Resurrection of the Dead
by Zin Yi
But
if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen: And if Christ
be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain. 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. For if
the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised: And if Christ be not raised, your
faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. Then they also which are fallen asleep
in Christ are perished. 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. (1 Corinthians 15:13-20)
The truth of the
future bodily resurrection of His sheep, even glorification, is an
awe-inspiring doctrine of the Scriptures, the fulfillment of which begins with
the glorious resurrection of the soul. It fits perfectly the Biblical mold, as
set forth by the Lord Jesus, of the hope-laden outlook of the Christian as he
lives his life to the glory of God, denying himself, taking up his cross, following the “forerunner” of his faith, even Jesus.
It is crucial for the Christian to realize that whatever hope he is to
have in the resurrection of the last day is absolutely related to the hope that
he is to have in the salvation of his soul. In other words, if God, in His
perfect wisdom, had somehow decreed that our salvation would only involve the
quickening of our spirit essence, this would not mean that the Christian would
have any less hope for the new, eternal life that is to become an actuality. It
just so happens, as the Bible declares, that man was created both body and soul
(cf. Eph. 2:3), and that both parts constitute us as who we are, albeit fallen
sinners. Since this union, this relationship between our soul and body is
integral to our makeup as His creation, for us to be redeemed in our souls must
also necessitate that we are redeemed in our bodies - but without the
former, there is no latter.
Thus the glory that many associate with the resurrection of the last day
is not undue, or even unbiblical, but sadly many such do not properly view the
amazing, pure grace and glory innate in the first resurrection:
“…This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in
the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall
be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years”
(Rev. 20:5b, 6). This is the very translation of their souls from “death unto
life” (1 John
3:14
). This is the reason for vs. 17 of 1
Co.
15: “...if Christ be not raised...ye are yet in your sins.” Notice that the
apostle does not say that without Christ’s resurrection, we will not be
raised on the last day. Rather, his focus is, in the first instance, on
the first resurrection, on the fact that Christ’s resurrection is the clear proof
of the incomprehensible fact that already, at the cross, with the last
utterances of the Savior, our atonement is complete. Romans
4:25
speaks directly to this issue: “Who [Christ] was delivered for our offenses,
and was raised again for our justification.” The word “for,” dia,
can be rendered, “through” or “because.” That is, His resurrection could
take place only because His mission as the atoning Lamb was successfully
accomplished, and was, truly, “finished.” He had, in actuality,
secured the eternal justification of His elect, upon whose souls, in their
individual lifetimes, would be applied this completed work of redemption. Just
as God’s eternal decree of election guaranteed propitiation through the
atonement at the cross, so too, the bible teaches, atonement completed ensures
regeneration.
That the assurance of eternity with our King gives us peace which
“passeth all understanding” is certain. That this hope is an “anchor of
the soul, both sure and steadfast” (Heb.
6:19
), Paul echoes in 1
Co.
15:58: “Therefore...be ye steadfast, unmovable....” Why? Because we can
know that our “labor is not in vain in the Lord.” God is assuring us, here
in the concluding verse of 1 Corinthians, that to the child of God, his
“days” and his “recompence” are not “vanity” (cf. Job 7:16,
15:31). The particle “Therefore” (hoste), meaning “so that,”
emphasizes the cause and effect relationship between future hope (the prominent
theme of 1
Co.
15) and present way of life. What indeed are to be ways in which this hope is
practically manifest in this life? How, in other words, should the sure
knowledge of the future resurrection impact our walk as the beneficiaries of the
promise? We need look no farther than the life of converted Paul (to be sure, we
do not idolize the man. Rather, we are exhorted that we be “followers
[i.e., imitators] of [Paul]” - 1
Co.
4:16
- as Paul was a “follower…of Christ” - 1
Co.
11:1. This is akin to the exhortation found in Hebrews
6:12
, that we “be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and
patience inherit the promises” – the promises of the New Heaven and the New
Earth, and yes, the resurrection. God concludes for us: “Be ye therefore followers
of God, as dear children” - Eph. 5:1). As a follower of Christ, Paul
labored with fervor unmatched; for the gospel and the name of Christ was
ruthlessly beaten, imprisoned, and indeed, died “daily” (2
Co.
11:23
-33). All things pertaining to the flesh, he “counted loss for Christ,”
“for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ,” that he “may win
Christ” (Phi. 3:7b, 8). What does it mean to “win,” to “gain” Christ?
According to the use of a related word in Phi. 1:21, we learn that it is to be with
Christ (“...to die is gain”). That is, the resurrected soul, upon departure
from this life, will “be with Christ,” a “far better” situation for any
Christian: “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. But if I live in
the flesh, this is the fruit of my labour: yet what I shall choose I wot not.
For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with
Christ; which is far better” (Phi.
1:21
-23). This hope, this faith is that by which Paul walked, constantly “willing
rather to be absent from the body...” (2
Co.
5:8a). Because of the very fact
that his physical body was a part of the perishing world, he was literally able
to throw himself in the line of fire – the fiery darts of the devil, and the
vicious persecution by the unsaved within the corporate church of the day.
Truly, his unwavering hope was to “know Him, and the power of the
resurrection,” that he might “attain
unto the resurrection of the dead” (Phi. 3:10a, 11).
Do we thus present our bodies “a living sacrifice” (
Rom.
12:1) through this hope? The answer would depend on whether we have been made
partakers in the “renewing of…mind” (
Rom.
12:2). What a time to examine ourselves, for the New Heaven and the New Earth
are not for the “old” man, neither for “flesh and blood” (1 Co. 15:50).
April
4,2002
Task ONE
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