Resurrection life is directly related to our sanctification. We read in Hebrews 10:10, “By this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.”[1] This is a key verse. Our sanctification is based on the fact that Yeshua (Jesus) our Messiah came into the world and, by His will, was accepted by God as the sacrifice for our sins. In obedience He went to the cross, died as the Lamb of God for our sins, and was resurrected by the Father. That was the process of our sanctification.

Sanctification means making us like the Father. It means that our sin is removed and therefore death is removed. Yet one of the greatest belief systems we see in Christianity today is the belief in death.  It has been taught for centuries that our reward is in heaven, and that the outcome of what Yeshua did on the cross is something that we receive after we die. The Church almost glorifies death. We are taught that when Christians die, they go to a better place. There is a truth to that. However, when Christ died and was resurrected, our eternal bodies were formed. They already exist.

Paul wrote,

For we know that if the earthly tent which is our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For indeed in this house we groan, longing to be clothed with our dwelling from heaven, inasmuch as we, having put it on, will not be found naked. For indeed while we are in this tent, we groan, being burdened, because we do not want to be unclothed but to be clothed, so that what is mortal will be swallowed up by life. (2 Corinthians 5:1–4)

When Christ was resurrected, many of the saints who had died came out of their graves and physically walked the streets of Jerusalem (Matthew 27:52–53). Yeshua was the first to be resurrected. Then instantly others were resurrected as well. Christ’s resurrection opened the door to resurrection life, “so that what is mortal will be swallowed up by life.” Paul was not looking to die in order to obtain resurrection; he believed to be clothed in his new dwelling from heaven while he was still alive.

There is no time frame for resurrection life. Resurrection life is simply putting on your new body of life that does not die. This seems so radical to people. It confronts us because we have never seen it before. It is not within the scope of our experience. Therefore, it is deemed heresy because no one has ever experienced it. But it is important to understand that Hebrews 10:10 means what it says—you have been sanctified. Holiness is not a term; it is the Father. He is holiness. He is sanctification. It is His personality. And when the Father and His personality dwell in us, we have resurrection life.

Yeshua said, “My Father and I will come and take up Our abode with you” (John 14:23). What happens when that takes place? “If the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies” (Romans 8:11). We literally put on Christ (Romans 13:14). And if the Father, whose name is Sanctification, dwells in you, He will give life to your mortal body.

[1] All Scripture references are from the New American Standard Bible 1995 (NASB1995).