The Three-Fold Working of His Power
Firstly, we become righteous by receiving this power into us by simple faith in the Lord Jesus Christ who, as we read in Rom. 4: 25, "was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification." God kept Abraham and his wife Sarah waiting for a son for about 25 years even though at the age of 75 He had promised to give them one. It was only when they both became very old and passed the age of childbearing that God fulfilled His promise. Thus He showed them that unless they receive new power, death-conquering power, the power of resurrection in their bodies, they could not receive a son in their old age. Only at this point they became righteous before God. God's Word says in Rom. 4: 22-25, "And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness. Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him: but for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead; who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification." It is only by receiving the power of resurrection by simple faith that anyone can become righteous before God for eternity.
Secondly, by the very same power we shall be given glorious immortal bodies on that day when the Lord Jesus Christ will come again according to His promise with all the angels and all the saints. As we read in Rom 8: 11, "But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his spirit that dwelleth in you."
Thirdly, we can overcome our trails and temptations day by day appropriating this power according to Phil.4: 13. Just as we claim healing touch from God when we are sick, or seek wisdom from Him to understand His word, so we can claim by faith the resurrection power for all our needs. We can conquer human limitations by that power, because it is available for all situations and trails. We can bear heavy burdens and responsibilities in God's work by appropriating this wonderful power.
Thus we see how it is very necessary for us to learn the secret of appropriating that power day by day for all our needs. The Lord Jesus Christ becomes our personal Savior when we believe that He died in our stead to bear judgment of all our sins, shed His precious blood to cleanse us from our sins and rose again for our justification. Through such a faith we recognize we are planted together in the likeness of His death and burial and in the likeness of His resurrection (Rom. 6: 5).
These days the best fruits like mangoes, apples, oranges and peaches are being produced by grafting. A tree yielding small and sour fruit can be made to yield nice, large, sweet and juicy fruits. One seedling of a bad tree is grafted into a tree yielding good fruits. By grafting, the seedling receives the nature of the good tree and when planted separately, grows up into a tree yielding nice and juicy fruits. The apostle Paul uses the same phrase for our union with the Lord Jesus Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection. By the power of His death we die daily to our old nature and by the power of His resurrection we become new creatures in the Lord Jesus Christ; all things become new as we read in 2 Cor. 5: 17. The Lord expects us to enjoy this power day by day by appropriating it with simple faith according to our need.
Even though Paul the apostle was mightily used of the Lord to establish many churches and had the privilege of being called into the third heaven and hearing words which could not be uttered in human language, he longed more and more to know the Lord, and the power of His resurrection (Phil.3: 10).
In the early church also the believers gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ with great power, and great grace was upon them all. Thus it is very necessary for us as believers to learn to appropriate this wonderful power of resurrection.
The Lord Jesus Christ appeared to His disciples ten times in forty days after His resurrection: five times on the Easter day and five times from the second day of His resurrection till the 40th day, the day of His ascension. Our Lord never appeared even once to those who did not believe in Him. Each time He appeared only to His disciples. When He was on the Cross, many people mocked Him saying, "Let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe him" (Matt. 27: 42). But after His resurrection He did not show Himself to any of those people. This shows that this wonderful power of resurrection is meant only for those who accept the Lord Jesus Christ as their personal Savior and become righteous in His sight for eternity by the very same power according to Rom. 4: 24-25. Through every appearance He reveals to us the great secret of appropriating and enjoying this deathconquering power, which can make us more than conquerors. God appeared ten times to Abraham in about 40 years to reveal to him the secret of divine friendship. In three places in the Scriptures, 2 Chro. 20: 7, Isa. 41: 8 and James 2: 23, Abraham is called the friend of God. Through the ten appearances of God to Abraham, we see that there are ten steps to friendship with God. Similarly through the ten appearances of the Lord Jesus Christ to His disciples after His resurrection we have a Tenfold secret of experiencing and enjoying the great power of His resurrection for all our needs. By this power the hope that one day we shall see our Lord face to face and shall be like Him is quickened in us. Let us see some features of the ten appearances of our Lord.