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How Are The Dead Raised Up?
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How are the dead raised up? With what body do they come? These questions were asked two thousand years ago and are still asked by men and women in our own day. What answers can we give? Let us look at the scene on the day when Jesus returns to earth. There will be three classes of dead people: those who through ignorance of the way of God will remain in the grave and never be roused; those who have known the way of life but have not been obedient to it; and those who have been faithful servants of God. There will be three similar classes of living people. As we established in our last letter all those who have known the way of life, whether obedient or not, whether alive or not, will be gathered to the judgment seat of Jesus Christ:
The first work performed by Christ when he returns to earth will be to awaken the dead who are to be judged. They will come bodily from their graves:
We can be sure therefore that all who are to be judged -- both the ones who are dead and those who are alive -- will appear bodily before the Lord Jesus Christ. This is as it should be because all sins have been committed in the body: therefore judgment should take place in the body. What kind of body will those possess who stand before Jesus to be judged? Quite clearly those who are alive when Jesus Christ comes back will have an ordinary mortal body. And the dead who are raised? Quite clearly they too will have a mortal body because it is not until after the judgment that they receive their reward or their punishment:
Both reward and punishment will be received in the body. What will the blessing of eternal life be like? What difference will it make to the ordinary mortal body which we now possess? The change is almost too wonderful to describe, but this is how the Bible tells us about it:
Our human bodies which though capable of many pleasures are finally overcome by pain, disease and death, will be changed, transformed by the life-giving power of the Lord Jesus Christ. All weakness, all suffering, all the changes of growing old and of decay -- all will be taken away. Listen to the truth as declared throughout the Bible:
Is not this a wonderful prospect held out for men of faith to see? How much more wonderful to inherit such a life. Jesus Christ himself received such a blessing from God after his own resurrection from the dead, and the Bible tells us about it in these words:
Immortality is the word used to describe the blessedness of possessing an undying and perfect body. What then is the difference between this happiness and the bodily perfection which the Greeks admired and portrayed in the magnificent statues which have remained down to our own time? The perfect body, the perfect beauty wag the object of their worship. Is immortality the achievement of what the ancient Greeks admired and sought for? Indeed, no! There is something far more wonderful behind the ideas of immortality and eternal life than mere bodily perfection. Let us listen to the word of God and discover the real beauty which will belong to the saints of God:
This was the hope of David the shepherd-king. He was looking forward to reflecting the likeness of God. Did that mean he was expecting a bodily likeness, a likeness of feature? or had he something else in mind. Listen again:
David was longing for a likeness which he expressed in the word "righteousness." This is the true joy which is described throughout the Bible in glowing words:
Everyone of the faithful saints who stands on the right hand of Jesus in the day of judgment will be like Jesus. Like him by being clothed in righteousness, like him by possessing a glorious, immortal body. This is the joy. Not the mere worship of external beauty in which the Greeks found pleasure, but the beauty of everlasting holiness, perfect fellowship with God:
This is the destiny of men and women, who having believed the teaching of God and being baptised, have received the forgiveness of sins in Jesus, and have waited for the day when Jesus would return and they would be like unto him in mind and body:
Could there be a more fitting end? Adam and Eve brought disfigurement and death into the world when they first sinned. All their children have inherited their weakness. Jesus by the complete perfection of his life and death has "brought life and immortality to light." [2Timothy 1:10]. All who are faithful to him will receive the blessing of complete happiness in him -- life for evermore in joyful holiness. Surely nothing else can ever satisfy those who have heard this message of hope and promise. If this is the glory which awaits the saints of God what awaits the unfaithful. These stand in shame on the left hand of Jesus and listen to the words pronouncing their doom:
Driven from the presence of Jesus Christ because they have not longed to be with him and have not served him, these wretched, unfaithful servants will go out with tears to lament their folly, to suffer for their unrighteousness, and then to die for ever. Oblivion. Eternal oblivion. We cannot escape the pressing exhortation of God when these things are opened to us. Where shall we stand in that day? On the left hand? Or on the right? "I call heaven and earth to record against you this day, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing -- therefore choose life." (Deuteronomy 30:19).
Questions on Letter 22 (answers) 1. What will be the first work performed by Christ when he returns? 2. What kind of body will those raised up to judgment have when they come out of the grave? 3. What kind of body will Jesus give those who are accepted at the judgment seat? 4. What does the Bible say that immortality will be like? 5. Who will the faithful saints be like? 6. What did Adam and Eve bring into the world? 7. What did Jesus bring? 8. What punishment awaits the unfaithful?
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