New Bodies for Old
(Daniel 12:2-3)
1. Many people have had “Near Death Experiences.” In our congregation, there are probably about 5 of you that have had such an experience.
2. I have read dozens of Near Death Experience accounts by people of all beliefs.
3. According to Wikipedia (edited):
The traits of a classic NDE are as follows:
▪ A sense/awareness of being dead.
▪ An out-of-body experience. A perception of one’s body from an outside position. Sometimes observing doctors and nurses
▪ A "tunnel experience". A sense of moving up, or through, a passageway or staircase
▪ Hearing music.
▪ A rapid movement toward a powerful light. Communication with the light
▪ An intense feeling of unconditional love.
▪ Encountering "Beings of Light", "Beings dressed in white", or similar. Also, being reunited with deceased loved ones.
▪ Receiving a "life preview" "Flash Forward".
▪ Receiving knowledge about one’s life and the nature of the universe.
▪ A decision by oneself or others to return to one’s body, often accompanied by a reluctance to return.
▪ Approaching a border and a jolting return to the body
▪ Connection to the cultural beliefs held by the individual, which seem to dictate the phenomena experienced in the NDE and the later interpretation
4. Some of these things are consistent with the Bible. Some are not.
5. Some NDE are of people being dragged into the pit of hell. Yet, those who have positive experiences claim that the “being of light” said there was no hell. Who to believe? “And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works.” -2 Corinthians 11:14-15
Main Idea: Daniel 12:1-3 is God’s template for End Time events, including our bodily resurrection. One day, we will get new bodies for old.
I. Resurrection of MANY to Life (2a)
Isaiah 26:19, Your dead shall live; their bodies shall rise. You who dwell in the dust, awake and sing for joy! For your dew is a dew of light, and the earth will give birth to the dead.
A. The word “Many” seems to exclude an ALL-INCLUSIVE resurrection
B. Probably SEVERAL resurrections of the saved.
1. Those Resurrected during Jesus’ FIRST coming
• Temporary: Lazarus, Widow at Nain’s son, the 12 year old girl
• Those raised when Christ was raised
Matthew 27:52, “The tombs also were opened. And many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised, and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many.”
Luke 19:19 shows that some of the Jewish people associated resurrection with the coming of the Messiah (they thought Jesus was John the Baptist resurrected)
2. The RAPTURE
2 Timothy 2:17-18 only makes sense if Paul taught a rapture resurrection:
“…and their talk will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, who have swerved from the truth, saying that the resurrection has already happened. They are upsetting the faith of some. But God’s firm foundation stands, bearing this seal: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity.”
3. The Resurrection of Old Testament and Tribulation BELIEVERS
4. Probably another resurrection after the MILLENNIUM
C. Our genes are a BLUEPRINT, our body keeps renewing
D. What happens BETWEEN death and resurrection? (Revelation 6:9-11)
When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne. They cried out with a loud voice, “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” Then they were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers should be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been.
Application: If you know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, you do not need to fear death.
If you are older than you care to be, accept it. Stop trying to be younger than you are. An act does not change the reality.
I am making home made sauerkraut in a crock in my basement. Basically, you let cabbage ferment in its own brine (you add salt). After a few days, you can begin to eat it, but it changes and has a “different flavor profile” at each stage. So do you.
Sauer Kraut can be neglected too long and become too sour. So can you. Don’t let it happen. This life is temporary…the good part starts in heaven.
II. Resurrection of Many to SHAME (2b)
A. The Doctrine of HELL has fallen on bad times
B. Heaven and Hel are REAL places beyond human comprehension
C. Hell is presented as a place of fire, darkness, and MISERY
1. Whatever hell is like, these illustrations are accurate and not inflated
2. Both equally eternal
Matthew 25:46, “And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
D. Lost cast into the LAKE of fire (Second Death) (Revelation 20:13-15)
And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
Application: Hell is not a good, place, and it is forever. From the human viewpoint, we need to seek to “save others by snatching them out of the fire” Jude 23.
III. Rewards in GLORY Vary (3)
A. These phrases might describe ALL believers or are relative in nature
B. Paul’s MIDRASH suggests this (I Corinthians 15:40-42)
There are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is of one kind, and the glory of the earthly is of another. There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for star differs from star in glory.
So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable.
C. Your life is TRANSFORMED if you remember heaven
Application: When I was in high school, the teachers and advisers said, “Manufacturing jobs are going to disappear; do not assume you will be able to find work like your parents did. Go to college. Take typing to prepare.” Some heeded, others presumed and now have McJobs.
Some of us may be stubborn about taking the eternal perspective. We could care less about shining brightly in glory; the immediate is where we are at. For we who trust Christ but take this approach, there is probably a McHeaven.
How brightly will we shine? How seriously do we take our calling to turn others to righteousness? Are we into the petty, the here and now, or that which produces eternal results.
