1 Corinthians 15:3-4 NASB95
For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, [4] and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,
Romans 6:4-5 NASB95
Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. [5] For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection,
Mystically, Christs’ crucifixion was our crucifixion of the old man, and His resurrection was our resurrection on the 3rd day. On that 3rd day we were raised up as new creations in union with the risen and victorious Lord Jesus. We are 3rd day people and that is part of the DNA of the new self we are in Christ.
A simple question that I have is why did the Father wait for three days to raise Jesus from the dead? You might say, “It was to fulfill Scripture.” That’s true, of course, but why didn’t God just decide to raise Jesus up 8 hours after his verified death? Why wait for the 3rd day? There has been a lot of discussion over the centuries about what Jesus did between his crucifixion and resurrection, and there have been different conclusions. What seems to be clear is that Jesus presented himself to the Father in the heavenly tabernacle and that he proclaimed His victory to those who had died believing, and the unrighteous who had died unbelieving. The apostles Creed says that He descended into hell, and many throughout the centuries believe that Jesus took the keys of hell and death from the enemy. Whatever Jesus did during those three days before his bodily resurrection, what is obvious is that He was busy fulfilling God’s purposes.
Here is the simple point that I want to make to us who are 3rd day people. Why the delays? Why does God seem to be slow to act sometimes? Why does God seem to be silent and his hand hidden? Metaphorically, why the three days when God can act now. The Scripture says that God neither slumbers nor sleeps, and so He is never inactive, even though you may not see His hand at work. Usually, when God seems most absent is when He is most active. Why the three days? Could it simply be that God was busy accomplishing some things and move from human eyes so that his purposes could be fully realized? As 3rd-day people, we should know that there is a reason for the interval of time between what were believing for and what is manifested in its fulfillment in the natural. Know that what God is up to is bigger than you could ever imagine. We can trust him that there is a reason for the three days or however many days of waiting. It’s not like nothing is happening; is just that you can’t see it, but it is part of your DNA spiritually to know if God is cooking something slowly; it’s because he wants it to be perfect when it’s done.