I believe in The Resurrection of the Body (1 Thessalonians 4:13-17)
Yet there is one statement that is connected definitely to the visible world, a statement that deals with something tangible, and that is the resurrection of the body. It is connected to our world because everyone knows what happens to a dead body – it disintegrates. Many will say that disintegration means the body eventually disappears, so how can it be resurrected?
This is not the same as disputing the resurrection of Jesus. There are many historical facts that are sufficient evidence that he rose from the dead. Among them are the eyewitnesses who met him after the resurrection, the failure of the authorities to say where his body was, and how it could have been removed from the tomb when a guard had been placed to prevent anyone doing so. In addition, there is the marked change in the disciples who were now willing to serve Jesus anywhere and even die for his cause. These and are other arguments can be used to show that the only valid explanation is that Jesus did rise from the dead.
Questions about it
At the same time, we know that if we regard the statement as not being important, we diminish the relevance of the other statements in the Creed. If there is no resurrection, why did God create us with bodies? If there is no resurrection, it would mean that Jesus did not tell the truth about his own future. If there is no resurrection, then the Bible’s statements that the Holy Spirit guided people to write about the future would only be words of fantasy. It would also mean that only those who are alive when he returns will have a physical body – this possibility was a problem for the church in Thessalonica as we can see from Paul’s description of the resurrection day in 1 Thessalonians 4:13: ‘But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope.’
The early church took the gospel into a world that dismissed the possibility of a resurrection. We recall the response of the philosophers in Athens to Paul’s message about the resurrection of Jesus: ‘Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked. But others said, “We will hear you again about this”’ (Acts 17:32). It doesn’t look as if they did because Paul left the city and went to Corinth. However, a handful believed his message and no doubt they witnessed to the wonderful truth they had embraced.
The basic question here concerns the purpose of God. Obviously, God is able to raise the dead. He is omnipotent, able to do what all humans together cannot do. There is a great deal of ability in the world today as a result of developments in science. But no one has managed to raise a person from the dead. The dilemma exists in the most advanced country and in the most backward country. We can send people to space, we can heal numerous diseases, but we cannot raise anyone or anything from the dead. Once a person dies, once an animal dies, once any creature dies, they are gone.
The Bible says a great deal about the resurrection at the end of human history. It says that everyone who has died will be resurrected, it says that it will be followed by the day of judgement, and it says that it is a state that will never come to an end. After this resurrection, there will be no need for another one. There are other matters that are connected to it as well.
What would we say to someone why we believe in the resurrection?
I believe in the resurrection because God values my body
Most people spend a lot of their lives trying to improve their physical appearance. Most of them stop doing so after a while. Still, the desire to improve it reveals that there is something wrong with it, that it does not reach its real potential in this life. The best athlete today may come to a stage in old age where he will need a zimmer to help him walk a few steps. We know that there is something wrong with us physically.
Yet there is good news connected to this dilemma, which is that God cares about our bodies. This is not too surprising because he made them in the first place. Our bodies are not the products of chance. Rather they are in a spoiled state despite being originally made in a perfect state. When God made Adam and Eve, he created them with perfect, ideal bodies. Sadly, when they sinned against God, part of his judgement was deterioration in our physical bodies, resulting eventually in death.
But God did not intend to leave humans in the state of permanent demise. It was his plan to have a day when all those who believed in the Saviour before they died would experience a physical resurrection in order to live in his new world. He did this because our bodies, as his creation, are important to him. If they were not, he could just take our spirits to heaven when we die and forget about our bodies. But he did not. It is very comforting each time we have an ache to remind ourselves that the Lord is concerned about our bodies. And the resurrection will reveal that to be the case.
I believe in the resurrection because Jesus wants our company
On several occasions, Jesus stated that his people would be with him in the eternal world. When we think of who his people will be on the day that he returns, they will be in one of two groups. Either they will be among those who have died in Christ or they will be among those who are still living. Paul speaks about both groups in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18.
The apostle stresses that three things will happen to believers when Jesus returns. First, the dead will be raised; second, those who are raised and those who are alive will be caught up together to meet the Lord; and third, they shall be forever with the Lord. So he is coming back to gather his people to himself, and in order for that to happen there has to be a resurrection of those who have died.
Yet those who are resurrected are not going to appear as they were before they died. Although they will have the same bodies, there will be differences between what it was like before they died and what it will be like at the resurrection. Paul writes about those differences in 1 Corinthians 15.
Paul says there that Jesus is the firstfruits of a future harvest of people who will also experience resurrection. The idea behind the use of the word ‘firstfruits’ is that Jesus in his resurrection is both a sample of and the guarantee that others will be raised as well. (In Philippians 3:20, Paul writes that believers will each have a body that is like Christ’s glorious body.)
The apostle also says in 1 Corinthians 15 that even as there is a difference between a seed that is sown and the crop that appears, so there is a difference between the body when it dies and when it is raised. So what features will the resurrection body have? Unlike the old body, which is perishable, dishonourable, weak and natural, the resurrection body will be imperishable, glorious, powerful and spiritual. Imperishable means that it will not decay, glorious means that it will have nothing that is demeaning, powerful means that no enemy can overcome it, and spiritual means that we will be linked to Jesus rather than to Adam. So on the resurrection day we shall be like Jesus in appearance. We will be fit companions for him because we will be glorified.
I believe in the resurrection because Paul says it is better than going to heaven.
We may find it surprising that someone would even suggest this possibility. Of course, the suggestion needs to be modified slightly and say that Paul said the resurrection is better than going to heaven without a body. He does say in Philippians 1 that to depart and be with Christ in heaven is better than living on earth. No doubt, there are several reasons that support his claim. We shall be with Jesus when we die, our souls will be perfect, and we will have no contact with sin. So it is better to leave earth and go to heaven.
Yet Paul does say there is something better than going to heaven and that is to have a body like Jesus, whether we receive that body by the resurrection or by having our current body transformed with glory. In 2 Corinthians 5, Paul speaks about the possibility of being unclothed, by which he means losing our body at death. Instead of being unclothed, he would prefer to be ‘clothed upon’, that is instead of losing some clothes (his body), he would be given more clothes (glory). Since this transformation is going to occur at the resurrection, it means that fullness of glory does not occur when Christians die but when they are resurrected or transformed.
So we can see why Paul wanted believers to realise that the resurrection day was better than the day of entrance of his soul into heaven.
I believe in the resurrection because it gives hope
Believers have found the hope of the resurrection a huge benefit in their struggles. We can think of Job who may have lived at the same time as Abraham. He went through a time of great distress and devastation, but in it all he held firm to the hope of the resurrection: ‘Oh that my words were written! Oh that they were inscribed in a book! Oh that with an iron pen and lead they were engraved in the rock forever! For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another. My heart faints within me!’ (Job 19:23-27).
We have already noticed what Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 5 about the resurrection. The context is at the close of the previous chapter: ‘So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison’ (2 Cor. 4:16-17).
The resurrection gives us hope when we look in the mirror. It means that, while we see decline in ourselves, we know that when Jesus comes, he will give life to our bodies and they will be vastly improved. None of the current problems will be present and we will have many more capabilities. How can we summarise what the future resurrection will mean? We can say that it will a personal experience (the same body), it will be a public experience (shared by billions), and it will be a permanent experience (last for ever).
Half the story
The above details about the resurrection have been mainly about the resurrection of God’s people. Yet there will be another resurrection occurring when Jesus returns, and it will be the resurrection of the lost. They too will be united to their bodies and they with the lost who are alive on that day will be judged by Jesus. At that judgment, they will be condemned by him and sentenced by him to eternal death. This prospect is very solemn and is the reason why Christians should be eager to spread the gospel among those who are not believers. The same Saviour who said that there would be a resurrection to life also said that there would be a resurrection to judgement. But he also assures sinners that they can experience eternal life if they repent of their sins and trust in him.
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