First Day Of The Week

From Pastor Harry Rogers to the Church.

THE FIRST DAY OF THE WEEK



The Lord resurrected “on the first day of the week”(John 20:1). The resurrection of the Lord was a new start opening the way to a new generation and a new age. This
is why the Lord resurrected “on the first day of the week.”This day is the greatest day in the Bible. That it is called “the first day of the week” means that it is a new beginning. A week is a period of seven days, and the first day denotes a new start. Why did the Lord not rise up on the sixth or seventh day, or on any other day of the week? Because His resurrection ushered in a new period, a new age, a new generation. In the old creation there were seven days. God created for six days and rested on the seventh.

These seven days were the generation of the old creation. By the resurrection of the Lord Jesus another generation was newly started. The old creation belonged to the seven days. Now, after the seven days, there is a new start with another first day. In other words, by the resurrection of the Lord, the old creation has passed away and a new creation has begun; the old generation is over and the new generation has started. Thus, the first day of another week signifies the beginning of a new creation, a new generation, and a new age.

Have you ever noticed the type in the Old Testament which indicated that the Lord would resurrect on the first day of the week? In Leviticus 23:10, 11, and 15, a sheaf of
the firstfruit of the harvest was offered to the Lord as a wave offering on the “morrow after the sabbath.” That sheaf of the firstfruits was a type of Christ as the firstfruit
in resurrection (1 Cor. 15:20, 23). Christ resurrected exactly on the day after the Sabbath. In these verses in Leviticus 23, the term “the first day of the week” is not
used; instead, another term is used—“the morrow after the sabbath.” The Sabbath is the seventh day, and the morrow after the Sabbath is the first day of the week. The
firstfruits of the harvest were offered to the Lord “on the morrow after the sabbath,” meaning the first day of the following week. The firstfruits of the harvest typify the
resurrected Christ. He is the firstfruit of resurrection.

Since the Lord resurrected from the dead as the firstfruit of the harvest, when was the firstfruit of the harvest offered to God? It was on the morrow after the Sabbath,
that is, on the first day of the week. This is not only a type but also a prophecy which was fulfilled in John 20. The firstfruit of the harvest offered to the Lord was the
wave offering signifying resurrection. The wave offering is contrasted with the heave offering. The wave offering was offered with a back-and-forth motion signifying Christ in resurrection; the heave offering was lifted with an up-and down motion signifying Christ in ascension. To wave indicates constant motion. Hence, Christ is moving in life because He has resurrected. He is the life giving Spirit, He is the wave offering on the first day of the week.

Another matter to be considered here is the circumcision of the children of Israel. On what day did God instruct them to be circumcised? It was on the eighth day (Gen. 17:12). After a period of seven days, there is the first day of another period of seven days—that is, the eighth day. The significance of the Lord’s instructing the children of Israel to be circumcised on the eighth day was that they had to eliminate their old nature and live the resurrected life. They were born naturally and had to cut off their old
nature and have a new nature which lives by the resurrection life. Thus, the Israelites were commanded to be circumcised on the eighth day. Colossians 2:11 and 12
declare that in Christ we all have been circumcised by His cross. It is God’s intention that His people put off the old nature and put on the new nature that they might live in the resurrection life. This is something of the eighth day, the first day of the week. This simply denotes resurrection because resurrection is a new beginning for a new
generation in a new creation.

By His all-inclusive death, Christ terminated the old creation, which had been completed in six days plus one Sabbath day. In His resurrection, He germinated the new
creation with the divine life. Hence, it is the beginning of a new “week”—a new age. The day of His resurrection was appointed by God. Psalm 118:24 says, “This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.” If we read this verse in its context, we shall see that it refers to the day of the Lord’s resurrection. The day of His resurrection was a special day, a day appointed by God. The day of the Lord’s resurrection was prophesied as being “this day” in Psalm 2:7, which is quoted in Acts 13:33 and Hebrews 1:5. When the Lord Jesus was still walking on earth, He prophesied that He would be crucified and that He would rise up from the dead on the third day (Matt.16:21; John 2:19, 22). This “third day” was the first day of the week. Later, this day was called by the earlyChristians “the Lord’s day” (Rev. 1:10). What a wonderful day it was!

It should also be pointed out that the Lord was not only resurrected on the first day of the week, but also during the first part of the day. He resurrected in the morning,
not in the evening. Once again this signifies a new start, a new beginning, a new period, a new generation, a new age, a new creation, and a new day. The resurrection of the Lord is the beginning of a new day because He resurrected early in the morning of the first day.

When the Lord Jesus resurrected on the first day of the week, He left the old creation in the tomb (John 20:1-10). Peter entered into the tomb and “beheld the linen cloths lying there, and the handkerchief which was on His head, not lying with the linen cloths, but folded up in a place apart” (John 20: 6-7).

Before the body of Jesus was buried, it was bound in linen (John 19:40). This means that He went into the tomb with something of the old creation, indicating that the old
creation was brought into the tomb by His burial. All the things which were cast off from the Lord’s resurrected body and left in His tomb signify the old creation, which
He wore into the tomb. He was crucified with the old creation and buried with it. But He resurrected from within it, leaving it in the tomb and becoming the firstfruit
of the new creation.

Everything left in the tomb was a testimony to the Lord’s resurrection. If these things had not been left there in a good order, it would have been difficult for Peter and
John to believe (John 20:8 ) that the Lord had not been taken away by someone but had resurrected by Himself. These things were offered to the Lord and wrapped about Him by His two disciples, Joseph and Nicodemus (John 19:38-42). What they wrought on the Lord in their love to Him became very useful in the Lord’s testimony. The Lord resurrected from the dead, leaving all the old creation which He had brought into the tomb as a testimony that He had walked away from death.

In the eyes of God, the entire old creation was buried in that tomb. This is a wonderful fact, whether you believe it or not. The old creation, including your old man and your
old self, was buried in the tomb with Jesus and left there. When the all-inclusive Christ went into the tomb, we went there with Him. When He resurrected, He left us there. In this universe there is such a wonderful, all-inclusive tomb where our old man has been buried and still remains. Now our old man is in the tomb, and our resurrected new man is in the church. The cloths and the handkerchief were left in the tomb in a very good order (John 20:7). Who took the linen cloths and the handkerchief from off the Lord Jesus, and who folded the handkerchief and left it in a good order? It was not done by angels but by the Lord Jesus Himself. The proof of
this is the resurrection of Lazarus in chapter eleven. After Lazarus had been raised from the dead and had come out of the tomb, he was “bound hands and feet with burial
cloths, and his face was bound about with a handkerchief” (John11:44). Hence, Jesus said to the people, “Loose him and let him go” (John11:44). Lazarus needed help to be released from his burial cloths because he was the resurrected one, not the resurrecting One. But the Lord Jesus was theresurrecting One, not the resurrected one. He rose up by Himself and did not need the help of angels. The angels were merely observers. If the angels had removed the wrappings, it would have meant that the Lord was unable to rise up from the dead Himself.

The testimony of the Lord’s resurrection was from two sides—from man and from the angels. As we have seen, all the wrappings were offered to the Lord by two honorable
disciples. Eventually, what they provided the Lord out of their love for Him became a solid and substantial testimony of His resurrection. This was the testimony from
man’s side. Also God sent two angels to be a testimony from the heavens. Hence, there were two sides of the testimony of the Lord’s resurrection, one from man on earth and the other from the angels in heaven. Praise the Lord that both man and angels, earth and heaven, are a testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus.

HE HAS RISEN!!! PRAISE THE LORD!

Wonderful testimony of Jesus Christ as our Passover Lamb, our Resurrected Savior.
Thank you for sharing Mary Amelia I am sure that many will love what your Pastor Rogers sent out to his flock. The Holy Spirit's inspiration running all through it.

God bless you this Easter and Always!

Cami
Just a Kings Kid like you