But some man will say, How are the dead raised up?
and with what body do they come?
I Corinthians 15:35
This term used in the title is not
meant to be confusing, but seems to have become so in the last few decades. The
resurrection of the dead is one of the most blessed and beloved of doctrines in
the bible upon which the very foundation of our hope is built; hope that we
shall live again as has been promised throughout the bible. It is our only
hope of a bodily reunion with all those of the family of God who have
lived upon this earth.
It is of my
opinion that the greatest problem with understanding identical bodily
resurrection lies within the terminology itself. When we use this term to
define our belief in the resurrection of the dead, we are not stating that the
body, which comes forth from the grave, will be exactly as it was when it lived
on earth. It will not have the birthmarks, the wrinkles or any other evidences
of age, or in the case of the infant, will not be small and fragile but it will
be “changed” (not exchanged) to a glorified body like unto the body of our Lord
Jesus Christ. Now, this does not mean that we will be identical to Him in every
feature to the extreme that we will not be able to identify the child of God
apart from our Blessed Lord, but simply means that we will have a glorified
incorruptible body, as does He. We will have an identity or, to use another
term, individuality. It will be the same body with which we were cloaked on
earth, yet changed or glorified as the scriptures teach.
Most everyone who has been
through science classes at school understands that a diamond is only a piece of
coal, a piece of coal that has been changed (again, notice it was not
exchanged) from its original state to its new form. As a piece of coal, it is
dirty with a pungent odor, and can be easily destroyed. Its main purpose is to
be burned. However, after being changed into the diamond, it is a beautiful,
valuable precious stone to be admired by all who look upon it, and is virtually
indestructible. Yet, amazingly, it is still a piece of coal, only changed! So
it is with the caterpillar, after it spends its time in the cocoon, it is
changed into the butterfly. It is the same caterpillar but now its body has
been changed to a totally different creature. Its substance remains the same;
the qualities of that substance have been changed.
I find it sad that
so many today profess
a belief in the resurrection, but continue to conclude that the grave is
the eternal destiny of the body. I have
heard it said many times, “I don’t know what’s coming out of that grave, but I
know something’s coming out!” Well, I do know what’s coming out of the graves.
The scriptures teach us that it will be the bodies of those who once lived upon
this earth. If we accept anything short of this, then we do not truly believe
in “the” resurrection, and if this is the case, where is our hope? Can we
honestly consider that God has no power over death? The actual definition of
“resurrection” itself refutes this misunderstanding; “A rising again;
chiefly, the revival of the dead of the human race, or their return from the
grave, particularly at the general judgment” (as taken from Webster’s
1828 Dictionary).
We find in Apostle
Paul’s writings, … “that there shall be a resurrection of the dead,
both of the just and unjust”. Who are the dead if not those who at one timed
lived? The soul never dies nor does the spirit, so what is it that dies or is
dead? It must be the body!
He speaks very plainly in the 15th
chapter of the Corinthian letter when he says:
·
Verse 42: “It is sown in corruption; it
is raised in incorruption:
·
Verse 43: It is sown in dishonour; it
is raised in glory; It is sown in weakness; it is raised in
power:
·
Verse 44: It is sown a natural body; it
is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual
body.”
There are a lot of
“its” (eight to be exact) used in these few verses but in every case, it
is speaking of the body that is planted into the earth at death, and it is
the same body (yet changed or glorified) that is raised again from the earth
unto new life at the resurrection.
In the following
verses the Apostle uses very strong language as he causes us to pause and
consider: “What if there is no resurrection of the dead?”
·
Verse 12: “Now
if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that
there is no resurrection of the dead?”
Here he is asking those of the church at Corinth:
“How can you even consider that there will not be a resurrection of the dead,
since you have heard it preached and have believed in the past the message that
Christ himself has risen from the dead?”
·
Verse 13:
But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen:
First notice that the Apostle did not say that
if Christ were not raised from the dead then neither would we. He articulates this in a manner that speaks
to us that if we are not to be raised from the dead then neither did Christ
arise from His tomb. Pretty bold language. I don’t think this could be made any
plainer. He states very strongly that if we have no hope of coming out of the
grave, then Jesus does not live today!
·
Verse 14: “And if Christ be not risen, then
is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain”.
Paul tells us
if Christ did not come forth from his tomb, then all that we have preached is a
lie and those who heard our message have believed a terrible falsehood.
·
Verse 15:
“Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God
that he raised up Christ: whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise
not”.
And we
ourselves are found to be liars, because we have declared that God brought
Christ back from the dead, and now according to what you believe, this never
occurred.
·
Verse 16:“For if the dead rise not, then is
not Christ raised”:
If one believes that the
bodies of those who are dead will not be reconstituted and will not come forth,
then he must also conclude that Christ, again, is still dead and his bones
remain somewhere in an unmarked tomb.
·
Verse 17:
“And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins”.
Therefore, if Christ remains in the grave, we are
still in our sins, and God’s wonderful gift of faith is become vanity. Without
the resurrection there is no hope of justification before God! The life and all
the teachings of Christ hang on this one event. If Christ is not risen then the
testimony of his life and all that is taught of Him and by Him is a lie.
·
Verse 18: “Then
they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished”.
The bodies of all those who have died will remain in
their graves, forever
·
Verse 19: “If in this life only we have hope
in Christ, we are of all men most miserable”.
And here is the statement
that so many misunderstand. If the only hope that we (us, or our identity) have
in our Lord is in the here and now, with no hope of living again after death,
then comfort takes its flight and we are miserable creatures.
Why
would our Lord descend from heaven and open the grave if not to receive what is
in it? We can be assured that nothing in the grave is “sleeping” but a body
that once belonged to a person who once lived upon this earth. Also, when they
or we, which are alive and remain, are changed, there won’t be millions of
bodies littering the earth for they shall be changed, just as the dead are
changed.
There will be a
resurrection of whom? THE DEAD! All those in the graves will come forth with a
glorified body, and if it were possible to look inside the grave after this
occurs you would find no bones or even dust where this body was once laid, for
it is risen.
One might argue
that after eons of time there is nothing but dust and it is completely
incorporated with the ground, or you may say that one’s ashes were scattered
over miles of terrain and what of those who were disintegrated by massive
explosions? How can we believe
that all these will be brought back together into a body fit for heaven and
immortal glory?
Let me try to
answer that with a question. If God
gathered dust in the original creation of man why should we limit him in this
great event? Remember this; It is not man that will be at the helm in the
resurrection, but an all-powerful God who is limitless in His abilities. If we
will not or cannot believe that God will raise the dead at the last day, then
how can we believe that he made man from the dust of the earth in our origin?
We can rest
assured in this, just as Joseph’s bones were not left behind in Egypt at the
exodus of the children of Israel, neither shall our bones be left behind in
this “Egypt” as all of God’s people make their exodus from this world into
heaven itself!
Praise God for
this great hope that He has given us in His word.
Sam Everett
