Part 60

B. THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD.

Under this caption is included the resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked, although, as will be seen later, they do not occur at the same time.

I. THIS DOCTRINE CLEARLY TAUGHT IN THE SCRIPTURES.

1. IN THE OLD TESTAMENT. 2. IN THE NEW TESTAMENT.

II. THE NATURE OF THE RESURRECTION.

1. LITERAL RESURRECTION OF THE BODIES OF ALL MEN. 2. RESURRECTION OF THE BODY NECESSARY TO COMPLETE SALVATION. 3. THE NATURE OF THE RESURRECTION BODY. a) In General. b) The Body of the Believer. c) The Body of the Unbeliever.

III. THE TIME OF THE RESURRECTION.

1. OF THE RIGHTEOUS. 2. OF THE WICKED.

I. THE DOCTRINE OF A RESURRECTION CLEARLY TAUGHT IN THE SCRIPTURES.

1. IN THE OLD TESTAMENT.

It is set forth in various ways:

In Word: Job 19:25-27--"For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: and though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God: whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another; though my reins be consumed within me." Also Psa. 16:9; 17:15; Dan. 12:1-3.

In Figure: Gen. 22:5 with Heb. 11:19--"Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure."

In Prophecy: Isa. 26:19--"Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in the dust." The words "men" and "together with" may be omitted--"Thy dead (ones) shall live." These words are Jehovah's answer to Israel's wail as recorded in vv. 17, 18. Even if they refer to resurrection of Israel as a nation, they yet teach a bodily resurrection. See also Hosea 13:14.

In Reality: 1 Kings 17 (Elijah); 2 Kings 4:32-35 (Elisha and the Shunamite's son); 13:21 (Resurrection through contact with the dead bones of Elisha).

The Old Testament therefore distinctly teaches the resurrection of the body. Mark 9:10, which might seem to indicate that the apostles did not know of a bodily resurrection, is accounted for by their unwillingness to believe in a crucified Christ.

2. IN THE NEW TESTAMENT.

In Word: Note the teaching of Jesus in John 5:28, 29; c. 6 entire, note especially vv. 39, 40, 44, 54; Luke 14:13, 14; 20:35, 36. The teaching of the apostles: Paul, Acts, 24:15; 1 Cor. 15; 1 Thess. 4:14-16; Phil. 3:11; John, Rev. 20:4-6; 13.

In Reality: The resurrection of saints (Matt. 27:52, 53); of Lazarus (John 11); of Jesus Christ (Matt. 28). Our Lord's resurrection assured them of what till then had been a hope imperfectly supported by Scriptural warrant, and contested by the Sadducees. It enlarged that hope (1 Pet. 1:3), and brought the doctrine of the resurrection to the front (1 Cor. 15).

II. THE NATURE OF THE RESURRECTION.

1. A LITERAL RESURRECTION OF THE BODIES OF ALL MEN--A UNIVERSAL RESURRECTION.

John 5:28--"Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth." 1 Cor. 15:22--"For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive." The apostle is speaking of physical death in Adam, and physical resurrection in Christ.

Revelation 20:12, and 2 Corinthians 5:10 both show the necessity of the raising of the body in order that judgment may take place according to things done in the body. See also Job's hope (19:25-27); David's hope (Psa. 16:9).

An objection is sometimes made to the effect that we literalize these scriptures which are intended to be metaphorical and spiritual. To this we reply: While the exact phrase, "resurrection of the body," does not occur in the Bible, yet these scriptures clearly teach a physical rather than a spiritual resurrection. Indeed John 5:25-29 draws a sharp contrast between a spiritual (v. 25) and a literal (v. 28) resurrection. See also Phil. 3:21; 1 Thess. 4:13-17. 2 Tim. 2:18--"Who concerning the truth have erred, saying that the resurrection is passed already," indicates that the early church believed in a literal resurrection. Surely there is no reference here to a spiritual resurrection such as we read of in Ephesians 5:14. Acts 24:15 speaks of a resurrection of the just and the unjust--this cannot refer to a spiritual resurrection surely. If the resurrection were spiritual then in the future state every man would have two spirits--the spirit he has here, and the spirit he would receive at the resurrection. The term "spiritual body" describes, not so much the body itself, as its nature. The "spiritual body" is body, not spirit, hence should not be considered as defining body. By the term "spiritual body" is meant the body spiritualized. So there is a natural body--a body adapted and designed for the use of the soul; and there is a spiritual body--a body adapted for the use of the spirit in the resurrection day.

2. THE REDEMPTION OF THE BODY IS INCLUDED IN OUR COMPLETE REDEMPTION.

Rom. 8:11-23--"And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body" (v. 23). See also 1 Cor. 6:13-20. In John 6:39 and Job 19:25-27 we are taught that the dust into which our bodies have decayed will be quickened, which indicates a physical resurrection.

This conception of the value of the body is doubtless what leads to the Christian's care for his dead loved ones and their graves. The believer's present body, which is called "the body of his humiliation" (Phil. 3:21) is not yet fitted for entrance into the kingdom (1 Cor. 15:50). Paul's hope is not for a deliverence from the body, but the redemption of it (2 Cor. 5:4).

3. THE NATURE OF THE RESURRECTION BODY.