What does the Resurrection of the Dead mean? Let's begin
with the question, "Did Jesus leave behind his decomposing dead body
inside the tomb?"
Resurrection denotes the concept of God literally raising
the body and soul after death to a new and eternal life, not to a previous
immortal life.
Resurrection is Not Resuscitation
The New Testament authors make it clear that the concept of
resurrection is not resuscitation. Jesus’ resurrection is not like the
resuscitation of Lazarus and Jarius’ daughter. These two are resuscitated and
will have to die again. They are not resurrected.
A Graphic Event of Dead Men Raised to Life
The tombs broke open and the bodies of many holy people who
had died were raised to life. They came out of the tombs, and after Jesus’
resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many people. (Matthew
27:52 & 53)
The miracle of resuscitation must not be confused with the
cosmic miracle of resurrection.
A Few References in the Old Testament
Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake:
some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt. Those who
are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many
to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever. (Daniel 12:2–3)
But your dead will live, LORD; their bodies will rise-let those who dwell in the dust wake up and
shout for joy -- your dew is like the dew of the morning; the earth will give
birth to her dead. (Isaiah 26:19)
“The LORD brings death and makes alive; he brings down to
the grave and raises. (1 Samuel 2:6)
For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we
will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. (Romans 6:5)
Paul recounts the appearances of the risen Lord to different
people and himself in 1 Corinthians 15:3-9.
But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the first
fruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the
resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so
in Christ all will be made alive. (1 Corinthians 15:20-23)
The Resurrection of Christ-- The First Fruits of Those Who
are Dead
In 1 Corinthians 15, we understand that it is not only our
spirits that will be resurrected. Some of the Corinthians said broadly,
"There is no resurrection of the dead," although apparently, they had
no intention of denying that Christ had risen. Accordingly, Paul proceeds to
show them that the resurrection of Christ, although great difficulties surround
the subject, was bodily. This bodily resurrection of Christ holds in the
Christian creed. The doctrine of Christ's death and resurrection is the
foundation of Christianity. Remove this, and all our hopes for eternity sink at
once. And it is by holding this truth firm that Christians stand on the day of
trial and are kept faithful to God.
By the resurrection of Christ, Paul meant His rising from
the grave with a body glorified or made fit for the new and heavenly life He
had entered. Paul did not believe that the body he saw on the road to Damascus
was the very body that had hung upon the cross, made of physical matters. He
affirms in this chapter that flesh and blood, a natural body, cannot enter upon
the heavenly life. It must pass through a process that entirely alters its
material.
Paul, therefore, speaks of the body of Christ as the type
into the likeness of which the bodies of His people are to be transformed.
The body of flesh and blood, which was taken down from the
cross and laid in the tomb, was transformed into a spiritual body miraculously.
1 Corinthians 15:42-55
So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body
that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; 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. If there is a natural body,
there is also a spiritual body. So it is written: "The first man, Adam,
became a living being"; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit. The spiritual
did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual. The first
man was of the dust of the earth, the second man from heaven. As was the
earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the man from heaven,
so also are those who are of heaven. And just as we have borne the likeness of
the earthly man, so shall we bear the likeness of the man from heaven. I
declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of
God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Listen, I tell you a
mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed-- in a flash, in the
twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead
will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must
clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. When the
perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with
immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: "Death has
been swallowed up in victory." "Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?"
This scripture passage repeats that on the day of the second
coming of Christ, the transmutation of the earthly body of Christ into a
glorified body will be repeated in the case of His followers in the twinkling
of an eye. The tomb was empty, the corpse or dead body of Christ was not in it.
Therefore, as we partake in the death of Christ, we will also partake in the
same way as His bodily resurrection. If this doesn't happen, our faith in
Christ, his death, and resurrection will all be in vain.
Some Would Ask How Bodily Resurrection Can Be Possible
A body starts to decay immediately after death. The first
law of thermodynamics states that energy can be changed from one form to
another, but it cannot be created or destroyed. The total amount of energy and
matter in the Universe remains constant, merely changing from one form to
another. Water changes into vapour when heated or into ice when cooled.
Similarly, our physical bodies may decay or go up in smoke. However, the
constituents or elements that make up the body are constant and present in the
atmosphere or the earth. Besides the human body is mostly water, about 70%. So,
how difficult will it be for an all-powerful God to unite the spirit with
existing matters of the body? Did He not create the universe and everything in
it out of nothing?
I want to know Christ --yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his
sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining the
resurrection from the dead. (Philippians 3:10-11)
The resurrection of the material body along with the soul is
the hope of every believer.
