The Resurrection Of The Body

Feature 2 – April 2020 – Grace & Truth Magazine

The Resurrection of the Body

“Resurrection” means the rising up or the standing up of the body. The body – not the spirit or the soul – dies and lies as still as a stone. Therefore, when we speak of resurrection we are speaking of the standing up of the body after death.

Two Resurrections
The Lord Jesus spoke of two separate resurrections. He said, “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; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation” (Jn. 5:28-29 KJV). He called one “the resurrection of life” and the other “the resurrection of damnation.”

The apostle Paul spoke of these same two resurrections in Acts 24:14-15: “But this I confess unto thee, that after the way which they call heresy, so worship I the God of my fathers, believing all things which are written in the law and in the prophets: and have hope toward God, which they themselves also allow, that there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust.” Here the apostle referred to the two resurrections as “of the just” and “of the unjust.”

Then in Revelation 20:4-6 we see that those who took part in the resurrection of life, which is the resurrection of the just and the “first resurrection,” lived and reigned with Christ 1,000 years. However, the rest of the dead lived not again until after the thousand years were finished. So, we see that the two resurrections are separated by at least 1,000 years.

The First Resurrection
The first resurrection is not a one-day event, but it covers a wide period of time. It began with the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. In 1 Corinthians 15:22-23 we read: “For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.” Christ is called the “firstfruits.” Other people were raised from the dead before Christ, but none after the order of Christ.

All the others were called back to continue living from where they left off, none returned with a glorified body. By contrast, the Christ came back with a glorified body – a body that can never experience corruption but can be seen, felt and handled. In it, He drank and ate, although space, time, gravity and material things posed absolutely no limitation for Him.

In Colossians 1:18 the Lord Jesus is presented as “the head of the body, the Church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things He might have the preeminence.” In this passage, the firstborn has to do with rank. So we see that the first resurrection began with Christ. Yet, it will include all the saints of the Old Testament, those from the day of Pentecost to the time of the rapture and the saints of the tribulation (1 Cor. 15:23; 1 Th. 4:16-17; Rev. 11:7-12, 20:5-6).

The Power Of The Resurrection
The Lord Jesus declared His almighty power to lay down His life and to take it up again: “No man taketh it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of My Father” (Jn. 10:18).

In the prayer of the apostle Paul in Ephesians 1:15-21 we have these words: “And what is the exceeding greatness of His power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of His mighty power, which He wrought in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead, and set Him at His own right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come” (vv.19-21). The Lord Jesus was raised by His own almighty power (Jn. 10:18), by the almighty power of God the Father (Acts 13:37), and by the almighty power of the Holy Spirit (1 Pet. 3:18).

Evidence For The Resurrection
In 1 Corinthians 15:3-8 we read: “For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures; and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures: and that He was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve: after that, He was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep. After that, He was seen of James; then of all the apostles. And last of all He was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time.” It would be very hard for more than 500 brethren to be so badly mistaken that they thought they saw Jesus if it was not Him.

Furthermore, the gospel of Matthew tells us that the sepulcher in which the body of Jesus was placed was made secure by sealing the stone and setting a watch (27:66). But on that first Lord’s day, the first day of the week, the Lord of life and glory rose up, stood up, took off those grave clothes, walked out of the tomb and appeared unto His own. The gospel writers – Matthew, Mark, Luke and John – all show clearly that the tomb was left empty, without the body of Jesus. Friends, it was not smoke or a spirit that came out of the tomb, but it was a body of flesh and bones that saw no corruption. Afterward, He ate and drank with His disciples.

Please note that they came and held Him by the feet (28:9); one cannot hold a spirit. The resurrection of the Lord Jesus was not a spiritual resurrection but a very physical one. In Luke the Lord Jesus asked His disciples: “Why do thoughts arise in your hearts? Behold My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself: handle Me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see Me have. And when he had thus spoken, He showed them His hands and His feet. And while they yet believed not for joy, and wondered, He said unto them, Have ye here any meat? And they gave Him a piece of a broiled fish, and of an honeycomb. And He took it, and did eat before them” (24:38-43).

There you have it, friends. He is not a spirit, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as does the risen Christ. The same body that was nailed to the cross was the same body that was laid in the tomb, and it is the same body that was raised up on the third day and in which He now sits in heaven at the Father’s right hand. There is a man in the glory today, the Man, Christ Jesus!

We also have the sure words of the angel recorded in Matthew 28:5-6: “And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified. He is not here: for He is risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay.”

Following The Resurrection
What shall we say of Peter and the other disciples who abandoned the Lord Jesus and for fear ran for their lives when the Lord Jesus was arrested? Look at them on the day of Pentecost and onward, how very brave they became, even to lay down their lives for the faith of the resurrected Christ. What about Thomas, who doubted and told his fellow disciples that he would not believe unless he saw Him for himself (Jn. 20:24-25)? After the Lord Jesus walked into the room while the door was still shut, Thomas fell down before Him and declared, “My Lord and my God” (v.28).

Jesus said to him, “Thomas, because thou hast seen Me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed” (v.29). Thomas could see and feel for himself, and know, and confess that it was no fable but it was all real. The Christ is alive; His body did not see corruption, and he confessed Him as his Lord and God. I love this. Is He your Lord and God?

Luke, in writing to Theophilus in Acts 1:3, tells how the Lord showed “Himself alive after His passion by many infallible proofs, being seen by them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God.” Verses 9-11 say, “When He had spoken these things, while they beheld, He was taken up; and a cloud received Him out of their sight. And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go into heaven.” He went up physically and visibly, and He will be coming back in the same way as He went up into heaven to reign over all the earth.

Friends, do you believe these things? Space would fail me to tell of the blessings, victory and glory of the resurrection.

Tell me dear reader, do you believe in the physical resurrection of our Lord Jesus? The Word of God says, “If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus [meaning Jesus as Lord], and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved” (Rom. 10:9). I urge you, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, to place your trust in Him now for salvation, before it is eternally too late.

By Milton Jamieson