JESUS CHRIST IS RAISED FROM THE DEAD. 2nd Timothy 2:8 Against this background, Paul urged Timothy to remember that Jesus Christ was a man descended from David, and that, as God, He was raised from the dead. Jesus experienced suffering before He entered into His glory. Likewise, believers suffer so that we might reign with Him. Paul personally knew this suffering for the sake of the Gospel and was so familiar with it that he could call the Gospel "my Gospel." Explaining or describing the hypostatic union (Jesus is the God/Man) can be difficult because we have never experienced it, but we know it is a fact and must be proclaimed in the Gospel.
Our Lord Jesus took our place in suffering and death for sin as a man. As God, He has made it possible for us to be reconciled to God and has given "eternal life to as many as Thou hast given Him." In this verse, Paul clearly states that Jesus Christ was truly and fully God in that He was raised from the dead and that He is truly and fully man in that He was a descendant of David. He was from the seed of David, born of the “seed of the woman,” as a fulfillment of the promises God gave to David.
The Lord Jesus Christ, being fully God and fully man, is central to the Gospel message. As God, His death has infinite value. As a perfect man, He can serve as the perfect, rightful substitute for sinners and die on their behalf. Being God fulfills every righteous claim God has against us, and as man, He fully identifies with the “wages of sin.” As God, He has the power to lay down His life and take it again because He holds the keys to life and death. As a man in every way except for being a sinner, He took full responsibility for the punishment sin demands by making Himself a sacrifice for our sins.
He came to earth, but that was not the start of His existence. The Lord Jesus Christ is eternal in His being and chose to become incarnate. Though He appeared as a man and never sinned as a faithful Son, He was always God, with the thunder in His voice softened to speak graciously, astonishing all who heard Him teach. His character was perfectly pure, yet His body endured suffering when He gave His life as a ransom for our sins.
Jesus Christ was the only perfect Man among all humanity that ever was or will be, yet He made provision for all men to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth. He is the King, Priest, Sacrifice, Mediator, Advocate; everything we need and in every way impeccable in His character. For us who believe in Him with all our hearts, our personal Savior, Redeemer, will be forever unforgettable.
God’s servants—old and young, men and women—whether suffering or well, whether in prison, at home, in hospitals, or in business—serve and labor for Him. They sit with Bibles in their hands, listening to words from God and learning from the divine Teacher. They bow in prayer with grateful hearts, fellowshiping and communing with God, gathering with others of “like precious faith,” singing, praying, praising—remembering our Lord Jesus Christ. Then they go out publicly to share the Gospel, teach the word, and witness in the darkness of a prison cell, sleeping chamber, or dying bed—waiting and lifting their eyes of faith, looking for the Lord to come with anticipation—worshipping with full hearts.