The resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ was not just spectacular in sight or merely an event in which Christ rose from the dead after three days, nor was it an end in and of itself. Rather, it was God setting a seal before all that he was pleased with the accomplishment of his Son. It was a confirmation that he was pleased with his obedience in his life on earth and the death on the cross. As a result, God did not leave his Son in the grave to see corruption. He raised him up on the third day.

I will show that the resurrection was that indisputable evidence that the Father was truly satisfied in his Son’s finished work. I have divided the discussion into two parts: Christ’s work and the Father’s delight.

Christ’s work

 As seen in his fruit: The rising of Christ from the dead was for God’s satisfaction. “He shall be satisfied” (Isa. 53:11). And this satisfaction was in the fruit of his labour. “He shall see his seed” (Isa. 53:10). The people God gave him to redeem are the fruit of his work. For Christ’s satisfaction is in the saving of God’s elect, by ensuring that none is doomed. “That of all he (Father) has given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day” (Jn. 6:39). The resurrection was a sign that Christ had safely delivered all of God’s people. The delight and satisfaction of Christ was the delight and satisfaction of the Father because it was his Father who laid the task on his Son. God expressed his delight in Jesus because Jesus fulfilled his mission. Therefore, he raised him from the dead on the third day.

As seen in prophecy: The resurrection of Jesus Christ confirms the faithfulness of God with regard to his plan. All that was said by the prophets with respect to Christ was fulfilled in salvation and in accordance with the mind of God. The Scriptures are established in God raising his Son from the dead. One of the things the Scriptures record is what God had said concerning his Son, “For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the Scriptures” (1 Cor. 15:4). If the Scriptures were fulfilled, then there can be no doubt that the Father was satisfied with the whole plan of salvation. God’s Son fulfilled God’s will.

As seen in his judgment: The judgement has been placed on the shoulders of the Son of God as his responsibility (Jn. 5:22). God has given his Son the authority to execute the judgement (Jn. 5:27). This authority to be judge is merited through the Son’s perfect obedience to the righteous demands of his Father. After rising from the dead he declared, “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth.” (Matt. 28:18). The resurrection was evidence that the Father was pleased with his Son, and set him as judge of the entire universe; “Because he has appointed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by the man whom he has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising him from the dead” (Acts. 17:31). The resurrection is the seal of approval of Christ as judge.

The Father’s delight

 God honoured his Son after emerging victorious in achieving the work of redemption. This honour was shown to Christ after his resurrection from the dead (Isa. 53:12).

As seen in Christ’s highest place: God gave Jesus a lofty place of greatness as a symbol of acceptance and delight in him because of the honour he brought to his Father. “He was received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God” (Mk. 16:19). The phrase “right hand” signifies a place of authority, power and honour (Eph. 1:20–22). God welcomed him back home, and it was as though the Father was saying, “Sit here, and take your place immediately”. For “sitting” denotes one who has finished his task (Heb. 1:3). It was a reward for a successful offering, a substitutionary, curse-bearing sacrifice in heaven and on earth (Rev. 1:5). Because the Father was infinitely and eternally happy with his Son, he set him on his right hand. In the language of our day, God gave Jesus the instruments of power.

As seen in Christ’s name: The Father’s satisfaction is also seen in giving his Son a name that is above every name. He received him by giving him the highest designation as “Lord” (Phil. 2:8–11). He would be worshipped, affirmed, and proclaimed at the height of all honour when “every knee should bow… and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of the Father” (Phil. 2:10–11). Jesus is the only sovereign ruler without any comparison. Why should the Father give him the only name there is and raise him to the highest rank? A soldier is promoted to the position of General as proof that the superiors are fully satisfied that he could undertake the new challenge. The Father’s delight at the end of his Son’s attainment was raising Jesus from the dead and giving him that name that describes triumph.

As seen in Christ’s Lordship over all: After the resurrection of Jesus, everything is placed under his dominion. “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth,” declares Jesus (Matt. 28:18). Once for all things are made subject to him (1 Cor. 15:27, 28). His former glory was restored within the Godhead in its pre-eminence. God exalted him so that the Father might receive the maximum and undiluted glory and praise. All things have been completely subjected to him in order that God may be all in all. The resurrection of Jesus truly brought satisfaction to God because it brought to him the deserved glory.

As evidenced in the Father’s actions: The very fact that Christ did not remain in the grave forever is proof of God’s satisfaction. “You will not allow your holy one to see corruption” (Acts 13:35). If Christ had decomposed in the grave, it would not have brought pleasure to the heart of the Father. But “according to the working of His mighty power which he worked in Christ” (Eph. 19, 20), God raised him from the dead. The resurrection was proof that God was absolutely satisfied in Christ’s work by not allowing him to decay.

God did not only raise Christ from the dead, but delivered mankind from sin. Through the death of Christ, the blessing of forgiveness comes to us. In other words, we cannot be condemned and be cast into hell. We are justified, declared righteous. Not even the devil can find anything that would finally lead us to eternal condemnation. God has shown that it is impossible for us to be condemned by raising Jesus from the dead. That is Paul’s argument in the book of Romans. His appeal of this impossibility is that justification is rooted in the resurrection of Jesus. “And was raised because of our justification” (Rom. 4:25). If God does not condemn us who then can condemn what God has declared righteous? The answer is none! “Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us” (Rom. 8:33–34).

Divine justice was satisfied through the one sacrifice in Christ. The benefits of salvation are an indication of God’s satisfaction in his Son; which flow to us through the resurrection of Jesus. Christ appeased the wrath of God so that believers may never suffer eternal wrath. He is the assurance to believers that God is pleased with his Son’s sacrifice, and that he is no longer angry with them. This was confirmed by raising Jesus from the dead as a divine promissory note. “Whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come” (1Thess. 1:10).

Christians have a future hope in Christ Jesus. And the foundation of this hope is the resurrection of Jesus. God “has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (1 Pet. 1:3). This living hope is the hope of eternal life (1 Pet. 1:4, 5). When Christ rose from the dead, he brought us a living hope. We are alive in Christ through the regenerating work of the Spirit (Eph. 2:1.5). The Father’s acceptance of the death of his Son guaranteed our hope. The resurrection was an open declaration, “For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with him those who sleep in Jesus” (1 Thess. 4:14).

God has also given us faith. Our faith in Jesus Christ is grounded in the Lordship and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ from the dead. “That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (Rom. 10:9). Our salvation is a confirmation that the Father was fully satisfied with the work of his Son. He met God’s divine law and justice. God accepts us on the basis of the resurrection when we believe in his Son. Bible preacher G. Campbell Morgan says, “The resurrection has no message to men who are attempting in the energy of their own will to please God, save that of declaring that by the fact of his pleasure in the perfect one, He cannot be pleased with imperfection in any degree” (Morgan, p.368).

When God justifies us, he gives us the promised Holy Spirit. Christ made it clear to his disciples that the Holy Spirit would not be given until he was raised from the dead and ascended to his Father. Jesus alluded to this process even before his death “whom those believing would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified” (John 7:39). And after his resurrection, the Father authorised him to bestow the blessing of the Holy Spirit upon his beloved disciples. The coming of the day of Pentecost and the pouring out of the Holy Spirit was as a result of the satisfaction of the Father in his Son’s work (Acts 2:32,33).

Conclusion

The resurrection therefore, is an attestation to the perfect mediatory work of Jesus and echoes the words of Christ on the cross that “it is finished”. God sits in heaven, well pleased in his Son and all his works. When God allowed his Son to sit at his right hand, he was fully satisfied with him forever

G. Campbell Morgan beautifully underscores God’s satisfaction in the resurrection of Jesus when he says, “The supreme value of the resurrection lies in the fact that it was a divine act, by which God gave attestation to his perfect satisfaction with the work of Christ” (Morgan, p.361). God was fully satisfied!