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![Your Text Here](resurrection_files/image001.gif)
During these days in which we are watching for the Lord Jesus,
the anticipation and excitement over his soon coming increases daily. We see the
conflict in the middle east growing wider by the hour, and while we mourn for
the destruction of life and property that is taking place before our eyes, we
also believe that these events were prophesied. The nations are in place for the
grand drama of the ages, the bombs and missiles are flying, and it appears to
informed observers that the end times have begun.
To the pre-trib Christian, this means the Lord will very soon
descend from heaven with a shout to remove his people from the earth. The
rapture truly can happen at any moment. We want to see his face. We want to fall
at his feet and worship him. We want to go to our home in the sky.
We are Christians by virtue of having believed and acted on
the gospel, which is presented very succinctly in I Cor. 15, the great
resurrection chapter. Verses1-4 state: "Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you
the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein
ye stand; 2 By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached
unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. 3 For I delivered unto you first of
all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to
the scriptures; 4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day
according to the scriptures." We should understand that, even if we do not have
a revelation of the reality of the matter, the depravity of man is such that it
was necessary that Jesus die to pay the penalty for our sin, therefore it is
incumbent upon us to accept the terms for our salvation set by God himself for
our benefit.
Rom 10:9-10 says, "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth
the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from
the dead, thou shalt be saved. 10 For with the heart man believeth unto
righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." The
resurrection is an integral part of the gospel of our salvation.
I Cor. 15 goes on to present a very eloquent legal case for
the resurrection of Jesus Christ, including naming eyewitnesses who were still
alive and could verify the facts at the time the passage was recorded, and it
makes the case that the resurrection of Jesus guarantees our resurrection.
Verses 19-20 say, "If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all
men most miserable. But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the
firstfruits of them that slept."
The record of scripture is that all humans will be resurrected
to live eternally, some to live in the presence of God, and some to live in a
place of torment. Forever.
The scripture declares that Jesus is the firstfruits of the
resurrection, but his people will also be resurrected at his coming (I Cor.
15:23). For those who are alive on earth at that moment, our resurrection will
occur at the rapture, without having died first.
1 John 3:2 says, "Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it
doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we
shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is." According to this verse we do
not yet have detailed knowledge about the glorified resurrection bodies we will
soon inhabit, but we do know that those bodies will be like Jesus’ body and
scripture does give us some hints about what is to come.
The gospel of Luke presents Jesus as man and it gives us some
very interesting information regarding the physical aspects of the resurrection.
On the day of his resurrection, two of the disciples were on their way to Emmaus
when they were joined by a third man who they did not recognize because their
eyes were ‘holden.’ As they walked and talked he explained how the scriptures
had to be fulfilled. They stopped for the night and asked the third man to stay
with them, which he did, and when he blessed and broke the bread at the meal,
their eyes were opened and they knew that they were with Jesus. At that, he
vanished out of their sight. Jesus did not change to a different form, he
disappeared. One explanation is that the resurrection body may have the ability
to travel at or near the speed of light (I John 1:5). Another is that it is not
limited to the four-dimensional world that we inhabit and is actually able to
step outside the space-time continuum.
That evening the disciples were in the upper room, and
according to John 21:19, the "doors were shut for fear of the Jews." It appears
that the disciples were concerned that they might be next to hang on crosses, so
they ‘shut’ the doors. It would seem that those doors were locked. Security was
tight. Then something awesome happened.
Luke 24:36-43 "And as they thus spake, Jesus himself stood in
the midst of them, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you. 37 But they were
terrified and affrighted, and supposed that they had seen a spirit. 38 And he
said unto them, Why are ye troubled? and why do thoughts arise in your hearts?
39 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. 40 And when he had thus
spoken, he shewed them his hands and his feet. 41 And while they yet believed
not for joy, and wondered, he said unto them, Have ye here any meat? 42 And they
gave him a piece of a broiled fish, and of an honeycomb. 43 And he took it, and
did eat before them."
Three days before this incident the disciples had seen Jesus
die on the cross. Even though he had told him that he would rise from the dead,
they didn’t have the understanding of what was to come. Thus, when he appeared,
they thought they were seeing a ghost. Jesus took care to prove to them that he
had risen from the dead in the same physical body that they had seen hang on the
cross. "Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see..."
He told them to touch him to prove to their satisfaction that he was a real,
physical person.
Given the fact that the "doors were shut for fear of the
Jews," we should understand that Jesus, in a resurrected flesh and bone body,
surprised the disciples by entering that room without using the door or a
window. His physical, substance body passed right through the physical substance
used in the construction of the building. From time to time I have seen internet
writings that instruct people to head outside or toward a window if they start
to hear the rapture trumpet, and most of us have probably seen artwork that
depicts graves literally burst open at that moment. Based on this passage in
Luke, I don’t believe a glorified resurrection body will be inhibited in the
least by physical constraints. According to Matt. 28:1-7 a group of women went
to the tomb early on resurrection day and were present when the angel removed
the stone. They did not see Jesus at that time, and the angel told them (Matt
28:6) "He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where
the Lord lay." Jesus had already left the tomb. The angels did not remove the
stone from the tomb to let Jesus OUT, they removed the stone to let the
disciples IN. Over the next day or two all of the disciples would see the
resurrected Jesus. The tomb was opened to prove that it was Jesus himself who
had been resurrected, not some spiritual imposter, and the resurrection was of
his literal physical body.
Jesus stated his body was "flesh and bone," not flesh and
blood. He had shed his blood on the cross. Scripture states that the life of the
flesh is in the blood (Lev. 17:11, 14; Deu. 12:23). Twice I have been present at
the death of a loved one, and I found it most revealing that the death was not
confirmed by taking the pulse, it was done by taking the blood pressure. When it
is necessary to establish the paternity of a child, the doctors do not check
fingerprints or skin, hair or eye color, they check blood type because the blood
of a pregnant woman never comes in contact with the blood of her unborn baby.
While a woman’s body produces eggs every month, those eggs never develop into a
baby, or are made alive, unless they are fertilized by the father’s sperm. The
blood type, then, of the developing unborn child is determined by the father.
All of mankind has inherited our blood from our father Adam (Acts 17:26) but
Jesus received his blood from his Father, which was God. Therefore the sin
nature which all humans struggle with is contained in our blood, when that blood
stops circulating through the human body, the person is said to be dead, and the
person stops sinning at that moment. In order for us to become heavenly
creatures, fit to live in God’s perfect, holy heaven, that sin nature, which is
in our blood, will need to be destroyed. For living believers, this will happen
at the rapture. At that moment our bodies will become like His body and we will
be free forever from the sin that so easily besets.
I love what happened next. He asked if they had any food. He
did not say he was hungry. He couldn’t have been hungry because he was raised in
his eternal immortal body. He was no longer subject to death. Hunger is a signal
that the body needs food, and if it does not receive food within a certain
period of time, the body will die. Jesus could not have been hungry. But he did
eat the fish and honeycomb that were given to him.
Now this raises some interesting thoughts. He ate protein and
dessert, and in the doing proved that the resurrection body could ingest food,
and he ate something that tastes better than matzo. In the mortal human body,
eating food results in the elimination of waste. This is something that I never,
ever thought I would address in a Bible study, but God does speak to the matter
in Deut. 23:12-14 and Mark 7:14-23. From these two passages of scripture we can
see that human waste is unclean because it is a picture of what comes out of the
heart of man. Since a glorified resurrection body will have no sin nature, thus
no sin, it would seem that this particular illustration found in creation will
no longer be necessary. I think it might be possible that the resurrection body
may be different on the inside: I think it might process food in a totally
efficient manner.
Forty days after his resurrection Jesus led the disciples out
to the Mount of Olives where he gave them (and us) the great commission. Acts
1:9 says, "And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken
up; and a cloud received him out of their sight." The Greek word translated as
‘taken up’ is epairo, and one of the ways it can be translated is: to
sail away, i.e. weigh anchor. At the rapture the believers will be literally
seized from the earth, but we will still be making the same journey to the
Father’s house. Since heaven is outside of creation, we can understand that the
resurrection body is not subject to freezing, it will not need air, and it will
not require rockets and boosters. We will travel through outer space without the
necessity of a life support system. No space suit - just a beautiful white robe.
1 Cor 15:35-38 tells us this: "But some man will say, How are
the dead raised up? and with what body do they come? 36 Thou fool, that which
thou sowest is not quickened, except it die: 37 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: 38 But God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to
every seed his own body."
Later in the chapter we read that some believers will be
resurrected without having died, but in these verses we are given the concept of
resurrection, and it is the simple fact of planting a seed and the growth that
comes from it. If you have ever planted anything you know that the seed is
actually dead, but that dry shriveled up thing will sprout into a beautiful
plant, or tree, or resurrection body. It does not look at all like the seed that
went into the ground, instead it is gloriously alive, growing and bearing fruit.
My favorite analogy is the black cherry tree that was in the
yard of a former house. In the spring that tree would burst into bloom and be
literally covered with the most beautiful pink and white blossoms. It was
beautifully shaped, and strong, and it would produce excellent cherries. When I
think about that tree, I understand that my mortal human body is like the single
cherry pit from which that tree grew. You know, the little uninspiring thing you
spit out and throw away. But in the resurrection, I will be like the blooming
tree. The same kind of life, but in a vastly superior form and with a huge
difference in ability. Forever.
Rom 8:11 says, "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." There are two
very interesting words in this verse. The word ‘quicken’ is the Greek word
zoopoeio and it is defined as: make alive. The word ‘mortal’ is the Greek
word thnetos and it is defined as: liable to die. Mortal does not mean
dead, it means subject to death. According to this verse, these human bodies
that we have currently are not fully alive, but we are promised that if the Holy
Spirit dwells in us he will make these bodies fully alive. Here is the seed that
is resurrected without having died first.
Ours is the generation that will experience the blessed hope
of the church, and given the news reports this week (7/18/06), I believe that we
will see our Lord Jesus face to face at any moment. When we do, we shall see him
as he is and we shall be like him. Forever.
I can’t wait!! How about you?
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