************ Sermon on Belgic Confession Article 37i ************
Doctrine: Eschatology; Resurrection of the Body
By: Rev. Adrian Dieleman
This sermon was preached on November 21, 1999
B.C. 37i
1 Corinthians 15:12-57
"The Resurrection of the Body"
Introduction
The subject of our Scripture reading – the resurrection of the body – is one of the most distinctive beliefs of the Christian faith. Most other religions believe in an immortal soul, a soul that exists for eternity without a body. At the time of Paul this was the teaching of the Greek religions; today, this is the teaching of the New Age movement, of Hinduism when you escape the endless cycle of reincarnation, and of various other mystical faiths. These religions believe the soul to be a superior substance, unable to be destroyed and therefore immortal. The body, on the other hand, is considered to be of inferior substance, mortal and therefore doomed to destruction. The body is even thought of as the tomb or prison of the soul; so the soul is viewed as being better off when the body dies. According to this view man's body is evil and is a hindrance to full existence and happiness. Hence at death the body dies and decays while the soul lives on forever. In this system of thought there is no room for the doctrine of the resurrection of the body.
The Bible stands opposed to this view. It teaches us that God created man with a body and a soul, that man is incomplete without both the body and the soul, and that both were created good. The Bible teaches not the immortality of the soul but the immortality of the soul and the body. The body may die but it becomes immortal when it is raised or resurrected at the second coming of Christ Jesus.
When we look through the Bible we see many resurrections. Elijah, for instance, raised from the dead the widow's son at Zarephath. Elisha raised the son of the Shunammite woman. Jesus raised the widow of Nain's son, the daughter of Jarius, and Lazarus. All of these resurrections have one thing in common – they were again followed by death. The only resurrection in the Bible not followed by death is the resurrection of Jesus. The resurrection that Paul is talking about in our Scripture reading is like the resurrection of Jesus – it too is not followed by death. In other words, after this resurrection the body is immortal.
I The Time of the Resurrection
A When does the resurrection of the body occur? The Bible tells us two things about the timing of the resurrection.
First, we are told that the resurrection of believers and unbelievers occurs at the same time.
(Dan 12:2) Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt.
(Jn 5:28-29) "Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice (29) and come out--those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned.
Notice, both the godly and ungodly are raised. The resurrection of those who believe in Jesus is something to look forward to. The resurrection of those who don't believe is not something to anticipate.
B Second, we are told that the resurrection happens when Christ returns.
(Jn 6:39-40) And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. (40) For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day."
(1Th 4:16) For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.
II Our Resurrection Based on Christ's Resurrection
A When we look at our Scripture reading it becomes obvious that the Christians at Corinth had doubts about the resurrection of the body. Though none of them went so far as to deny the resurrection of Christ, they did not believe in the resurrection of the believer's body. We can only conclude that these Christians were influenced by Greek thought (which, if you remember, taught the immortality of the soul apart from the body).
B Paul deals with this problem in verses 12-34. In these verses Paul connects the resurrection of the body with the resurrection of Christ. Paul says that if you deny the resurrection of the body you also have to deny the resurrection of Christ. The one is inseparably united with the other.
(1Cor 15:12-17) But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? (13) If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. (14) And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. (15) More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised. (16) For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. (17) And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins.
Paul's point here always catches me by surprise. For if I was making the point, I would turn it around. Paul says, "If the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either." I would say, "If Christ has not been raised, then the dead are not raised either." Paul sees such a close connection between the believer and Christ, such an identification between the church and its Lord, such a unity and a oneness, that what happens to the one also happens to the other.
C Paul also tells us that the resurrection of Jesus is the pledge or
guarantee of the believer's resurrection.
(1Cor 15:20) But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
When harvest time was about to begin in Israel the Jewish farmer would go into his fields or orchards or vineyards and harvest a "firstfruits" – a sheaf of grain, a cluster of grapes, a basket of fruit or olives – and present them to the Lord as a thank offering. These "firstfruits" mean or imply second and third and fourth fruits – in other words, that they were only the beginning of the harvest and that there was lots more to come.
When it comes to the resurrection, Christ is the "firstfruits." He is the pledge or guarantee that there is lots more to come, that the harvest has only just begun, that we and our loved ones will also be raised!
III The Resurrection Body
A In verses 35-49 God, through Paul, tells us what our resurrection body will be like. What is clear is that our resurrection body will be like Christ's resurrection body.
(Phil 3:20-21) But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, (21) who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.
Our present body is described here as a "lowly" body, what another translation calls "the body of our humiliation" – humiliation because of the results of sin. We think here of the sins of the flesh: imagine, something created good and righteous is used for sin and evil. We also think of the consequences of sin on the body: suffering, pain, sickness, fatigue, and death. In the resurrection all of this is put behind us and our body becomes like the glorious body of Christ – free from sin and the consequences of sin.
B In telling us about our resurrection body Paul directs our attention to the image of the seed. You sow a grain of wheat into the ground. When the outer husk rots or decays away a new plant comes to life. Our resurrection body is like that seed. The resurrection body will not appear unless the body in its present form has died.
Paul compares death here to the sowing of seed. We talk of burial when someone has died but Paul talks of sowing. I want you to think about this image. If I bury a bushel of wheat I never expect to see it again. But if I sow it, I expect to see results – hundreds of new wheat plants poking their heads out of the soil. In the same way, believers who die are not buried – they are sown. And, as with seed, we can expect results – we can expect a resurrection body.
Laura Conklin, who writes in the Christian Reader, tells us about the day this truth was brought home to her.
Topic: Resurrection
Subtopic:
Index: 2407-2416
Date: 2/1998.32
Title: The Opposite of Dead
My husband and I homeschool our two children, Seth and Glenna. One day, the lesson was on "opposites."
Glenna, who was six at the time, was being quizzed. I would say a word and she would give its opposite.
When I said, "good," Glenna quickly said, "bad."
"Hot?"
"Cold!" she squealed.
It was time for something a little more difficult. "How about 'dead'?" I asked.
Expecting the answer to be "alive," I was delighted when Glenna, without hesitation, replied, "risen."
-- Laura Conklin, Christian Reader, Vol. 36, no. 2.
For the Christian, the opposite of dead is risen – because we believe that the body that is sown in the ground will be raised.
In using the image of the seed and sowing, Paul also reminds that each is raised according to its kind. As you all know, you do not get a corn plant from a seed of wheat, and you do not get a tomato plant when you put a cucumber seed in the ground. The seed that is sown determines the appearance of the plant. In other words, there is continuity between our present body and our resurrection body. Our resurrection body will not be like the body of animals or birds or fish – it will most definitely be a human body.
C Yet, to carry the image a little bit further, Paul also reminds us that there is no resemblance between the seed and the plant that comes from the seed – they do not look alike at all. In the same way, you cannot tell what the resurrection body will be like by looking at our present body.
Paul is telling us, then, that not only is there continuity between what is planted and what is raised, there is also discontinuity or differences between the body put in the ground and the body that is raised. Paul highlights these differences in verses 42-44:
(1Cor 15:42-44) So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; (43) it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; (44) it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.
The first contrast is between perishable and imperishable. Our present bodies are perishable. The germs of disease and death are in them. It is not a question of if we will die but when we will die. Our resurrection bodies are imperishable. This is a body free from germs, viruses, diseases, pain, suffering, and death. This is a body that needs no needles, no shots, no pills, no medication.
The second contrast is between dishonor and glory. We try to honor the dead at the time of burial by dressing them in their Sunday best, providing an attractive casket, and surrounding the casket with flowers. In spite of this, though, burial involves great dishonor for what could be more dishonorable for a body than to be lowered into a grave? Something that was created by God to walk and live and rejoice upon the earth is instead lowered into the earth and becomes one with it. Our resurrection body, by contrast, shall be raised in glory. It will greet the glory of the Son of Man and even share in it.
The third contrast is between weakness and power. After a day's work our present body becomes tired and needs to rest. Not even young basketball or football players can go all out for an entire afternoon. As we become older we discover that the body tires out more quickly. And, as death approaches, the body becomes totally helpless. The resurrection body, by contrast, will be raised in power. Exactly how that power reveals itself, we just don't know.
The fourth and final contrast is between a physical body and a spiritual body. The contrast here is not between material and non-material. Rather, the contrast here has to do with the control of the Spirit. Our present body is too often controlled by the natural impulses of sin and evil and base desire. The resurrection body, by contrast, will be controlled by the impulses of the Spirit.
A final difference between our present body and our resurrection body is mentioned by Paul in a previous chapter:
(1Cor 6:13) "Food for the stomach and the stomach for food"--but God will destroy them both. The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body."
In the life to come, it seems that the digestive functions of the body will no longer be needed. And the organs used for procreation won't be necessary either (cf Mt 22:30).
IV The Necessity of the Resurrection Body
A In the final verses of our Scripture reading Paul turns to his last point: the necessity of the resurrection.
You may wonder why God has to transform our present day bodies in the resurrection. Why can't we just keep the bodies we have now – minus the imperfections? Listen to Paul's answer to this in verse 50:
(1Cor 15:50) I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.
Our present bodies are full of sin and the consequences of sin. But there is no room for anything sinful in the presence of the holy God.
Think here of a wedding. Before you go to a wedding you change your clothing. Before we go to the marriage feast of the Lamb and His church we need a change of clothing. That is what Paul is saying. When our bodies are raised we exchange the filthy rags of the old sinful body for the clean robes of the new righteous body.
B This change applies not only to those who died but also to those who are still alive at the time of Christ's coming again.
(1Cor 15:51-52) Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed-- (52) 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.
Conclusion
When it comes right down to it, the Bible tells us very little about the exact nature of the resurrection body. We are given a few hints, but a great deal remains unsaid. Mostly, we are told what our future existence will not be like: no perishing, no weakness, no dishonor; an absence of death; an absence of tears, mourning, crying, and pain. We know something of what we shall not experience, but we know little of what we shall experience. All we know is that it shall be wonderful, beyond our highest imaginings. Words which Paul spoke in another connection are applicable here:
(1Cor 2:9) "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him" ...