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Selected Messages Book 1
hired to circulate—that the disciples had come by night and stolen
Him away. This testimony could not be silenced.
Christ was the first fruits of them that slept. It was to the glory of
God that the Prince of life should be the first fruits, the antitype of the
wave sheaf. “For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be
conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among
many brethren” (
Romans 8:29
). This very scene, the resurrection
of Christ from the dead, had been celebrated in type by the Jews.
When the first heads of grain ripened in the field, they were carefully
gathered; and when the people went up to Jerusalem, these were
presented to the Lord as a thank offering. The people waved the
ripened sheaf before God, acknowledging Him as the Lord of the
harvest. After this ceremony the sickle could be put to the wheat, and
the harvest gathered.
So those who had been raised were to be presented to the universe
as a pledge of the resurrection of all who believe in Christ as their
personal Saviour. The same power that raised Christ from the dead
will raise His church, and glorify it with Christ, as His bride, above all
principalities, above all powers, above every name that is named, not
only in this world, but also in the heavenly courts, the world above.
The victory of the sleeping saints will be glorious on the morning of
the resurrection. Satan’s triumph will end, while Christ will triumph in
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glory and honor. The Life-giver will crown with immortality all who
come forth from the grave.
The Ascension of Christ
The work of the Saviour on earth was finished. The time had
come for Him to return to His heavenly home. “And he led them [the
disciples] out as far as to Bethany, and he lifted up his hands, and
blessed them. And it came to pass, while he blessed them, he was
parted from them, and carried up into heaven” (
Luke 24:50, 51
).
As Christ ascends while in the act of blessing His disciples, an
army of angels encircle Him as a cloud. Christ takes with Him the
multitude of captives. He will Himself bring to the Father the first fruits
of them that slept, as an evidence that He is conqueror of death and
the grave. At the portals of the city of God, an innumerable company