Living In View Of Our Resurrection

Serving – April 2022 – Grace & Truth Magazine

Living In View Of The Resurrection

Every person who has ever lived and died will be resurrected. The authority for this statement is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. He said, “Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear His voice” (that of the Son of Man) and come out in resurrection (Jn. 5:28 ESV ).

This may sound like good news, but it actually contains bad news for many people. Some coming out “to the resurrection of life” is the good news, and others to the “resurrection of judgment” is the bad news (v.29). Our normal expectation is death followed by judgment. Hebrews 9:27 says, “It is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment.” The Greek word translated here as “judgment” has among its many meanings “a trial.”

The Trial
The Bible tells us, “Each of us will give an account of himself to God” (Rom. 14:12). For the believer his trial will not be a judgment of his sins. Why not? Because in Christ “we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace” (Eph. 1:7), and “just as we have borne the image of the man of dust [Adam], we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven” (1 Cor. 15:49). Standing “before the judgment seat of God” (Rom. 14:10) we will have no unforgiven sins to be judged, but only good works – “the fruit of the Spirit” (Gal. 5:22-23).

Our Good Works
Speaking to believers, Paul said, “We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body” (2 Cor. 5:10). The value of “each one’s work will become manifest … because it will be revealed by fire” (1 Cor. 3:13). Good works will survive the fire of judgment while worthless ones will not. If our works survive, we “will receive a reward” (v.14).

The judgment seat of God, of Christ, should not be confused with the judgment of nations (Mt. 25:31-46) or the judgment of the great white throne (Rev. 20:11-15). There the resurrected spiritually dead will be sentenced to an eternal punishment called the “second death,” symbolized in its spiritual pain by being in a “lake of fire” (Rev. 20:14,15).

Our Hope
God speaks to His own about death in 1 Thessalonians because He does not want us to “grieve as others do who have no hope” (4:13). He tells us of the rapture, when dead believers, described as “asleep” (v.13), will rise first and then living believers will be caught up with them to meet the Lord in the air and be always with Him (vv.16-17). Paul told the Corinthians, “We shall not all sleep [die], but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye … [and] put on immortality” (1 Cor. 15:51-53). The apostle went on, “‘Death is swallowed up in victory.’ ‘O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?’” (v.55). For the believer, death has no sting!

Our Response
The epistle continues with this instruction: “Therefore, my beloved … be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain” (v.58). May we live and serve in a manner like Paul, who believed “to live is Christ and to die is gain” (Phil. 1:21).

By Alan H. Crosby

The all-governing principle of Paul’s life was Christ. He was all in Paul’s life. “For me to live is Christ” (Phil. 1:21 KJV) means that Christ lived in him (Gal. 2:20); he lived by Him and for Him. If death should come, it would be gain, for it would bring him to Christ. Yet, if he was to live still here, it would be worth his while. Far better for him personally to depart and be delivered from all the conflicts, trials and sufferings; on the other hand the spiritual needs among the believers seemed more needful. So he desired to remain no matter what sufferings were still in store for him. How unselfish! How very much like Christ! Self was all out of sight. — Arno C. Gaebelein, adapted from The Epistle To The Philippians