Note: I developed a simple set of slides on PowerPoint which I used in delivering this sermon. The prompts are included in the text below as reminders to me to advance the slides when I delivered the address. The slides are not professional quality, but If you are interested I will send the PowerPoint fie by email. Send a request to me at sam@srmccormick.net specifying the name of this sermon and be sure to include the word "slides" in the subject line (I get a lot of Email and may miss your request if the word "slides" isn't in the subject line). Allow several days for response.
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The Resurrection of the Dead
Introduction:
*Advance to title slide
What I am not here to do:
• I am not here to prove the resurrection of Jesus, but to call upon you to believe it. For you to believe in it is more important than for me to try to prove it to be factually true.
• Neither am I here to elaborate on the truth – though true it is - that resurrection is an essential pillar of our faith. My assumption is that all of us already believe that if the resurrection of Jesus (and our own resurrection) are not true, our faith lies in ruins.
• Nor is it my purpose to contend for or against various schedules proposed in attempts to account for the prophecies concerning the end times.
My purpose is to examine what we can know for certain while we live on this side of the veil through which we pass to whatever lies beyond it, hidden from our view, and learn what it tells pertaining to life on this side of the grave.
As we examine the resurrection, I want us to especially keep in mind that this is part of what the writer of Hebrews says we are to “leave behind.”
We are not to cocoon ourselves in the simple, easily understood things, but once having learned and understood them, to move beyond the first things to the deeper things.
*Advance to “Leave things list”
Hebrews 6:1-2 gives a list of the things we are to leave behind
Read Hebrews 6:1-2
The Bible says to “let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of:
• repentance from dead works and of
• faith toward God…
• instruction about washings,
• the laying on of hands,
• the resurrection of the dead, and
• eternal judgment.
This is an impressive list of important things!
Aren’t these the very things that deserve our attention most?
*Advance to drop all but “Resurrection of the dead”
Leave the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead?!
Then why are we talking about it today? Why do we talk about any of these things?
The writer of Hebrews doesn’t mean these doctrines are discredited and to be ignored.
We’re talking about it today because I don’t believe we are yet ready to move beyond it. There are many conceptions and misconceptions about the resurrection—many of them more indefinite than they need to be.
Some of us may have difficulty finding the line between what we know and what we wonder.
*Advance to Job 14:14
I. Job: “If a man dies, will he live again?” Job 14:14
Life after death has been a subject of great interest to every person in every generation:
“If I die, will I live again?”
The philosophers in Athens, who worshiped the “unknown God” were split over the resurrection. When Paul spoke on Mars Hill about the resurrection, some scoffed, but others said,
“We will hear more from you about this.” Acts 17:22-32 (do not read)
In our experience, it is not normal for those who die to emerge from their graves alive. I have never seen that happen.
To all physical appearances, death, being the concluding event of a human life, is final.
From this side, death appears to defeat life.
I’m not talking about those who have clinically “died” on the operating table and were revived by heroic medical procedures.
I’m talking about the separation of the body and spirit. We cannot know the precise instant that occurs—when breathing ceases and the body stills, or the heartbeat stops—things that do not occur simultaneously, or at some other point. We’re not trying to define that point today.
So Job asks, “If a man dies, shall he live again?”
*Advance to Job 14:15-17
If the answer to Job’s question is “yes, a man who dies will live again,” Job perceived what resurrected life would be like. (Read Job 14:15-17)
Before Christ came, people knew about a future resurrection.
Advance to Isa 26:19
Prophets wrote about it.
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 picturesque – almost graphic - way of visualizing the resurrection.)
*Animate Dan12:2-3
Many years later, Daniel wrote:
Dan 12:2-3 And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. And those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky above; and those who turn many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever.
The belief and expectation of life beyond the grave continued into, during and after Christ’s lifetime.
Jesus greatly amplified our understanding of the resurrection.
*Advance to Jesus: “I will raise him up”
Jesus gave a preview to a crowd gathered at Capernaum:
John 6:37-40 – read (I will raise him up at the last day)
Jesus spoke again about the resurrection at at the home of Lazarus, a dear friend who had died.
He told his grieving sister Martha “Your brother will rise again.”
Notice Martha’s response:
John 11:24 Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise in the resurrection on the last day.”
Martha knew there was to be a resurrection on the last day!
I don’t know if Martha had been present at Caparnaum, or if word got around about what Jesus said there, but she knew that there was to be a resurrection – in the very words Jesus used – “at the last day.”
*Advance to “I AM the resurrection
Jesus answered:
John 11:25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live…
Jesus describes himself AS the resurrection.
“I AM” is a subtle way of showing that he is speaking AS God, who identified himself to Moses with those words.
Moments later, at the command of Jesus, Lazarus came out of the tomb.
But Lazarus was to die again. There is no 2000-year-old Lazarus alive today.
The question remained, “Can a man rise to die no more?”
Is the resurrection “on the last day” different from the resurrection of Lazarus?
Job’s question was answered with finality by the word of an angel. Mary Magdalene and “the other Mary” came to the Jesus’ tomb.
*Advance to angel’s words
Mat 28:5-6 ESV But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay.
*Advance to “he is risen”
What had happened?
*Advance to Heb 2
Heb 2:14-15 ESV Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.
Jesus had broken the curse of death by defeating the one who held its power - the power to bring a valid accusation before God.
*Animation of Rev 1:17-18
Rev 1:17-18 ESV When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, “Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades (the keys signifying the power to control. Eve had given those keys to the serpent in the garden of Eden).
II. Jesus is the forerunner – or firstfruits - of the resurrection.
*Advance to 1 Cor 15;23-26
1 Corinthians 15:23-26 ESV But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death.
Firstfruits is a word that in other places refers to the first part of the harvest. Here it means the resurrection is not for Christ only, but also “those who belong to him.”
Jesus’ victory over death is our victory also. Those who belong to Christ will be resurrected!
*Advance to “Kinds of Resurrections,” then click for each animation
III. Kinds of resurrection:
FAST! Don’t stop to comment
• Temporary—as Lazarus, Jerusalem saints, and others
• Figurative – Dry bones
• In plant life, a flower growing out of a seed is a resurrection
• Literal and bodily – John 5
• Spiritual – Paul says we are raised a spiritual body - 1 Cor 15:44
• A “better” resurrection (more later about this)
As there are different kinds of resurrections, what resurrection are we to expect?
The tendency among many, perhaps most Christians is to expect bodily resurrection, consistent with Jesus’ teaching that those who are in their tombs will hear the voice of the Son of Man, and “will come forth.”
But does a bodily resurrection mean that these bodies will be reconstituted, constructed of all the same molecules and cells that constitute our perishable bodies?
And that our souls, having once fled their earthly abode, are to be re-united with the same bodies they abandoned?
Or that our earthly bodies will be repaired and restored to an undamaged, stronger, and younger version of that which our spirits abandoned?
Will Roy be resurrected with both legs, the lost one made out of the same cells as when it was surgically removed?
If we’re concerned about God’s ability to gather the scattered ashes and dust and jettisoned parts of these bodies, we’re not on the right track about the resurrection.
Let’s read a portion of the most comprehensive passage in the bible about the resurrection.
Read 1 Cor 15:35-54
This gives us a full visualization - as far as human thought can grasp it – of the answer Paul himself asks:
"How are the dead raised? And with what kind of body do they come?"
Note the things revealed here:
V6-37 that which you sow does not come to life unless it dies; and that which you sow, you do not sow the body which is to be, but a bare grain
v26 - The resurrection to everlasting life destroys death, the last enemy. (1 Cor 15:26)
v40 - the glory of the heavenly is one, and the glory of the earthly is another.
v42 – “We shall all be changed”
v44 – sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body
v50 – “Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God.”
v52 - a trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable!
v52 - We shall all be changed
v54 - when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, "DEATH IS SWALLOWED UP in victory.
*Advance to 1 Thess 4
1 Thess 4:13-17 ESV 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. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.
These passages account for the resurrection of the righteous.
IV. The resurrection is universal
Although Paul wrote of the resurrection in term of “those who belong to Jesus,” we know from other passages that ALL WHO LIVE are to be resurrected.
*Advance to Acts 24
Act 24:14-15 ESV But this I confess to you, that according to the Way, which they call a sect, I worship the God of our fathers, believing everything laid down by the Law and written in the Prophets, having a hope in God, which these men themselves accept, that there will be a resurrection of both the just and the unjust.
Parable of sheep and goats (not a parable about animals) echoes that truth.
Matthew 25:31-33 tells us who the sheep and goats represent: nations – people.
(No ppt slide)
Mat 25:31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left.
All the dead are to be raised from the dead.
If there is any consolation from the harsh reality of abortion, it that every aborted fetus – baby – human being - will be raised from death to everlasting life!
Death is conquered. In God’s time, it death is to be destroyed.
*Advance to Rev 20
(Rev 20:12-14 NIV) And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what he had done. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death.
This accounts for the eternal destiny of those who have done evil.
These passages show that the resurrection is universal.
It is an appointment you will keep.
These passages also show that:
V. Resurrection is coupled with judgment
Rom 2:5-11 – (He will render to each one according to his works.)
2 Cor 5:10 – Paul abbreviates Rom 2:5-11
Acts 10:42- at Cornelius’ house Peter said “He [Jesus] commanded us to testify that he is the one appointed by God to judge the living and the dead.”
Use or not – depending on time.
We are to be clothed (or not) with heavenly body – 2 Cor 5:1-4
The alternative is to be naked.
VI. “Attaining” to the resurrection of the dead
Read Phil 3:8-11
*Advance to Phil 3:10-11
Phil 3:10-11 ESV that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, (11) that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.
How does one “attain” to the resurrection of the dead?
Phil 3:10-11 – “Attaining” the resurrection
1. It is clear that whatever Paul meant by the "resurrection from the dead" he was unsure that he would attain it. The Greek words, ei pos, translated "if, by any means," cannot reasonably be construed in any other way except as conveying an indefinite meaning.
2. Yet Paul knew without doubt that he was regenerated and would be resurrected someday. 1 Cor 15 and 1 Thess 4 show that Paul was certain the he would participate in the resurrection of the righteous.
3. Therefore, whatever Paul hoped to gain was something other than the normal resurrection of all believers from the dead.
4. The term in v11 translated "resurrection" is not the normal Greek term for resurrection, anastasis, which occurs 42 times, including v10 here. The word Paul used here is exanastasis. The word usually translated “resurrection” implies upward motion, whereas exanastasis carries the implication of outward motion as well.
5. Paul considered the resurrection in v11 to be conditional, even among believers. A believer may or may not attain that resurrection. Paul hoped “by any means” to be one who attained it.
6. To gain the resurrection Paul hopes for in v11, one must share Christ’s suffering.
One must experience Christ's life, willingly share in His sufferings by accepting persecution and pain for his sake, and conform himself to Jesus' death by laying down his life for others (v10).
Hebrews 11:35 is informative here. It speaks of believers who suffered hardship, were tortured, some put to death in cruel ways, not accepting deliverance, “that they might obtain a better resurrection." All believers will be resurrected, but according to these verses there is a better resurrection for those who endure suffering – perhaps martyrdom – as those heroes of faith had.
Obviously this better, more glorious resurrection is something which is capable of many degrees depending on the demands upon one's call to faithfulness.
It seems that Paul actually hoped for hardship and suffering—perhaps martyrdom--that he might be like Christ, and have a “better” resurrection like the heroes listed in Hebrews 11.
VII. Resurrection Day
Resurrection day.
Here’s what Paul says about Resurrection Day:
*Advance to 1 Cor 15
1 Corinthians 15:51-54 Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: "Death is swallowed up in victory."
We don’t know when the loud trumpet sound will be heard all over the world and the dead will be raised.
Since we don’t know when resurrection day will occur, in the same way we don’t know about a sequence of literal earthly events that will wind down the earth’s affairs for its final day.
But we have this, written by the apostle John late in his life:
*Advance to 1 Jn 3:1-2
1 John 3:1-2 See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.
In the interest of time I have trimmed about 30% of the material I prepared for this sermon:
• The “first resurrection”
• The “second death”
• More details about the various kinds of resurrections
• All that we can now know about the new heavens and new earth
When we will have learned everything that can be known about the resurrection and everything associated with it, there will be much we do not still know and cannot be known.
But a time will come when we will have examined the evidence that there is life beyond the grave, and must be satisfied with the evidence in our possession, as John says:
Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.
Then it will be time to leave this elementary doctrine and move on to maturity.
