The Dead Will Be Raised…!

The death of Pope Francis has attracted wide media attention with numerous outlets having representatives in Rome commentating on the events. Of the many reports one in particular caught my attention. A reporter commented that the Pope’s body was being laid to rest for eternity in a basilica outside the Vatican.

It would appear that the commentator was unaware of the creedal statement made by both Protestant and Roman Catholic Churches namely, we believe in ‘the resurrection of the body and life everlasting’. More importantly, we don’t say this because it is part of church dogma – which it is – but because it is revealed in the Scriptures, alone the authority in matters of faith.

Consider what Paul the Apostle writes in the clearest biblical statement on the resurrection. In First Corinthians, chapter 15, verse 21 we read: 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 shall all be made alive.

When by faith we turn to Christ Jesus and attach ourselves to him, we are assured that even though our bodies may decay in a grave or be incinerated, the day will come when we too will be raised from the dead.

On the day when Christ returns, his majestic power and glory will transcend the universe. That will be the time when he will give all his people from throughout time a new body.

Jesus’s own resurrection from the dead – which happened on a certain day outside the city of ancient Jerusalem – foreshadows the resurrection of all his people from all races and nations.

Jesus’s resurrection is an extraordinary miracle – something that is deemed impossible by those who say ‘we now know the laws of nature’.

As I have noted before, Dr. John Lennox, Professor Emeritus, Mathematics and Philosophy, Oxford University responds to this line of thinking: “From the theistic perspective, the laws of nature predict what is bound to happen if God does not intervene… To argue that the laws of nature make it impossible for us to believe in the existence of God and the possibility of his intervention in the universe is plainly fallacious” (italics mine) (God’s Undertaker, Lion: 2009, pp. 200-201).

The future resurrection of our body is the theme that Paul develops in First Corinthians, chapter 15, verses 35 following. He writes: Someone may ask, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body will they come?” How foolish, what you sow does not come to life unless it dies. When you sow you do not plant the body that will be, but just a seed, perhaps of wheat or of something else.

Decades ago, when I was in kindergarten, my family were living in the country. I recall carrying out my first formal scientific experiment. We were given a saucer, cotton wool and some wheat. We put the wheat on the cotton wool, wet it and took it home. Over the next few days, I was amazed at what I observed. Out of the rotting, smelly grain grew new life.

Paul is telling us that in the present order of things death needs to take place before new life occurs. The death of the first facilitates the change. When you sow, you do not plant the body that will be, but just a seed…

Furthermore, he continues: God gives it a body as he has determined, and to each kind of seed he gives its own body. All flesh is not the same:  men and women have one kind of flesh, animals have another, birds another and fish another (15:38, 39).

Have no doubt, the resurrection of our bodies will be a reality. It makes sense. It’s consistent with what we can observe of the various elements of the present natural order. It means there is continuity between our present and future existence.

God creates bodies appropriate for different kinds of environments. Each is perfectly fitted for its environment. It is God’s prerogative to bring about change and give the sown seed its appropriate plant body as he wills. He creates and recreates.

This is so important for us to know. It means for one thing that God treats every aspect of his creating work seriously – nothing is lost, for everything has a meaning. There’s not some massive disjunction between the material and the spiritual world. Rather, there is continuity.

Paul is saying that while our earthly bodies are suited for our earthly existence, they would be useless in the perfection of the age to come. Rather, it will be out of the raw material of our present earthly body that God will produce a new, spiritual body perfectly suited for the new age.

Christianity doesn’t drive a wedge between the spiritual and the material. This suggests that keeping as fit as we can now is an important part of worship of God. Now, I’m not suggesting we all become gym junkies or triathletes, but certainly the continuity between the present and the future order should encourage us not to abuse our bodies. Who we are now as God’s people and what we do now matters to God.

Furthermore, the continuity of our physical bodies in the future with who we now are, means that while we’ll all have a glorious appearance such will be the nature of our resurrected body that we will all recognise one another.

Jesus’s own resurrection from the dead laid the foundation for this glorious hope.

In the final Narnia book, The Last Battle, CS Lewis portrays Peter, Edmund and Lucy entering the land of Narnia, never again to leave. The unicorn summed up everyone’s feelings: “I have come home at last! This is my real country! I belong here. This is the land I have been looking for all my life, though I never knew it till now …”

In our world where there is darkness and despair, Jesus’s resurrection from the dead is the bedrock and bright star of our hope.

– – –

Let me ask, are you praying for three people to whom you would like to share the good news of Jesus’s resurrection? Consider purchasing copies of The Jesus Story: Seven Signs using the link on the banner below. Simply pass on a copy at an appropriate moment.

A Prayer. Almighty God, you have conquered death through your dearly beloved Son Jesus Christ and have opened to us the gate of everlasting life: grant us by your grace to set our mind on things above, so that by your continual help our whole life may be transformed; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit in everlasting glory. Amen.

© John G. Mason