|
|
We need your support. Help us to continue with our work!
Click this button for |
THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD J. A Lovell, D.D. WE BELIEVE the most vital, interesting, thrilling, significant, important subject to be found anywhere in the Word of God is that one which deals with the resurrection of the dead. To us this glorious theme would never grow old, how ever many times we hear it discussed. It is downright tragic when one realizes there are many people in this so-called enlightened land of ours, including ministers and church people, who do not believe in the literal, physical resurrection of the dead, such as is described in the Holy Bible. We conducted a funeral of a doctor a few months ago with a Methodist minister, pastor of one of the biggest churches in the Dallas, Fort Worth area, and at the close of the service the loved ones told us that if it had not been for our part of the service, they would have been left heartbroken, because the other minister did not mention the return of the Lord, His Kingdom, the resurrection, or the state of the dead. Naturally, we discussed all of these things. The truth is we have been told that that pastor does not even believe in literal Biblical accounts of the resurrection of the dead in Christ! In this address we will assume, though we know it is a false assumption, that you have never heard a message on the resurrection. With this in mind, we will feel free to discuss familiar Scriptures and some good, old-fashioned topics dealing with the resurrection, in the hope that we will be able to make this great topic of the resurrection something vital to your life, something real in your thinking, something tangible, practical, and inspiring, that you may have this encouragement and hope in the days and months that remain between now and the time of the resurrection. First of all, we would like to point out that Jesus was the FIRST FRUITS of the resurrection. Without His resurrection, there would have been no resurrection of anyone else. To be resurrected means to live again. The term comes from two Latin words meaning "to stand up again." It carries with it the thought that man once lived, then died, and because Jesus died and arose again, that man some day will be resurrected, that he may live, stand up, and walk again in a new and immortal body. It is significant that Jehovah did not tell Adam and Eve that they would go to heaven if they obeyed Him, or go to hell if they did not obey Him. He simply told them that if they did not eat of the fruit, they would live; but if they did eat of it, they would DIE. So death, the literal, physical death was their penalty for transgression and their ONLY penalty. If once we could see this, it would really help us to understand a lot of things that are now quite confusing to many people. The following Scriptures should be enlightening, where Jesus, being the first fruit, is concerned: I Cor. 15: 20 -26: “But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the first fruits of them that slept. For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order: Christ the first fruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming. Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he 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.” Reflecting upon the preceding verses, it is seen that Adam was the first man. He transgressed, and through the transgression brought physical death to all the Adamic race; whereas Christ, the second Adam, through His death and resurrection, brought life, or resurrection, to all the Adamic race, with every man being resurrected in his own order. But Christ had to be the first fruits of the resurrection. Lazarus was not resurrected. He was merely restored to physical life. Jesus was the first person ever to be resurrected. Those who came out of the grave at the death of the Lord were not resurrected-- that is, unto immortality, but simply restored to physical life, for the Bible states plainly that Jesus had to be the first fruits, or the first person to ever attain unto the resurrection, giving immortality to His body. The next thought we present is the fact that the resurrection is to be literal in every sense of the word. So many people ask us how we take the Scriptures dealing with the resurrection. Wel;l, how do we take anything that is mentioned in the Word of God? How do we take the Scriptures that deal with the first coming, or the birth of Jesus Christ in the flesh? We take them literally, of course. How do we take those dealing with His ministry on earth, the raising of the dead, the feeding of the five thousand, turning the water into wine? We take them literally, of course. How do we take the Scriptures dealing with His death on the cross? We take them literally, of course. Then how are we to take the Scriptures dealing with His resurrection? Literally, of course. How, then, shall we take the Scriptures dealing with the resurrection of the dead in Christ and later the resurrection of the unsaved dead? Naturally, we would take them literally! The two following Scriptures will help us to see this and not to become sidetracked with this ghostly idea that the resurrection will just be a thought, and when the subjects come forth they will just be of some gaseous, vaporous, ethereal substance, for this all represents simply a principle and not a literal fact. Job, writing fifteen hundred years before Christ was born, answering the age-long question, "If a man dies, shall he live again," settles the matter once and for all concerning the fact that the resurrection of the dead is something literal: Job 19:25, 26: “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.” Please see that Job knew Jesus would be the Redeemer, that He would return to this earth in physical, literal, tangible form, standing on this earth in the midst of His Kingdom here on earth, at the second coming of Christ, and that though our bodies have been destroyed, returning to the dust from which they came, yet Job knew that in his flesh, or natural, immortal, tangible body, he would be able to see God manifested in tangible form-- Jesus, the King. Again please remember that Jesus said we would be like Him when He shall return and we shall see Him. If you want to know, then, what kind of body you are going to have, literal, or vaporous, just find out what kind of body Jesus had after the resurrection, and you will find the very exact type of body you will have, or your loved ones, when they are resurrected from the dead. The description of that immortal body of Jesus after His resurrection is as follows: 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. But they were terrified and affrighted, and supposed that they had seen a spirit. And he said unto them, Why are ye troubled? and why do thoughts arise in your hearts? 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. And when he had thus spoken, he shewed them his hands and his feet. And while they yet believed not for joy, and wondered, he said unto them, Have ye here any meat? And they gave him a piece of broiled fish, and of an honeycomb. And he took it, and did eat before them.” It is quite clear in these verses that Jesus had a tangible body, immortal, that you could see, with flesh and bones, with which he could talk, walk, see, smell, taste, hear, and eat! Thus you, and your loved ones, will have the same kind of body in the resurrection -- one that will not register emotions of jealousy, fear, hate, unforgiveness, or pain; one that will never be diseased, afflicted, or deformed; one that will be immortal, perfect, with perfect intelligence, perfect sense of touch, taste, smell, able to enjoy foods that you now cannot even smell or taste. What a glorious prospect! Now, let us answer another question that is asked so often, and needlessly, yet we realize that many people do not understand these things as theologians do, so we are only too happy at this time to answer this question. It is, will we recognize our loved ones in the resurrection? What a dismal world it would be if we did not recognize a single person in the Kingdom of God, when all the people are resurrected. We have been to cities, as New York, and New Orleans, in which we didn't know a soul and have wandered for days, looking for just one person we knew, never to find anyone we knew. It gives us a feeling of insecurity and loneliness. We do not want such an existence, and thank God, we will not have to have such an existence in the resurrection while we enjoy God's blessings in His Kingdom on earth, for one of the greatest joys of that Kingdom existence with our resurrected loved ones is the fact that we will recognize those whom we knew in this life! Paul says we will know, as we are (now) known. How are we known now? By our sex, stature, color of our eyes and hair, by our physical traits, habits, and personalities. Thus we will be known in our new bodies by our sex, maturity, differentiating characteristics, and personalities. We are told that it doesn't yet appear what we shall be, but when we shall see Jesus, we shall be like Him. We know that He had a body of flesh and bones, that people recognized Him, so it follows that people who know us will recognize us when we get our immortal bodies. You recall the occasion in Matthew where we are told that, speaking of the Kingdom age, Many shall come from the east, west, north and south, and will sit down in the Kingdom with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Now, if someone didn't recognize Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as being those three Old Testament patriarchs, resurrected into the Kingdom Age, just how would they know that it was Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob they were sitting down and having fellowship with? Yes, people who lived in their day will know Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. People living in our day will know us, and thus one generation will introduce friends and loved ones to another generation, and on up the line until all, from our day to Adam, will get acquainted with each other and will know the saints, patriarchs, prophets, apostles, disciples, loved ones, relatives, and friends of this and the Old Testament age during our reign with Christ in His Kingdom here on earth. Aren't you happy it is going to be this way, that you might recognize, be with, and have fellowship with, your mother, father, brother, sister, daughter, and son throughout the ages to come! Now, we want to say just a few things about the nature of the resurrection. It is only natural that you would be concerned about the nature of the resurrection--about how Jesus will be able to bring forth people from the grave in the resurrection who have been there for centuries, or those from the mausoleums and crypts, who have been cremated, or those from the bottom of the ocean beds who were buried at sea. Just because you don't understand these things, please do not reject them. Perhaps you don't understand how, by electronics, you are able to see pictures on your television screen-- but you don't throw away the television and reject the idea of television just because you don't understand, do you? Perhaps you don't understand how, in a snowstorm, there are billions of snowflakes, which, if subjected to microscopic examination, no two would be alike. Perhaps you don't understand how God created this planet from nothing, and the entire universe, including billions of solar systems, from nothing. But He did, and we don't doubt it, because the evidence is here. So, in like manner accept the glorious truths of the resurrection unto immortality and the fact that the graves will literally be opened and the bodies of those dead in Christ shall come forth (however long they have been there, whether cremated, buried at sea, or placed in a grave) and will be given a new, immortal, glorified body through the power of Jesus, the omnipotent one. Wonderful! Paul tells us, as he wrote to the Corinthians, about the nature of the resurrection as follows: I Cor.15: 35 - 42: “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 dishonor; 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.” Notice in these verses that our bodies are compared to a grain of wheat that is being sown in the earth, which does not quicken, or germinate, or sprout or come up until it is dead. So we are not resurrected until we are dead. Notice, too, that, as all plants are different, so will all resurrected bodies be different. Now, as to how the Lord will resurrect these bodies, we are told in the following verses: I Cor. 15: 51, 52, 53: “Behold, I skew 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.” In verse 52 the word moment comes from the Greek word "atomis," from which we get the word "atom." So Paul is telling us that by assembling the atoms that formed our natural bodies, the Lord, in the twinkling of an eye, will give us our new and immortal bodies. When our bodies die, or are cremated, and when they return to the original elements from which we were made, nothing is destroyed, and no atom is destroyed. The atoms simply take new shape and form. So in the resurrection those atoms that composed our original bodies are assembled in a flash to make our new immortal glorified bodies after the likeness of Jesus' own resurrected body, to give us perfection and immortality. What a God! What a body! What a promise! What a privilege! Finally, we would like to discuss the matter of when the resurrection will take place. We wish we could tell you the day and the hour, but that is not within our province. Quite a number of people write us frequently, asking us if we believe the resurrection to be near. We can honestly say we believe that we are fast approaching the time of the resurrection. Everything, including chronology, prophecy, and world events, point in that direction. The Bible tells us the resurrection will take place at the last trumpet. I Thess. 4: 16: “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.” There are seven trumpet judgments mentioned in the Bible, all of which are found in the book of Revelation. Six of these trumpet judgments have already transpired. Only one remains. John, the revelator, describes that trumpet as representing the judgment of God upon wicked peoples of this earth in the form of a vial being poured out of the air. To us this can only mean atomic bombs in the coming conflict being poured out of planes in the air, dropping upon wicked peoples on this earth, resulting in the destruction of cities, our money system, Rome, Babylon, as mentioned in the book of Revelation. This means, then, that as soon as we are in the next conflict and atomic bombs are being dropped, we may expect the resurrection of the dead in Christ to take place at any time thereafter. With these thoughts in mind, may we be conscious of the fact that if you have been born again, you will be in the resurrection or the translation at the soon-coming of our Lord. May we also remind you that it is not enough to simply believe in the resurrection. You must be willing to go and tell the glorious truths of the resurrection of the coming of the Lord, of Christ's reign on earth, of the gospel of the Kingdom, and the things pertaining to the Kingdom of God here on earth. For this is the message the angel gave to the two Marys who went to the tomb to get another glimpse of the dead Christ, only to be told that He was not there, that He was risen, and for them to go quickly and tell. May you go and do likewise! NEW SERMON #10813, RESURRECTION, THE DEAD __________ New Christian Crusade Church |
|
New Christian Crusade Church You may call us Monday, Wednesday or Friday at 601-749-8565 Last modified: Wednesday, 17 October 2007 |
