Paul tells us in Acts 13:33 that God has brought us the good news He promised to the fathers, “This he has fulfilled to us their children by raising Jesus, as it is written in the second Psalm, ‘You are my Son, today I have begotten you.’” The resurrection didn’t change Jesus’ status and identity. It’s God’s public declaration of who Jesus is from all eternity.
And Jesus’ resurrection carries tremendous significance for us. Paul moved on to say in v.34, “He raised him from the dead, no more to return to corruption, he has spoken in this way, ‘I will give you the holy and sure blessings of David.’”
What are the holy blessings of David? Paul explained earlier in Acts 13:22-23 that after God had removed King Saul, He raised David and said, “I have found in David the son of Jesse, a man after my heart, who will do all my will.” From David’s offspring, God gave us Jesus, our Saviour. Since death stood in the way of His everlasting kingdom, God raised Jesus from the dead, never to see death and corruption again. In the same way, Romans 6:8 says, “Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.”
Jesus is the perfectly righteous King who has replaced our gloom and defeat by transferring us into the kingdom of His light. We now share in the blessings of David as we share in Christ’s resurrection and His defeat of death. We were buried with Him in baptism and raised with Him to a new life. This life begins with a new identity and a new way of living. This means two things.
First, we have been buried with Christ and are dead to sin. Second, we are resurrected with Him and are now alive to God. This means choosing God over sin. This means no longer offering the members of our body to sin as instruments of wickedness, but to God as weapons of righteousness. This means using our abilities, words, imaginations, reasons, strength, and desires for God’s glory. We have been forever united with Christ in His resurrection. So, like Jesus, the true David, we are now men and women after God’s heart. We share in Christ this new life now and in eternity. Let us rejoice and celebrate this new resurrection life, to live it out by seeking to do His will all our days.