If you have been raised with Christ

 

If you have been raised with Christ

 

Colossians 3:1-4, “If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.』

The Greek expression for “made alive again” is Εἰ οὖν συνηγέρθητε τῷ Χριστῷ. Synegerdete (συνηγέρθητε) means that one was spiritually dead but was made alive again. Synegerdete is a compound of syn and egerdete, meaning to rise (come alive) together.

So when we express it in English, it is If ye then be risen with Christ(kjv), Since, then, you have been raised with Christ(niv). Grammatically, both Greek and English are perfect or past tense. The expression in Colossians 1:4 means that he has already been raised again.

The expression “resurrection”, anastasis (ἀνάστασις), is expressed as resurrection (niv, kjv) in the English Bible. Resurrection is grammatically a noun. In other words, it indicates a state of being spiritually alive. The appearance of being spiritually alive is expressed as a verb, snegerdete. The appearance after this dynamic state is expressed as anastasis, which means resurrection. Therefore, being spiritually alive is the resurrection of a dead spirit, and resurrection can be seen as expressing a state of being spiritually alive and wearing a spiritual body.

In Colossians 3:1, “If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.”, the above corresponds to the spiritual body. If the spirit of the saint who died is resurrected, it must wear the spiritual body of heaven. However, in reality, most believers accept the resurrection as the concept of the body coming back to life after death. Therefore, they do not have the concept of being resurrected spiritually, and they do not understand the spiritual body.

1 Corinthians 15:42-44 『So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption: It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power: It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body..』 To sow is to rot. That is, it means to die like the shell of the seed. However, it is not the shell of the seed that comes to life, but it is expressed that life comes to life within it.

1 Corinthians 15:36-38 "Thou fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die: And that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some other grain: But God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed his own body." The body of the flesh, like the husk of the seed, which is of the earth, perishes. But the body of the spirit corresponds to the life in the seed, which is of the heavens. It is an incorruptible and eternal life.

1 Corinthians 15:45-47 "And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit. However, that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual. The first man is of the earth, earthy; the second man is the Lord from heaven." This is an expression about the first man Adam and the last man Adam.

There are many misunderstandings about Jesus Christ. They think that Jesus who died on the cross and the resurrected Christ are the same person. However, they are not the same person. Before Jesus died on the cross, he was the Son of God, carrying the body of sin and dying on the cross. He played a role in cutting off the body of sin that had been passed down from the first man, Adam. Therefore, Jesus became the symbol of the first man, Adam.

Romans 5:14 『Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come.』Jesus is the role of the first man Adam. The first man Adam gave the body of sin, and Jesus is the role of eliminating the body of sin that the first man Adam gave. Colossians 1:15 『Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:』(kjv)

In Genesis 1:27, “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created him; male and female created he them.” The first man, Adam, was the Son of Man in this world to give him the body of sin, and Jesus Christ also came to this world to eliminate the body of sin and died on the cross. Then who is the last Adam? It refers to the resurrected Christ.

1 Corinthians 15:47-50 『The first man is of the earth, earthy; the second man is the Lord from heaven. As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly. And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption..』The resurrected Christ belongs to heaven, and those who believe that they have been resurrected with Christ also belong to heaven.

Those who believe that the body dies and is transformed into a spiritual body and raised again do not belong to heaven. For they seek to replace the earthly with the heavenly. Colossians 3:3 『For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God..』 Those who believe that they have been resurrected with Christ believe that their physical body has died and has been reborn into a heavenly life.

1 Corinthians 15:51-53 『Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.』 This verse expresses the appearance of the spirit surviving from the dead and at the same time taking on a spiritual body.

1 Corinthians 15:54-55 『So when this corruptible(phdarton) shall have put on incorruption(apdarsian), and this morta(dneton)l shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory』

Phdarton(φθαρτὸν) means the fleshly body without Christ, and aphdarsian(ἀφθαρσίαν) means the resurrection of judgment that does not die. This resurrection of judgment awaits until the end. Dneton(θνητὸν) means those who are in Christ will go on to the resurrection of life. This means they will be clothed in a spiritual body and enter paradise.

For those who do not believe in the present resurrection with Christ, the second coming of Christ will be judgment for them, but for those who believe in the present resurrection, the second coming of Christ will have come true, and although they still have a physical body, their spiritual body will be in paradise (heaven). Heaven means the kingdom of God in the soul, "He Basileia Ton Uranon."