The Resurrection
Has anyone ever counted just how many religious leaders died for their followers? And out of those, how many came back to life again, as foretold hundreds or thou-sands of years earlier?
Yeah, I think we’re pretty much on top of that statistic. There’s only One. He is Jesus, the Christ.
In all of mankind’s turbulent history there has been one, single time that a man was publicly executed, buried, and then who arose from death in the exact timeframe and manner that had been prophesied many generations earlier.
In case you are not up on the whole jargon of Christianity, “resurrection” means coming back to life after being solidly dead.
In fact, most people who are resurrected will have been dead for a very long time. Their bones will have long turned to dust; it’s been so long.
It doesn’t matter how a person dies; their physical body could be completely destroyed (turned to a red mist); turned to ashes in a crematorium; or any other manner of destruction. It’s okay; that body no longer matters once the spirit is released from it into the Spirit Realm. (See issue on The New Creation, for more on the Spirit Realm and Physical Realm.)
Jesus’ Resurrection
The first person to ever be resurrected was Jeshua of Nazareth (Jesus, the Lord). He was only dead for a couple of days before His flesh sprang back to life. (I think that this is how and when the image was made on the Shroud of Turin—when His power reentered His physical body.)
So His raised body was the very same one that He died in. However, it didn’t stay that way for long, because He went back to the Father (after a quick conversation with Mary) to receive His Glorified body.
Glorification (for humans) is taking on a new body that is different (superior) somehow to what we have now. It is what Paul talked about, calling it the hope of our salvation; losing the corruptible and taking on the incorruptible. Let’s read an excerpt:
But someone may ask, “How will the dead be raised? What kind of bodies will they have?” What a foolish question! When you put a seed into the ground, it doesn’t grow into a plant unless it dies first. And what you put in the ground is not the plant that will grow, but only a bare seed of wheat or whatever you are planting. Then God gives it the new body he wants it to have. A different plant grows from each kind of seed. Similarly there are different kinds of flesh—one kind for humans, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish.
There are also bodies in the heavens and bodies on the earth. The glory of the heavenly bodies is different from the glory of the earthly bodies. The sun has one kind of glory, while the moon and stars each have another kind. And even the stars differ from each other in their glory.
It is the same way with the resurrection of the dead. Our earthly bodies are planted in the ground when we die, but they will be raised to live forever. Our bodies are buried in brokenness, but they will be raised in glory. They are buried in weakness, but they will be raised in strength. They are buried as natural human bodies, but they will be raised as spiritual bodies. For just as there are natural bodies, there are also spiritual bodies.
(1 Corinthians 15:35-44, NLT)
Okay, so the most important takeaway for you right now might just be this part: “just as there are natural bodies, there are also spiritual bodies”.
In short, he is saying that we will each receive a new, different, spiritual body when Jesus comes back to Earth (not before; not after). He goes on:
The Scriptures tell us, “The first man, Adam, became a living person.” But the last Adam—that is, Christ—is a life-giving Spirit. What comes first is the natural body, then the spiritual body comes later. Adam, the first man, was made from the dust of the earth, while Christ, the second man, came from heaven. Earthly people are like the earthly man, and heavenly people are like the heavenly man. Just as we are now like the earthly man, we will someday be like the heavenly man.
What I am saying, dear brothers and sisters, is that our physical bodies cannot inherit the Kingdom of God. These dying bodies cannot inherit what will last forever.
(1 Corinthians 15:45-50, NLT)
And then Paul goes on to give us hope eternal in Christ Jesus. He gives us the very teaching that this pamphlet is discussing. He gives us details into the Resurrection and Rapture that we cannot get anywhere else.
But let me reveal to you a wonderful secret. We will not all die, but we will all be transformed! It will happen in a moment, in the blink of an eye, when the last trumpet is blown. For when the trumpet sounds, those who have died will be raised to live forever. And we who are living will also be transformed. For our dying bodies must be transformed into bodies that will never die; our mortal bodies must be transformed into immortal bodies.
Then, when our dying bodies have been transformed into bodies that will never die, this Scripture will be fulfilled:
“Death is swallowed up in victory.
O death, where is your victory?
O death, where is your sting?”For sin is the sting that results in death, and the law gives sin its power. But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ.
(1 Corinthians 15:51-57, NLT)
My interpretation of this is that when Jesus returns He will then (and only then) give His faithful followers their new, glorified bodies (a one-time shot).
For those who died prior to that moment of transformation they will be Resurrected; for those who are still alive (if even barely) they will be Raptured. Either way, it is the same thing; receiving an eternal, immortal, incorruptible, indestructible, infallible, perfect, invincible, and powerful spiritual body.
THAT’s the hope of MY salvation—coupled with the certain knowledge that I will be one with Adonai and Abba.
If I had to come back into the Physical Realm after being in heaven in the Spiritual Realm, doing so in a superhuman body would definitely raise my spirits about it. In fact, I’m looking forward to it as much as I’d like to be in heaven right now with Jesus and the saints.
Imagine being a perfect spirit being, who is one with the Creator of all life! I don’t know if anyone can come close to imagining the splendor, majesty, joy, fulfillment, satisfaction, and pure freedom of that state of humanity. It’s what this world is all about, you know. The secret meaning of life is receiving that glorified body.
But you can’t earn the upgrade. You can only get this upgrade from the Manufac-turer (so to speak) by believing in Him and following Him in obedience. Love Him with all your heart and He will bring you in.
Ignore Him and hate His people and He will destroy you along with anyone else who is doing so when He returns.
Be indifferent; and hope that you are good enough to receive at least an everlasting mortal life (either in the Millennium or in the New Earth), ruled by those who accepted His cross. (More on those things in later issues.)
For now, ensure your place as being one with the Holy Spirit and the saints of Jesus by accepting His sacrificial death on the cross as payment for your sinful nature and deeds. Be loyal to the One Who is loyal to us.
Christ was raised as the first of the harvest; then all who belong to Christ will be raised when he comes back.
(1 Corinthians 15:23, NLT)
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