RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD
Foundation Principles Series - Part V
“Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ,
let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance
from dead works, and of faith toward God, of the doctrine of baptisms, and of
laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal
judgment. And this will we do, if God
permit.” - Hebrews 6:1-3
In the above verses, we
find six concepts that St. Paul refers to as “the principles of the doctrine of Christ,” and, in chapter 5 of
Hebrews, “the first principles of the
oracles of God.” We have explored
the first four principles, Repentance from Dead Works, Faith Toward
God, The Doctrine of Baptisms, and the Laying On of Hands in
earlier messages. Now, let’s turn to the
fifth principle, the Resurrection of the Dead.
Resurrection of the Dead
Among the world’s many
religions Christianity is unique in that its divine Author and Architect became
a man, was executed and died, was resurrected from the dead, and then ascended
into heaven. Mohammad is dead. Buddha is dead. Confucius is dead. Jesus Christ is the only One Who has
actually, “…abolished death, and hath
brought life and immortality to light through the gospel…” (2 Timothy
1:10). The Christian’s hope is indeed a “lively hope” because of the
resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.
The Christian’s faith in
Jesus’ resurrection is not based on theory or contrived tales, but rather on
historical fact. The Apostle Paul
testified about the large number of people who saw Jesus after His resurrection
when he wrote, “For I delivered unto you
first of all that which I also received, how 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: and that He was seen of Cephas, then of
the twelve: after that, He was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of
whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen
asleep. After that, He was seen of
James; then of all the apostles.” (1 Corinthians 15:3-7). These people did not simply receive their
information from second or third hand reports; they were eyewitnesses of Jesus’
death and resurrection. There was a 40
day period between His resurrection and ascension into heaven in which Jesus
appeared repeatedly to His disciples (Acts 1:3). These witnesses then reported what they had
witnessed to everyone that would listen.
In this way the gospel spread very quickly from Jerusalem, where these
events took place, to the outermost parts of the earth.
Christians need not grieve
over the loss of a loved one as other men do for they have the hope that they
will once again see their loved ones who believe in the afterlife. “But I
would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep,
that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose
again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him.”
(1 Thessalonians 4:13, 14). What a
blessed reunion that is going to be when we see those who have gone before us
alive and joyful in the Kingdom of God.
They will no longer be hindered by pain, sickness, or affliction of any
kind. All the cares and wrongs of this
life will be made right in that glorious kingdom. They who mourn in this life will be
comforted. They who are hungry and
thirsty now shall be filled. They who
are hated, persecuted, and reviled today shall be rewarded. Best of all, they will behold the face of the
Father day and night and bask in His great love continuously. For believers, losing a loved one is not a “goodbye,” but a “till we meet again.”
Nature itself reveals the
miracle of resurrection in the cycle of life.
Winter marks the end of fruition and growth for trees and plants of all
kinds; but it is followed by Spring when those same plants are reawakened and
new life courses through them causing them to bud, flower, and bear fruit. Those plants that do not come back year after
year drop their seeds which then germinate and produce brand new plants thus
perpetuating that life. Jesus said, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a
corn [kernel] of wheat fall into the
ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.”
(John 12:24). He was using a natural
illustration to reveal a greater mystery that He knew would prove difficult for
His disciples to grasp. Many times Jesus
tried to prepare them for the necessity of His death; but He also plainly
declared to them the certainty of His resurrection (Matthew 16:21; Luke 9:22;
Mark 8:31). Despite Jesus’ words the
disciples were unable to comprehend that God would allow the Messiah to die at
the hands of evil men, or that God would raise His Son from the dead after
three days.
Without death there is no
need of resurrection, but death came upon all of mankind because of Adam’s sin
(Romans 5:12). Before that, there was no
death in the world. God had warned Adam
and Eve about the danger of eating from the one forbidden tree. He had said to them, “Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: but of the tree of
the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that
thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” (Genesis 2:16, 17). Satan, in the form of the serpent, deceived
Eve into believing that it would be alright - and even beneficial - to eat of
the tree. After eating from the tree
Adam and Eve’s natural bodies began the slow, steady process of death that we
all experience from the day that we are born.
In order to thwart Satan’s plan to destroy God’s offspring, God
introduced a new concept – resurrection! Death did not have to be man’s final
chapter. Since death came by man, then
by man also has come the resurrection of the dead (1 Corinthians 15:21). God came to earth as a man and overcame
death, hell, and the grave for all men.
Just as Adam had brought death on all men, so now has Jesus Christ, God
incarnate, brought life to all men.
Jesus declared this purpose when He said, “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more
abundantly.” (John 10:10). It was
written of Christ that, “In Him was life;
and the life was the light of men.” (John 1:4).
The fifteenth chapter of 1
Corinthians sheds a great deal of light on the subject of resurrection. In verse 23 Paul begins to lay out the order
in which those that have died shall be raised.
Christ is considered the “firstfruits”
of them that rise. After that, all those
souls who have believed in Christ will God raise from the dead at Christ’s
triumphant return to earth (or second coming).
The dead will be raised first and then those who are alive at His
coming. “For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the
voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall
rise first: then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with
them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with
the Lord.” (1 Thessalonians 4:16, 17).
The nineteenth chapter of Revelations gives us a vivid picture of
Christ’s glorious return (Revelation 19:11-21).
Many events take place at this time:
1. The
Lord, along with the armies of heaven, make war on the Beast, the False
Prophet, and their armies, but the Lord prevails over them (Revelation
19:19).
2. The
Beast and the False Prophet are both cast alive into a lake of fire and
brimstone (Revelation 19:20).
3. An
angel descends from heaven holding the key to a bottomless pit along with a
great chain. This angel will lay hold of
Satan binding him and locking him in the bottomless pit for 1000 years
(Revelation 20:1-3).
4. There
will be many thrones set up at this time and many of those who had been
resurrected will sit down in them, and judgment shall be given to them. All the martyrs of Christ and all those who
had refused to accept the mark of the Beast will have been raised also at this
time (Revelation 20:4a).
5. Christ
will establish His kingdom on earth for 1000 years and those who were raised
from the dead with those believers who were still alive at His coming will rule
and reign with the Lord (Revelation 20:4b).
Scripture refers to this
as the first resurrection. “But the rest of the dead lived not again
until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.”
(Revelation 20:5).
Paul continues writing in
1 Corinthians 15, “Then cometh the end,
when He [Christ] shall have delivered
up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when He [Christ] shall have put down all rule and all
authority and power. For He must reign,
till He hath put all enemies under His feet.
The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.” (1 Corinthians
15:24-26). By “the end” Paul is
referring to the end of the 1000 year millennium. At that time Satan is loosed for a short time
and goes about his old trick of deceiving the nations. During that time there will be nations that exist
which have not been regenerated and whose hearts have not been changed by the
grace of God through faith in Christ.
God refers to these nations as Gog and Magog and they are evidently the
nations over which the Saints of God are ruling and reigning. Satan convinces them to gather together to
make war against Christ and His Saints.
They surround the holy city of Jerusalem where the Saints will be
dwelling, and fire comes out of heaven from God and destroys them. Satan is then once and for all cast into the
lake of fire and brimstone where the Beast and False Prophet are. The Prophet Ezekiel prophesied about these
events around the sixth century B.C. You
can read about them in the 38th and 39th chapters of his
book in the Old Testament of the Bible.
It is at this time that
the rest of the dead will be raised to stand before the Great White Throne for
judgment (we will cover this in detail in the last message of this series “Eternal Judgment”). This will be the second and final
resurrection. Those whose names are not
written in the Book of Life will be cast into the lake of fire and
brimstone. Death will finally be
defeated forever when both it and hell are cast into the lake of fire.
The Apostle Paul addresses
the nature of the new bodies that we will inhabit once we are raised when he
writes, “But some man will say, How are
the dead raised up? and with what body do they come? Thou fool, that which thou sowest is not
quickened, except it die: and that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body
that shall be, but bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some other grain:
but God giveth it a body as it hath pleased Him, and to every seed his own
body.” (1 Corinthians 15:35-38). In
Paul’s illustration, the seed that is sown is the natural body that we are born
with; and he says that it cannot be quickened, or brought to life, unless it
dies. He also states that the nature of
the seed that is sown will be changed once it emerges from the soil. You plant a small seed, you get a large
plant. Paul continues by saying that
there is a difference between celestial (heavenly) and terrestrial (earthly)
bodies, and that the glory of the one is not the same as the glory of the other
(v. 40). Paul then writes, “So also is the resurrection of the dead. It
is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption: it is sown in dishonour;
it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power: it is
sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body,
and there is a spiritual body.” (1 Corinthians 15:40-44). Our new spiritual bodies will be so much
better than our natural bodies. As we
have mentioned, they will no longer experience pain, sorrow, or heartache; but
they will also be released from the vanity and temptations that the carnal
flesh is subject to.
That our new bodies will
be quite different from our current ones is evident from scripture. When the Jews were trying to trap Jesus in
His words, they asked Him about a woman who had been married to seven brothers back
to back. Their question was whose wife she would be in heaven. Jesus told them, “Do ye not therefore err, because ye know not the scriptures, neither
the power of God? For when they shall
rise from the dead, they neither marry, nor are given in marriage; but are as
the angels which are in heaven.” (Mark 12:24, 25). During the 40 days after His resurrection
Jesus was able to appear and disappear at will, yet He was clearly not a ghost
or spirit because the disciples were able to touch and feel Him, and He ate and
drank as usual before them. He said to
His disciples, “Behold My hands and my
feet, that it is I Myself: handle Me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh
and bones, as ye see Me have.” (Luke 24:39). He truly possessed a body that was similar in
many ways to His earthly body, but it was more glorious and greatly
enhanced! With eyes of faith Job said, “For I know that my Redeemer liveth, and
that He shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: and though after my skin
worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God…” (Job
19:25, 26). He believed that even after
his earthly body was decayed, that God would fashion him a heavenly body in
which he would abide forever with the Father in heaven. In that bright land there will be no more death,
sorrow, crying , or pain because God Himself will wipe away all tears from the
eyes (Revelation 21:4).
In 1 Corinthians 15:51 there is a mystery that
Paul reveals to us concerning resurrection.
He writes, “Behold, I shew you a
mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed…” It is this “change” that distinguishes true resurrection from every other
episode in the Bible of people being raised from the dead. Once a soul is resurrected, they die no
more. This is why the resurrection that
takes place upon Jesus’ return is referred to as “the first resurrection.” Every
soul who was raised from the dead before this (excepting Jesus the firstfruit
of course), lived on for a time but later died again. Lazarus was raised from the dead by Jesus,
but he lived out his time and later died.
The widow from Nain’s son was raised, but later died. Dorcas, whom Peter raised, lived a time and
died. Even those saints who were raised
from their graves when Jesus died lived only a time and later died. There is no record of anyone who was raised
from the dead in the Old or New Testaments being “changed” and receiving their
celestial bodies before Jesus was resurrected.
If they had been, then Jesus would not have been considered the
firstfruits of them that slept (v. 20).
There were two, Enoch and Elijah, who were “translated” into heaven; but they never experienced a physical
death. “In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the
trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we
shall be changed. For this
corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.”
(1 Corinthians 15:52, 53). As it is
written, Christ one day “…shall change
our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto His glorious body…”
Paul concludes His
teaching in 1 Corinthians with the following words: “So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this
mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying
that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where
is thy victory? The sting of death
is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.
But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus
Christ.” (1 Corinthians 15:54-57).
Death is the final enemy that will be destroyed (v. 26). Once this is accomplished then God’s
creation, along with all His creatures, will be restored to that perfect state
which He intended from the very beginning.
Scripture refers to this as “the
times of refreshing” and “the times
of restitution of all things” (Acts 3:19, 21).
The power of Christ’s
resurrection cannot be overstated. We no
longer need to fear death because we know that Jesus has overcome it for our
sakes. Christ’s resurrection also has
some very important implications in our present lives as well, though. Resurrection life is a force that begins
working in believers the moment they are born again. “And
you hath He quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins…” (Ephesians
2:1). "In Him was life; and the life was the light of men.”
(John 1:4). “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life…”
(John 14:6). “And this is life eternal, that they might know Thee the only true
God, and Jesus Christ, Whom Thou hast sent.” (John 17:3). “For we
which live are alway delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake, that the life
also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh.” (2
Corinthians 4:11).
In His conversation with
Martha three days after her brother Lazarus’ death, Jesus told her plainly that
her brother would rise again. Martha
understood Jesus to be saying that when all the dead were resurrected, her
brother would indeed rise again; but Jesus was meaning something more. He said, “I
am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in Me, though he were
dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in Me shall
never die. Believest thou this?”
(John 11:25, 26). Jesus was saying that
resurrection is not just an event that will one day take place when He returns,
but that He Himself is the
resurrection and the life. This
divine life is coursing through us now and is the power that is transforming us
day by day to be more like our Lord.
Just as death began working in our natural bodies on the day we were
born in the flesh, divine life began working in us on the day we were born
again. As our outward man perishes day
by day, our inward man is renewed day by day.
“But if the Spirit of Him that
raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, He that raised up Christ from the
dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by His Spirit that dwelleth in you.”
(Romans 8:11). Read that verse again and
let it sink in. That Spirit that raised
Jesus from the dead is the same Spirit that we have received as believers, and
it is breathing divine life into our mortal bodies so that we can overcome the
flesh, the world, and the devil through faith in the finished work of Christ. While it is true that our mortal bodies will
continue to grow old and eventually die, yet the inner man is growing stronger
and will be preserved into eternity. “And if Christ be in you, the body is dead
because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.” (Romans
8:10).
Paul spoke of the power of
Christ’s resurrection to the Philippian church as though it were a force that
was energizing his daily walk with the Lord in the present – and indeed it
was. He wrote, “That I may know Him [Christ],
and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being
made conformable unto His death; if by any means I might attain unto the
resurrection of the dead.” (Philippians 3:10, 11). Jesus taught His disciples that they must
lose their life in order to gain true life.
Just as a caterpillar cannot become a butterfly unless it first buries
itself in a cocoon and dies, neither can we know the joy of eternal life (both
now and in the world to come) unless we are willing to die to self. This is part of what Christian baptism is all
about. It is being buried in death so
that we can be raised to new life. “Therefore
we are buried with Him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up
from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in
newness of life. For if we have been
planted together in the likeness of His death, we shall be also in the likeness
of His resurrection...knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no
more; death hath no more dominion over Him.” (Romans 6:4, 5, 9).
The life that is in Jesus Christ energizes and empowers us to be more
than we could ever be on our own. It
transforms us little by little as we learn to yield ourselves to the will of
God.
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