|
The resurrection of the dead |
|
God predicted
through the prophets of old that the dead will rise again, for in the book of
the prophet Isaiah it is written: “Thy dead men shall live,
together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in
dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the
dead” (Isaiah 26:19), and in the book of Daniel it is written: “And many of
those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting
life, some to shame and everlasting contempt ….But you, go your way till the
end; for you shall rest, and will arise to your inheritance at the end of the
days” (Daniel 12:2,13 – NKJV). |
|
Several
centuries later He confirmed that prediction through His Son and the
apostles. For Jesus said: “Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in
which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth – those
who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done
evil, to the resurrection of condemnation” (John 5:28-29 – NKJV); Paul said
that he had the same hope in God as the people of Israel, “that there will be
a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and the unjust” (Acts 24:15 –
NKJV); and John wrote that he saw both the souls of those who had been
beheaded because of their testimony for Jesus and the rest of the dead come
to life; those who had been killed because of their testimony for Jesus came
to life just before the millennial reign, for John says that they reigned
with Christ a thousand years, while the rest of the dead did not come to life
until the thousand years were ended (Revelation 20:4, 11-15). |
|
Therefore,
the resurrection of the dead was predicted by the prophets first, and then by
Jesus and the apostles. So the resurrection of the dead is certainly one of
the events which is to take place in the latter
times. God foretold the resurrection of the dead and we believe that the dead
will rise again at His appointed time. I would like to point out that all the
dead will rise again, no one of them will be excluded because all men must
appear before God with their body to give account to Him for the things they
did in the body. I say this because some people affirm that according to the
following words of Daniel “many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth
shall awake” the resurrection of the dead will be partial; however the words
of Daniel were made clear by Jesus who said that “all who are in the graves
will hear His voice and come forth”. Therefore, let no one deceive you with
empty words. |
|
|
|
|
The resurrection of the just
|
|
|
|
Paul says
to the Corinthians: “But now Christ is risen from
the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For
since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. For
as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. But each one
in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ’s at
His coming ….” (1 Corinthians 15:20-23 – NKJV). Now, Jesus Christ is called
the firstborn from among the dead (or the firstfruits of those who have
fallen asleep) because He rose from the dead with a glorious and
incorruptible body, that is to say, because He is the first man who has risen
again with an immortal body. Those who were raised from the dead before
Jesus, such as the son of the widow of Sareptha, Lazarus and the son of the
widow of Nain, were not raised from the dead with an immortal body but with
the same mortal body they had before their death, for the Scripture says that
after Jesus had raised Lazarus from the dead “the chief priests plotted to put
Lazarus to death also, because on account of him many of the Jews went away
and believed in Jesus” (John 12:10-11 – NKJV). As you can see, Lazarus could
still be killed and thus could still die, and we are sure that at God’s
appointed time he died again. But the One whom God raised from the dead on
the third day “dies no more” (Romans 6:9 – NKJV) because death no longer has
dominion over Him. Therefore, when we say that Christ is the firstborn from
among the dead we mean that He is the first man who has been raised from the
dead with a glorious, immortal and incorruptible body. And since Christ is
the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep that means that all those who
died in Christ will be raised from the dead too; they will be raised from the
dead at the return of the Lord. |
|
Both Jesus
and the apostles stated that the saints who have fallen asleep will be raised
from the dead; let us look therefore at some of their statements about the
resurrection of the just which is to take place at God’s appointed time. |
|
●
Jesus mentioned the resurrection of the just when he said to a Pharisee who
had invited Him: “When thou makest a dinner or a supper, call not thy
friends, nor thy brethren, neither thy kinsmen, nor thy rich neighbours; lest
they also bid thee again, and a recompence be made thee. But when thou makest
a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind: And thou shalt be
blessed; for they cannot recompense thee: for thou shalt be recompensed at
the resurrection of the just” (Luke |
|
●
Paul wrote to the Corinthians: “And God both raised
up the Lord and will also raise us up by His power” (1 Corinthians |
|
In the
light of the above mentioned verses of the Scripture, therefore, when the
dead in Christ hear the mighty shout of the Lord Jesus they will come out of
the graves with an immortal body and they will meet the Lord in the air.
Therefore, the resurrection of the just will take place at the coming of the
Lord Jesus Christ. |
|
|
|
|
The resurrection of the unjust
|
|
|
|
As for the
resurrection of the unjust, Jesus said that “those who have done evil will
rise to be condemned” (John |
|
As I said
before, the unjust will rise to be condemned to an everlasting contempt, for
after their resurrection they will be cast into the lake which burns with
fire and brimstone, where they will be tormented forever and ever. There are
several verses of the Scripture which confirm that the torment which the
unjust will suffer in the lake of fire is eternal. |
|
●
Jesus said about those who will be put on His left: “And these will go away
into everlasting punishment ….” (Matthew 25:46 – NKJV). |
|
●
Paul said to the Thessalonians: “Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to
recompense tribulation to them that trouble you; And to you who are troubled
rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his
mighty angels, In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God,
and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall be punished
with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the
glory of his power” (2 Thessalonians 1:6-9). |
|
●
John wrote in the book of Revelation: “And the third angel followed them,
saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and
receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, The same shall drink of the
wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of
his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the
presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: And the smoke
of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day
nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the
mark of his name” (Revelation 14:9-11). The following expressions, “the smoke
of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever”, “they have no rest day nor night” show that those people will be tormented
forever, and, unlike those who will live forever with the Lord and will rest
from their labor, they will never have rest. |
|
● John
says in the book of Revelation that when Jesus comes back, both the beast and
the false prophet will be cast into the lake of fire burning with brimstone (Revelation
19:20); and that when the millennial reign is over the devil also will be
cast into the lake of fire “and they will be tormented day and night forever
and ever” (Revelation 20:10 - NKJV). Obviously since the cowardly,
unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters,
and all liars will be cast into the lake of fire, we must conclude that they
also will be tormented forever and ever (Revelation 21:8). |
|
●
Jesus said: “And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out: it is better for
thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to
be cast into hell fire [geenna]: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is
not quenched” (Mark 9:47-48). Notice that it is written that the worm of the
wicked does not die and the fire is not quenched, which shows that the
torment which the wicked will suffer in the lake of fire will be endless. |
|
●
Jude said: “As |
|
As you can
see, the above mentioned verses in one way or another speak of eternal
torment. However, as you know, some people say that these verses must not be
interpreted literally, but they are greatly mistaken because if it were so as
they say we shouldn’t interpret literally the following words of Jesus “but
the righteous [will go away] into eternal life” (Matthew 25:46 – NKJV) and
the following words of John concerning the righteous “and they shall reign
forever and ever” (Revelation 22:5 – NKJV) either. |
|
|
|
|
How the dead are raised up
|
|
|
|
Let us see
now how the dead are raised up. Paul wrote to the Corinthians: “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. All flesh is not the same flesh: but there is one
kind of flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, and another
of birds. There are also celestial bodies, and
bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of
the terrestrial is another. There is one glory of the sun, and another glory
of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for one star differeth from
another star in glory. 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. And so it is written, The first man Adam was made
a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit. Howbeit that was
not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that
which is spiritual. The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is
the Lord from heaven [some manuscripts don’t have ‘the Lord,’ thus they read
‘the second man is from heaven’]. As is the earthy, such are they also that
are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly. And
as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the
heavenly” (1 Corinthians |
|
In order
to explain how the dead are raised up, Paul used some similes. First of all
he said that what one sows does not come to life unless it dies, and in fact
every seed which is sown must decompose first in order to bear fruit; then
Paul said that when one sows he does not plant the body that will be, but
just a seed, but God gives it a body as He has determined, and to each kind
of seed He gives its own body. All these things happen in nature at God’s command
because the Scripture says that all things continue this day according to His
ordinances, and they are useful to us to understand how the dead in Christ
are raised. |
|
Man’s body
is subject to sickness and to all kinds of pains, and it gets tired when it
makes some physical efforts; these are signs which show that man’s body is
weak. However, at the resurrection the resurrected saints will receive from
God a powerful body, which will not be subject to these things any longer for
the former things will pass away and He will make all things new. In other
words, the resurrected body will be more powerful than the earthly body. The
body of the saints is sown in weakness, for when it is buried is lifeless,
but at the resurrection it will be raised in power because it will be full of
strength. |
|
We who are
in this tent see our body perishing for it is a corruptible body, but when we
are clothed with our habitation which is from heaven then we will no longer
see it perishing because it will be an incorruptible body. Our body is sown
in corruption and it will be raised incorruptible, for the body which is
buried decomposes and it returns to the dust as it is written: “For dust you
are, and to dust you shall return” (Genesis |
|
Paul says
also that all flesh is not the same, for men have one kind of flesh, animals have another, birds another and fish another. He
says this so that we may understand that the flesh of which will be made the
resurrected bodies of the saints is different from the flesh of their earthly
bodies. Yes, because even the resurrected bodies of the saints will be made
of flesh, but of a kind of flesh which will be different from the one we have
now on earth. This is confirmed by the resurrection of Jesus, for Jesus rose
again with a powerful and incorruptible body, but at the same time with a
body made of flesh and bones, in that when He appeared to His disciples (who
thought they were seeing a spirit) He said to them: “Why are you troubled?
And why do doubts arise in your hearts? Behold My hands and My feet, that it
is I Myself. Handle Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as
you see I have” (Luke 24:38-39 – NKJV). As you can see, the body of Jesus
could be touched because He was not a spirit. However, even though Jesus was
not a spirit, He was able to pass through the walls, for the Scripture says
that “when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled, for fear
of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them. Peace be
with you” (John |
|
Furthermore,
the apostle says that there are heavenly bodies and there are earthly bodies,
but the splendour of the heavenly bodies is one kind, and the splendour of
the earthly bodies is another. The sun has one kind of splendour, the moon
another and the stars another; and star differs from star in splendour. We
can see this with our own eyes, can’t we? |
|
Let us
consider the angels who are in heaven, which are heavenly beings created by
God and thus they have a heavenly body. The splendour of their body differs very
much from the splendour of our body. To understand this concept it suffices
to consider the appearances of angels to men. For instance, let us consider the
angelic vision that the women had at the tomb where the body of Jesus had
been laid. It is written that an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and,
going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it; “his appearance was
like lightning” (Matthew 28:3 – NIV). Besides this vision, we can consider
also some visions of angels that some brothers in our generation have seen;
there is no doubt, according to their words the splendour of the bodies of
these heavenly beings differs from the splendour of our bodies. Therefore, at
the resurrection the body which has been sown in dishonor will be raised in
glory, in a glory that is much greater than the glory our body has on the
earth. Paul confirmed this when he said to the Philippians that the Lord
Jesus Christ “will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His
glorious body” (Philippians |
|
The
apostle Paul says also that just as there is a natural body so there is a
spiritual body. However the spiritual is not first, but the natural, and
afterward the spiritual. The natural body is the body we have now, while the
spiritual body is the body which both the dead in Christ (who will rise
again) and the saints who are alive at the coming of the Lord (who will be
changed) will receive from the Lord on that day. It is called spiritual
because it will be made alive by the Spirit of God, as it is written: “He who
raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through
His Spirit who dwells in you” (Romans 8:11 - NKJV). |
|
Therefore,
what we clearly learn from the Scripture is this: “As we have borne the image
of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man” (1 Corinthians
|
|
At this
point someone may ask: ‘With what body do the unjust come?’ The Scripture
does not say anything about the body with which the unjust will rise again. However,
their body will surely be a physical body since their resurrection also will
be a physical resurrection. Furthermore, it will be an immortal body because
with that body they will be tormented in the lake of fire for ever and ever.
When Jesus told His disciples to fear “Him who is able to destroy both soul
and body in hell [geenna]” (Matthew 10:28 - NKJV), the body he referred to is
the resurrected body of the wicked, since geenna is the everlasting fire into
which the wicked will be cast after their resurrection. |
|
|
|
|
On that day death will be destroyed and the saints
will receive the redemption of their bodies
|
|
|
|
Paul says:
“Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be
changed, 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. 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
[hades], where is thy victory?” (1 Corinthians 15:51-55). |
|
The reason
why Paul says that we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, is
that at the return of the Lord there will be some believers who will be found
alive and since they have not tasted death they will be changed. However, they
will obtain a body like the body of the resurrected saints. That’s what we
learn also from the following words that Paul wrote to the Thessalonians: “For
this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and
remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent [precede] them which are
asleep. 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 4:15-17). |
|
Then, that
is, when the dead in Christ rise and we are changed, will death be destroyed;
yes, because death has not yet been destroyed. It is true that Paul says to
Timothy that Christ “has destroyed death” (2 Timothy 1:10 – NIV), however
this destruction applies to the death of Jesus, for it is written that Christ,
“having been raised from the dead, dies no more” (Romans 6:9 – NKJV), and not
to the death of all the saints who died because they are asleep and they
haven’t yet waked up. Believers still die, therefore
we must say that death has not yet been swallowed up in victory. Actually
death still has a sting, which is sin, that dwells in us, as it is written:
“Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that
dwells in me” (Romans 7:20 – NKJV), and again: “If we say that we have no
sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us” (1 John 1:8 – NKJV). However,
at the resurrection this sting will be taken away because in the glorious
body we will obtain there will be no more evil or sin. Now as you know it is
written: “The LORD said to my Lord, Sit at My right hand, till I make Your
enemies Your footstool” (Matthew 22:44 – NKJV), therefore Christ is at the
right hand of God and He is reigning, waiting for His enemies to be put under
His feet, for “now we do not yet see all things put under him” (Hebrews 2:8 –
NKJV). Now according to what Paul says, “the last enemy that will be
destroyed is death” (1 Corinthians |
|
On that
day the redemption of our body will be fulfilled, for when the Scripture
speaks of the resurrection of the just, which will take place on the day of
Christ, it refers to the redemption of our body, for Paul says to the Romans:
“We also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan
within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our
body” (Romans 8:23 – NKJV). This, because only on
that day the mortal bodies of the righteous will be delivered from the
bondage of corruption and will become immortal, glorious and incorruptible.
So we can say that when the righteous die, they save their soul but ‘lose’
their body, but they lose it only for a time because they will take it back
again in the resurrection, that is, when God raises their bodies. This is an
important thing concerning the resurrection of the just, which must be stressed
and kept in mind, because it confirms that the resurrection will be a
physical resurrection, that is, it confirms that at the resurrection the just
will take their own bodies back again, (and this is something which many
sects deny). Obviously, since not all the just will die, not all the just
will rise again because those who are alive at the coming of the Lord will be
only changed; notwithstanding this, the redemption of the body will be
experienced also by those who are alive because their bodies will be changed
into glorious, incorruptible and immortal bodies, thus they also will be
delivered from the bondage of corruption. |
|
|
|
|
Our hope
|
|
|
|
Dear
brothers in the Lord, the resurrection of our body is the hope we have in God,
and how distressed we are till it is fulfilled! Paul expressed this distress
in these terms: “For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with
our habitation which is from heaven, if indeed, having been clothed, we shall
not be found naked. For we who are in this tent groan, being burdened, not
because we want to be unclothed, but further clothed, that mortality may be
swallowed up by life” (2 Corinthians 5:2-4 – NKJV). |
|
Therefore,
brothers, we are eagerly waiting for the redemption of our body, that is to
say, we are eagerly waiting for our body to be transformed into a heavenly
body, because we who belong to Christ were appointed to obtain a heavenly
body; the habitation in which we now live is an earthly habitation but we
earnestly desire to be clothed with out habitation which is from heaven (that
is, the heavenly body which we will keep for ever and ever) and which is
better than the earthly habitation. However, in order to be clothed with our
habitation which is from heaven, we must be found clothed and not naked at
the return of the Lord. Someone will say: ‘With what must we be found
clothed?’ We must be found clothed with what we put on when we believed. I
will explain this concept through the Scriptures. Isaiah says: “He has
clothed me with the garments of salvation, He has
covered me with the robe of righteousness” (Isaiah 61:10 – NKJV). That means
that we believers have clothed ourselves, or rather, have been clothed with
the garments of God’s salvation and the robe of God’s righteousness, and
this, by faith in Christ. However, we must continue to wear the garments of
God’s salvation and the robe of His righteousness till the glorious appearing
of our Lord. That’s what Paul was determined to do, for he said to the
Philippians: “Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of
the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of
all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in
Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which
is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith” (Philippians
3:8-9 – NKJV). |
|
Therefore,
beloved, let us see that we are found by the Lord, at His coming, clothed
with the righteousness which is from God by faith, and let us not imitate
those who have put off the righteousness which is from God in order to put on
their own righteousness (that is to say, let us not imitate those who have forsaken
Christ in order to be justified by the law of Moses), for “by the deeds of
the law no flesh will be justified in His sight” (Romans 3:20 – NKJV). Nor
let us imitate those who have put off the new man “which was created
according to God, in true righteousness and holiness” (Ephesians 4:24 –
NKJV), and they have put on the old man “which grows corrupt according to the
deceitful lusts” (Ephesians 4:22 – NKJV); or else we will be found naked,
that is to say, with the shame of our nakedness revealed. Brothers, know
this, that all those who, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world
through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, are again
entangled in them and overcome (2 Peter 2:20), thus, they return to walk like
natural brute beasts according to the flesh in the lust of uncleanness, I
say, know that they will not be found clothed but naked. |
|
I conclude
by reminding you that the Lord said to the angel of the church of the
Laodiceans: “I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would
thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold
nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. Because
thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing;
and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind,
and naked: I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest
be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame
of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that
thou mayest see” (Revelation 3:15-18). As you can see, that believer with the
passing of time had become lukewarm and the Lord, knowing his works, told him
that he was naked, and He counselled him to buy from Him white garments so
that he might be clothed, that the shame of his nakedness might not be
revealed. That shows that if we cease to watch and keep the commandments of
the Lord, we will lose the white garments that the Lord has given us. |
|
Therefore,
beloved, let us keep the white garments with which the Lord, after removing
our filthy garments (our iniquities) from us, has clothed us. Let us not put
them off, so that we might be found by the Lord clothed and not naked, and thus
we may be clothed with our heavenly habitation. |