Christ’s Resurrection in the New Testament

The Goal—God’s Building

The New Testament Reality

In the New Testament we can see the goal of Christ’s resurrection in John 2:19-22:

(19) Jesus answered and said to them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. (20) Then the Jews said, This temple was built in forty-six years, and You will raise it up in three days? (21) But He spoke of the temple of His body. (22) When therefore He was raised from the dead, His disciples remembered that He had said this, and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had spoken.

The goal of Christ’s resurrection is the enlargement of God’s temple in reality, which is the Body of Christ.

After the Lord’s resurrection, His Body, that is, the temple, was reared up on a much larger scale…. What was raised up by the Lord in resurrection was not only His own body but everyone who is joined to Him by faith (1 Peter 1:3; Ephesians 2:6). …The Lord Jesus indicated that He would rebuild the temple, God’s house, in resurrection. This rebuilding of the house of God in resurrection was to be an enlargement of God’s house. This is proved by the fact that not only was Christ Himself resurrected but that all the believers, who constitute His Body, were resurrected with Him. (Witness Lee, Conclusion, 795)

Enlargement of God’s Temple

Through Christ’s resurrection, all His believers have received His resurrection life. As the believers use their human spirit, which is joined to the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:17), they live a life in spirit, that is, in resurrection. Such a living allows His resurrection life to grow and transform His believers from men of clay to precious stones for God’s building (Romans 9:20-21; 1 Peter 2:2-5). As such, they are able to be built up together (Ephesians 4:15-16) to be His dwelling place in spirit (Isaiah 66:1-2; Ephesians 2:22) for His corporate testimony (Ephesians 3:16-21; 1 Timothy 3:15-16). This building is a real testimony of Christ’s life within all His believers (John 17:2, 11, 21, 23). The issue of Christ’s life within all His believers in this age is the church, the Body of Christ (Matt. 16:18; Eph. 1:22-23). For eternity, this building in resurrection will be the New Jerusalem (Rev. 21:2-3, 10; 3:12; 21:22) (Witness Lee, Life, 143, 145, 154; Witness Lee, Constitution, 72-73).

Old Testament Type | New Testament Reality