God is raising the dead: 2 Corinthians 1:9-10

In the opening of his second letter to the church at Corinth, Paul writes of the persecution and affliction he experienced as he traveled and shared the Gospel in Asia. Paul writes that he and his fellow apostolic workers were “burdened excessively, beyond our strength, so that we despaired even of life” (2 Corinthians 1:8 NASB). However, Paul understood that, in part, this affliction was part of the will of God for them to keep them humble and trusting in the Lord. Paul writes, “indeed, we had the sentence of death within ourselves so that we would not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead; who delivered us from so great a peril of death, and will deliver us, He on whom we have set our hope.” (2 Corinthians 1:9-10 NASB). One of the things that are interesting in Paul’s confession is the central role that the hope for a resurrection played in his faith. Paul’s faith was a faith that believed in a resurrection from the dead. Jürgen Moltmann writes in his book, Theology of Hope, “A Christian faith that is not resurrection faith can therefore be called neither Christian nor faith.” There is no Christianity without a resurrection, and there can be no resurrection hope without faith in the resurrection of Jesus.

The second thing that is interesting in Paul’s phrase “who raises the dead” is that the verb “raises,” in the original Greek text, is a present active verb. In Greek, present active verbs are verbs of continual activity. They speak of an action that is presently happening and continuing to happen. It is interesting that Paul does not say that God will raise the dead someday, but that he is presently, and continually, raising the dead. This verse could be translated, “in God who is raising the dead.”

God is actively raising the dead right here and right now. Our participation in the resurrection of Jesus is not some future participation that we must hope for. To be sure, there is a physical resurrection from the dead that, as believers, we will all one day experience. But we also experience this resurrection in our lives every day as we live with Jesus. Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this (John 11:25-26 NASB)?” Jesus did not say that, someday, he would be the resurrection, but that he is, here and now, the resurrection and the life. God’s resurrection power is presently working within us, raising us up from the deadness that still lies within us. Every day we live is another day to experience the reality of his resurrection in our lives. What hope this gives us for our today as it also does for our tomorrow.

David Robison.