A few months ago, sickness attacked my family. All five of our kids got sick, and it was the worst they had ever been. For two days they were gripped with fevers, chills, and respiratory congestion that left them struggling for breath. Then a pattern began on the third day for each of them.
The fevers were broken, the excruciating headaches relented, and they even began to ask for little bits of food. On that day, signs of life emerged and I remembered the words of the prophet Hosea, “After two days He will revive us [quicken us, give us life]; and on the third day He will raise us up so that we may live before Him,” (Hos 6:2 AMP).
As I watched each child fall sick, I stood on the promise of the third day resurrection that I knew was coming.
The word resurrection comes from the Greek word Anastasis (G386) and speaks of a raising up, restoring to life, or rising from the dead.
Figuratively it means a moral recovery of spiritual truth. It is derived from Anistemi (G450), meaning to stand up or rise up from lying down. [1]
When the Pharisees demanded a sign from Jesus, He said, “Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up again,” (Jn 2:19). The Temple was destroyed in 70 A.D. by the Romans. As of today, there is no temple of God in Jerusalem. So if the temple hasn’t been rebuilt and we know Jesus is not a man that could lie, what was He referring to? The temple that He was speaking of was His body. It was never about a physical building. It was a prophetic word being released.
Many think the prophecy has already been fulfilled. Jesus went to the cross and was crucified on the Feast of Passover and then resurrected on the third day at the Feast of First Fruits. The resurrection is complete. But what if there was more? The prophetic word wasn’t just talking about the death and resurrection of Jesus, but of a future third day resurrection. A foreshadow of a resurrection coming at the end of the age.
“Let us consider, beloved, how the Lord continually proves to us that there shall be a future resurrection, of which He has rendered the Lord Jesus Christ the first fruits by raising Him from the dead. Let us contemplate, beloved, the resurrection which is at all times taking place. Day and night declare to us a resurrection. The night sinks to sleep, and the day arises; the day [again] departs, and the night comes on.” – Clement [2]
It has been two thousand years or two days, since Jesus. We are stepping into the third day or three thousand years. Jesus wasn’t speaking of three natural or physical days. For with the Lord, one day is as a thousand years and a thousand years is as one day (Ref 2 Pe 3:8). God is rebuilding and consecrating the temple now. 1 Corinthians 3:16 tells us we are the temple of God and His Spirit dwells in us. The resurrection that is coming on the third day is the manifestation of God’s glory in us as His habitation.
The resurrection that is coming on the third day is the manifestation of God’s glory in us as His habitation.
God has never wanted to live in a building, but He has always wanted to put His Spirit and His mind inside of us. He wants to work through a company of people who have been consecrated and dedicated to house His glory. Those who are being raised up and restored to life in Christ.
“I have been crucified with Christ [in Him I have shared His crucifixion]; it is no longer I who live, but Christ (the Messiah) lives in me; and the life I now live in the body I live by faith in (by adherence to and reliance on and complete trust in) the Son of God, Who loved me and gave Himself up for me.” (Gal 2:20 AMP)
Yet if anyone should corrupt God’s temple or destroy it, God will bring him to the corruption of death and destroy him (1Co 3:17). The corruption that destroys the temple are false doctrines. God cannot and will not dwell in a defiled vessel. When we leave spiritual truth and receive false doctrines, we are corrupting or destroying our temples. When we see Scripture by the letter, we are slaves to sin and death. The sin is ignorance to the Truth of the Word and the real death speaks of being void of spiritual truth.
“Likewise, my brethren, you have undergone death as to the Law through the [crucified] body of Christ, so that now you may belong to Another, to Him Who was raised from the dead in order that we may bear fruit for God,” (Rom 7:4 AMP).
The real resurrection is a recovery of the spiritual truth. It brings us back to eternal life.
The real resurrection is a recovery of the spiritual truth. It brings us back to eternal life. As Paul said, “For if we have become one with Him by sharing a death like His, we shall also be [one with Him in sharing] His resurrection [by a new life lived for God],” (Rom 8:5 AMP). We are returning to the Spirit of the Word by dying to our fleshly and carnal minds. Allowing the fire of God to consume and purify our souls. When we can see the deeper meaning in Scripture, it transforms our mind and soul and brings a resurrection in us. It is then we can step into what we were created to be before the fall.
As incredible and miraculous as the resurrection of Jesus Christ was, the coming resurrection on the third day will truly be something that the eye has not seen, nor could it be imagined. The Word says that we might not know what we should be like, but we know that when He appears, we will be like Him because we will see Him like He is (Ref 1 Jn 3:2).
“Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.”
1 John 3:2
God told Moses to consecrate the people and tell them to be ready for the third day of the Lord was coming. His glory was going to come upon the mountain. Who can be in the presence of the LORD, in His holy place? The Word says only those with clean hands and a pure heart and who have not been given up to falsehoods (Ref Ps 24:4). Those who have been raised up and brought back to life by the truth of the Word. The King of glory is coming for those who have been prepared to host Him. Do not forget the promise of resurrection on the third day.
References:
- Strong’s Bible Dictionary: G386 and G450
- Clement of Rome, Ante-Nicene Father; First Epistle to the Corinthians Ch XXIV
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