The Role of Each Member of the Godhead in the Resurrection of Christ out from the Dead

God the Father

Christ was raised by the glory of the Father. The term “glory” refers to having or holding a proper opinion. Therefore, it was the Father’s opinion that Christ, being righteous, was to be raised out from the dead. According to the Father's proper opinion, His Pious One’s body would not see corruption; therefore, Christ was raised on the third day, before His human body, which lay in the grave, could begin to decay (Psalm 16:10).

God the Son

At the physical death of Christ, His human soul and spirit went to Paradise in Sheol. After three days in the grave, in response to God the Father’s opinion that Christ was to be raised, God the Son, in His divine nature, brought His human soul and spirit back to His body in the grave. Prior to His death, Christ declared, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up” (John 2:19). Verse 21 makes it clear that He was referring to His human body. God the Son first took captivity captive, relocating Paradise to the edge of the third heaven (Ephesians 4:8). He then returned to the gravesite.

Shortly after Christ was raised from the dead, Mary Magdalene encountered Him in the garden, before He had ascended to the Father to present the sacrifice for our sins (John 20:17). This occurred just before sunrise on the fourth day, fulfilling the word of the Father: “You will not leave My soul in Sheol (Hades), nor will You allow Your Pious One to see corruption” (Acts 2:27).

God the Holy Spirit

When Christ returned His human soul and spirit to the grave, the Holy Spirit knitted them back into His human body, giving the fleshly body resurrection life. He is the One involved in quickening—that is, resurrecting—the body (Romans 8:11). Christ came according to the seed of David, and was declared the Son of God in inherent ability, as measured by the Spirit of Holiness, out from the resurrection from the dead (Romans 1:4).