The crucifixion of Jesus the Christ paved the way for his resurrection. It was a sacrifice for sin, turning aside the wrath of the Father, so that believing disciples of Jesus could receive the purification from their sins by the working of the Holy Spirit in their lives.
The resurrection of Jesus Christ to eternal life brought the fullest realization of all that his anointing entails. It marked the true moment of his anointing; through it the Father vindicated him as the Christ and exalted him to the full authority and kingship promised in Scripture. Hebrews portrays this anointing not in oil but in joy: “God has anointed you with the oil of gladness above your companions” (Heb. 1:9). It is a joy that crowns him above all others — the joy of completed obedience, of love perfected, of divine approval beyond measure.
The resurrection is thus both the confirmation of his messianic identity and the bestowal of the ultimate reward and authority: joy, lordship, and eternal participation in the Father’s reign — making him the fully anointed king through whom God’s purposes are realized, as revealed in Psalm 2:
Psalm 2
‘Why do the nations rage
and the peoples plot in vain?
The kings of the earth set themselves,
and the rulers take counsel together,
against the Lord and against his Anointed, saying,
“Let us burst their bonds apart
and cast away their cords from us.”
He who sits in the heavens laughs;
the Lord holds them in derision.
Then he will speak to them in his wrath,
and terrify them in his fury, saying,
“As for me, I have set my King
on Zion, my holy hill.”
I will tell of the decree:
The Lord said to me, “You are my Son;
today I have begotten you.
Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage,
and the ends of the earth your possession.
You shall break them with a rod of iron
and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.”
Now therefore, O kings, be wise;
be warned, O rulers of the earth.
Serve the Lord with fear,
and rejoice with trembling.
Kiss the Son,
lest he be angry, and you perish in the way,
for his wrath is quickly kindled.
Blessed are all who take refuge in him.’
As Paul emphasizes in 1 Corinthians 15, the Father will subject all things to the Son, and then the Son will in turn submit all things to the Father, so that “God may be all in all.” In this ultimate act, the anointed king vindicates the Father’s rule: the rebellion of nations and rulers is decisively put down, and God’s covenantal authority is established forever.
The resurrection is therefore not only the vindication of Jesus personally but also the fulfillment of the divine promise — the anointed Son acting as God’s agent to bring justice, order, and enduring peace. In this way, the Father’s plan, carried out through the exalted Son, brings the royal vision of Psalm 2 to its eternal conclusion.
The Christ died for you.
