3. AS TO THE WORLD.
a) The Certainty of a Resurrection.
1 Cor. 15:22—"As in Adam all die; even so in Christ shall all be made alive." Paul is here discussing a bodily, and not a spiritual, resurrection (see under II. 2 d), p. 88). As in Adam all men die physically, so in Christ all men are raised physically. The resurrection of Jesus Christ guarantees the resurrection of all men (see under Resurrection, p. 245).
b) The Certainty of a Judgment Day.
Acts 17:31—"Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead." The resurrection of Christ is God's unfailing testimony to the fact of a coming day of judgment for the world. The one is as sure as the other.
The Ascension and Exaltation of Jesus Christ.
I. THE MEANING OF THESE TERMS.
When we speak of the Ascension of Christ we refer to that event in the life of our risen Lord in which He departed visibly from His disciples into heaven. This event is recorded in Acts 1:9-11—"This same Jesus which is taken up from you into heaven," etc.
By the Exaltation of Jesus Christ we mean that act of God by which the risen and ascended Christ is given the place of power at the right hand of God. Phil. 2:9—"Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him and given him a name which is above every name." Eph. 1:20, 21—"Which he (God) wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power." See also Heb. 1:3.