priest when the sin offering was made in the Tabernacle: “It is finished!” These words meant atonement for trespass had been accomplished. The sin that had separated the people from their God was taken out of the way. Christ paid the penalty in full on behalf of every man, woman, and child ever born. He took into His own body the sum and consequences of the first Adam’s failure.

For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive (1 Corinthians 15:21-22).

Jesus is the Last Adam. He legally usurped the failed works of the first Adam. And so, He fathered a new race of sons for God. We have been born again, not of the flesh or the will of man, but of the Spirit according to the pleasure of the Father.

The Holy Spirit descends and remains on the Lamb. The glory rests on the ark. The blood of covenant and the glory of God commune together. It’s a great mystery. We are Christ’s Body. We are the “called out ones.” We are destined for glory. We are becoming His glory.

We cannot know Father without knowing Son. We cannot know Christ, except the Spirit reveals Him to our hearts and minds. Each of us finds our full identity in Christ as we are integrated into the community of saints, our local church.

This is the rock on which I will put together My church, a church so expansive with energy that not even the gates of hell will be able to keep it out (Matthew 16:18 TM).

Jesus was declaring that no power on earth or under the earth can withstand His Kingdom. His Body manifests His Kingdom in a corporate way. The Body of Christ speaks of interdependence and a chain of command, permanent relationships, practical service, and love. It speaks of authority and dominion flowing down from the Head to touch the earth.

Heaven and Earth Together

The origination of God’s relationship to man is the cross. In His death Jesus closed the chasm between the human race and God. In His resurrection Jesus filled us with the Spirit of His glory. The Holy Spirit is our Person-to-person connection to the Father. Jesus is the Mediator. “For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus” (1 Tim. 2:5). Christ stands between you and everything else; between you and everyone else. He even stands between the “old man” and the new creation in you. There is no room for anything but Christ to come between us and the world, between ourselves, between us and ourselves! Christ stands between. The cross and the Spirit make our fellowship with God and others possible.

The Holy Spirit is the Resident Lord of the Church. The Spirit binds us together in a body. He is continually building up Christ’s Body in the way a master sculptor brings a masterpiece out of a block of clay. Our spiritual construction will continue until we become “a perfect man” in the fullness of the stature of Christ (see Eph. 4:12-13). The end purpose is God’s glory, strength for the body, and a glorious Bride for Christ.

Jesus told His disciples, “Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you” (John 16:7). This is the fullness of Christ. This is the glory of the Son, the manifold wisdom of God, made visible to principalities and powers through the Church (see Eph. 3:10).

Bonhoeffer speaks to this in The Cost of Discipleship:

The Body of Christ takes up space on earth. That is a consequence of the Incarnation. Christ came into His own. But at His birth they gave Him a manger, for “there was not room in the inn.” At His death they thrust Him out, and His Body hung between earth and heaven on the gallows. But despite all this, the Incarnation does involve a claim to a space of its own on earth. Anything which claims space is visible. Hence the Body of Christ can only be a visible Body, or else it is not a Body at all…A truth, a doctrine, or a religion need no space for themselves. They are disembodied entities. They are heard, learnt, and apprehended, and that is all. But the incarnate Son of God needs not only ears or hearts, but living men who will follow Him.

Jesus said, “You are the salt of the earth.” Salt disinfects, preserves, and binds together. The Body of Christ is present in the earth as a cleansing, preserving presence against sin and its wounds upon humanity. The Church occupies space in the earth as salt and light. We are the demonstration and proof that Jesus Christ is alive and working today.

You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven (Matthew 5:14-16).

We are the light of the world. We are not carriers of the light. We are not professors of the light—we are the light of the world as He is. We are to shine forth with the brightness of His glory. His body cannot be hidden. It is a company of believers in communion with Him and with one another. His body is a visible, tangible extension of the Head Himself.

Dating from the birth of the Church at Pentecost, we see Christians participating in ongoing activity, fellowship, and communion with one another. Their existence is never to be a “me and Jesus” only affair. The blueprint for the Church of Jesus is sketched out in the Book of Acts:

They continued steadily learning the teaching of the apostles, and joined in their fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayer. Everyone felt a deep sense of awe, while many miracles and signs took place through the apostles. Day after day they met by common consent in the Temple; they broke bread together in their homes, sharing meals with simple joy. They praised God continually and all the people respected them. Every day the Lord added to their number those who were finding salvation (Acts 2:42-47 JB Phillips NT).

Here we see a corporate manifestation of Christ in a many-membered order, showing forth God’s glory on the earth. We see a vibrant community awakening in glory. As many members of one body, they are caring, loving, helping, encouraging, and blessing one another. As the Head of His Body, Christ directs and nourishes the Church and makes Himself visible to the whole world.

There are seven pictures of the Church in the Book of Ephesians. These seven expressions include: assembly, body, workmanship, family, temple, bride, and army. Each of them is corporate. Each of them is visible. Each of them occupies space. Each of them has structure by which that expression exists and fulfills its function.

A body has a proper structure when it’s healthy. A house is built according to a blueprint. To govern effectively, a legislative assembly observes protocols. You cannot have community without order. You cannot have order without structure. You cannot have structure without authority.

The glory makes a distinction between God-appointed and self-appointed leaders (see Num. 16:20-35,41-45). Glory is bound up in God’s leader’s lives as though He claims their reputation for His own (see 2 Sam. 1:17-19). In Exodus 16, the glory came to mediate truth and judgment when the people rebelled against God’s appointed leaders. Moses interceded, asking God to pardon. God relented, but He promised that all men would see His righteous judgment: “I have pardoned, according to your word. But truly, as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord” (Num. 14:20-21 ESV). This event prefigures Jesus interceding for us and the glory of God demonstrating mercy and judgment through the cross.

As we honor our leaders and honor each other, we reflect the Godhead. Disciples of Christ are the “glory and joy” of those who teach them (see 1 Thess. 2:20). The Lord meets us in fellowship and His glory appears.

And above all things have fervent love for one another, for ‘ love will cover a multitude of sins.’ Be hospitable to one another without grumbling. As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God (1 Peter 4:8-10).

It is essential now more than ever that Christians live in vital interaction with God and one another through participation, worship, sharing the sacraments, learning, growing, and serving together in ongoing fellowship within a visible church community.