LIFE
OF CHRIST
Session 2:
Introduction: Part Two -- The Power of Christ's Resurrection
(Students
should complete "Tracing the Historical Events of the
Life of Christ" exercise on page 24
of the manual.)
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When
the early followers of Jesus encountered this "Resurrection
Experience," they, too, experienced a radical change.
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Although
they remained in their physical bodies, the essence of their
lives underwent a profound transformation.
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For
example, the "Resurrection Experience" and the results of that
encounter with Jesus after his death in the life of an early disciple of
Jesus has been recorded:
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"And
Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the
disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest, And desired of
him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any
of this way, whether they were men or women, he
might bring them bound unto Jerusalem. And as he journeyed, he
came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a
light from heaven: And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice
saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? And he
said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom
thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the
pricks. And he trem-bling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt
thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go
into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do. And
the men which journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a
voice, but seeing no man. And Saul arose from the earth; and
when his eyes were opened, he saw no man: but they led him by
the hand, and brought him into Damascus. And he was three days
without sight, and neither did eat nor drink. And there was a
certain disciple at Damascus, named Ananias; and to him said the
Lord in a vision, Ananias. And he said, Behold, I am here, Lord.
And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the street which
is called Straight, and inquire in the house of Judas for one
called Saul, of Tarsus: for, behold, he prayeth, And hath seen
in a vision a man named Ananias coming in, and putting his hand
on him, that he might receive his sight. Then Ananias answered,
Lord, I have heard by many of this man, how much evil he hath
done to thy saints at Jerusalem: And here he hath authorityfrom
the chief priests to bind all that call on thy name. But the
Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto
me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the
children of Israel: For I will show him how great things he must
suffer for my name's sake. And Ananias went his way, and entered
into the house; and putting his hands on him said, Brother Saul,
the Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as thou
camest, hath sent me, that thou mightest receive thy sight, and
be filled with the Holy Ghost. And immediately there fell from
his eyes as it had been scales: and he received sight forthwith,
and arose, and was baptized. And when he had received meat,
he was strengthened. Then was Saul certain days with the
disciples which were at Damascus. And straightway he preached
Christ in the synagogues, that he is the Son of God." (Acts
9:1-20)
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The "Resurrection Experience" of Saul:
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Taken
down, made blind, encountered the risen Jesus and then raised
transformed with new sight.
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Paul
would later say this "Resurrection Experience" event would be
the reality of all who would enter the Kingdom of God:
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"Know ye
not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized
into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death:
that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the
Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have
been planted together in the likeness of his
death, we shall be also in
the likeness of his resurrection. (Rom. 6:3-5)
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The
"Resurrection Experience" of the early disciples of
Jesus accounts for the power to radically change their lives.
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For
the early followers of Jesus their conversion from the old
lifestyle to be transformed to be participants of the kingdom of
God was a powerful life-changing experience.
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For
the early followers of Jesus, their conversion from the
old lifestyle to be transformed to become participatants of the kingdom
of God was a powerful life-changing experience.
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They came to understand
the Way of life.
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They saw and then
experience the resurrected Life of
Christ.
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Jesus:
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| Paul: |
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The Essence of the "Resurrection Experience:
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Involves
the present as well as the past;
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Involves the disciple of Jesus
as well as Jesus;
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It is less a historical happening as it is a
present and future event.*
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Paul
would state:
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"I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I
live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I
now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who
loved me, and gave himself for me. I do not frustrate the grace
of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is
dead in vain." (Gal. 2:20-21)
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Paul
was crucified with Christ not when Christ died on the cross but
when he was taken down on the Damascus road.
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The
fact that Jesus was crucified and raised from the dead in the
past to become the "quickening Spirit of Life" enabled
Paul to encounter his "Resurrection Experience" on the
Damascus road.
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Jesus
would simply state:
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"As the living Father hath sent me, and
I live by the Father . . . even [ye] shall live by me." (John
6:57)
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What radically changed the early
followers of Jesus was they
encountered a "Resurrection Event" -- they encountered
the resurrected life of Christ.
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| *Johnson,
Luke Timothy, "Early Christianity: The Experience of the
Divine," The Teaching Company: The Great Courses, Part I, page 40
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Schedule