“But God raised him from the dead,”
Acts 13.30
The resurrection of Christ is the fulcrum of all history. Paul preached it as proof of God offering forgiveness of sins, v. 38, and complete justification, v. 39.
Jesus was raised, so death has lost its sting. We need not fear the end, for it signals the new beginning. Jesus ascended into glory, and so shall the faithful be.
“And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is futile and your faith is empty.”
1 Corinthians 15.14
Some people in Corinth denied that people would be raised from the dead. Paul pointed out the implications of that teaching. No resurrection meant Christ would not have been raised. If true, it was all false.
Christ’s resurrection stands as God’s proof that the cross was man’s salvation, that the divine plan was fulfilled. So that we may look forward to our being raised with him.
“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.”
1 Corinthians 15.48-49 NLT
The physical human body and the spiritual human body are different, just as Adam and Christ were different in their origins. God will transform our bodies at the resurrection.
To be like Christ is always a good thing, both now and eternally. In what ways will we be like him in heaven?
What scares you this time of the year? Is it houses haunted by fake “ghosts and goblins?” Or is it sights and sounds that are not human and hard to identify? Or is it make-believe “zombies,” “vampires,” or “werewolves?” The only time dead people walked the earth again was when Jesus Christ died on the cross, an earthquake opened graves, “and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; and coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many” (Matthew 27:52-53 NKJV). They proved Jesus was raised from the dead, not that we should fear the night. If you obey God, then “When you lie down, you will not be afraid; Yes, you will lie down and your sleep will be sweet” (Proverbs 3:24 NKJV).
This is Johnny Polk, with “Words of Wisdom” brought to you by the Oneida church of Christ.
“Now while they were going, behold, some of the guard came into the city and reported to the chief priests all the things that had happened. When they had assembled with the elders and consulted together, they gave a large sum of money to the soldiers, saying, ‘Tell them, “His disciples came at night and stole Him away while we slept.” And if this comes to the governor’s ears, we will appease him and make you secure.’ So they took the money and did as they were instructed; and this saying is commonly reported among the Jews until this day” (Matthew 28:11-15 NKJV). It’s amazing how “fake news” of lies and misrepresentations of truth seem to go on and on, because some people want to believe it! The Apostles “taught the people and preached in Jesus the resurrection from the dead” (Acts 4:2 NKJV). Circulate the real news!
This is Johnny Polk, with “Words of Wisdom” brought to you by the Oneida church of Christ.
I answered a question about life after death here:
http://www.votable.com/p/VGM
I also shared this answer, with a slight edit, to readers of UPLift.
http://randal.us/#UPLift
Some things we think we know, when we actually don’t. Our emotions, for example, tell us things that appear to be as right as rain, but have no basis in reality. Scripture offers us a true vision. Continue reading
THE RESURRECTION BODY
In the long, long ago—probably at least two thousand years before the birth of Christ—the grand old patriarch Job asked the question, “If a man dies, shall he live again” (Job 14:14a)? Given the suffering he was going through at the time as a test of his faith in God, it is not easy to determine the attitude with which Job asked this question. A look at the larger context indicates that it may have been asked in a moment of cynicism. Earlier Job had said, “Man decays like a rotten thing, Like a garment that is moth-eaten” (13:28). He went on to say, “Man who is born of woman is of few days and full of trouble. He comes forth like a flower and fades away; He flees like a shadow and does not continue” (14:1-2). He lamented, “But man dies and is laid away; indeed he breathes his last and where is he” (14:10)? Continue reading
Doing good for the poor brings a blessing, “for you shall be repaid at the resurrection of the just” (Luke 14:14 NKJV). There will not be two resurrections, because one time, Jesus said, “all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth–those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation” (John 5:28-29 NKJV). A familiar verse says, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16 NKJV). No one can be saved by faith only, however, for the resurrected Jesus said, “He who believes and is baptized will be saved” (Mark 16:16 NKJV). Denying the necessity of baptism denies Jesus’ resurrection. If not, why not?
This is Johnny Polk, with “Words of Wisdom” brought to you by the Oneida church of Christ.
They’re out there…the wolves in sheep’s clothing that deny the Bible-based literal interpretation of a bodily resurrection. Their deceptive and destructive appetite even goes so far as to deny Jesus’ resurrection from the grave.
When I think of these sort of “Christians” I am reminded of a retortful rebuke given by Christopher Hitchens (yes, the well-known and noted and quoted late atheist) to a “Unitarian Christian”, who attempted to dodge the age-old derision of skeptics toward the fundamental Christian elements taught in the Bible by saying the she did not believe in a literal interpretation of the scriptures. His response was simply, “I would say that if you don’t believe that Jesus of Nazareth was the Christ and Messiah, and that he rose again from the dead and by his sacrifice our sins are forgiven, you’re really not in any meaningful sense a Christian.”
That’s not exactly an “out of the mouth of babes” moment, but it would be hard to get any closer to the real thing.
The truly astonishing thing to me isn’t that denominational ladened “Christians” two millennia on this side of the empty tomb deny the resurrection (don’t confuse my lack of astonishment with a lack of disapproval), but rather that Christians two decades on this side of the empty tomb were doing the same thing! Such was the reason that we read, “Now if Christ is preached that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?…For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins!…If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable.” (1 Corinthians 15:12, 16-17, 19) And the continuation of such denials to this day is the very reason why 1 Corinthians 15 is as applicable today as the day it was written.
If one desired to see the word absurdity played out in real life, all one has to do is watch a “Christian” try to deny that the Bible teaches a belief in a real resurrection.
Related Article:
The Bible description of death is: “the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also” (James 2:26 NKJV). Our physical body may be so close to dying, that it doesn’t register on our medical charts, but if it is revived, then the spirit did not leave it! When death does occur, it cannot be reversed until the Judgment Day, for “the dust will return to the earth as it was, And the spirit will return to God who gave it (Ecclesiastes 12:7 NKJV). Paul had “hope in God” that “there will be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and the unjust” (Acts 24:15 NKJV). God has promised that, “it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment” (Hebrews 9:27 NKJV). Near death is NO death!
This is Johnny Polk, with “Words of Wisdom” brought to you by the Oneida church of Christ.
Perhaps you are not aware of what the Qur’an says about Jesus. That which is taught, one can learn in Surah 2 (a “Surah” will correspond to a “Book,” or perhaps a “chapter” in the Bible). For instance, in Surah 2:87, one learns that Jesus was mortal. One won’t read that in the verse, but Islamic commentators will declare it. “Maulana gives some instruction concerning the Qur’an’s use of the Arabic word for Jesus (Īsā), followed by the epithet ‘son of Mary,’ ‘to show that he was a mortal like other prophets of God’” (footnote 128 in Maulana Muhammad Ali’s translation and commentary on the Qur’an; from RT’s personal study notes of the Qur’an).
The significance of this is in relation to what the Scriptures teach relative to Jesus. Note what charge the apostle Paul gave to Timothy, a young preacher he left in Ephesus: I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who in his testimony before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, to keep the commandment unstained and free from reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which he will display at the proper time–he who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see. To him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen (1 Timothy 6:13-16, ESV).
One does not need any other reason to oppose Islam, though there are untold numbers more!
There are many in the denominational world who quickly go to the “thief on the cross” to negate what the Lord said with regard to the importance/necessity of baptism in water for salvation. That we might have in front of us what the Scripture teaches, note what Peter said: “Baptism, the counterpart of that, saves you to-day (not the mere washing of dirt from the flesh but the prayer for a clean conscience before God) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 3:21, Moffat’s Translation).
We see the godly importance of water baptism. Many deny this, however. What is normally asserted by those with a taught disposition against the Lord’s command is that baptism (in water) is a “figure” (KJV), and not really actual. In other words, baptism for salvation is figurative, not actual. To support this assertion, the remark will be made concerning the thief on the cross: “He was not baptized, but asked the Lord to remember him when he went into paradise. That means that one does not have to be baptized in order to be saved.” (cf. Luke 23:39-43)
This is, sadly, a mistaken way of thinking. The Lord said that baptism saved, and shall we listen to anyone who speaks contrary to this? Some do, and they feel justified with that which they have been taught regarding the thief on the cross.
Consider what Paul said about salvation, and how this applies to the thief. “…because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9, NET). There are two things required by Paul in this passage. First, one must confess that Jesus is Lord; that is, acknowledge His “Lordship” over one’s personal life. Second, one must believe in the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. Looking at Luke 23:42, one might easily agree that the thief on the cross did confess Christ, but what about the second requirement the Holy Spirit puts forth for salvation? Could the thief have believed that? Hardly!
What this goes to point out is that the thief on the cross was not amenable (accountable) to what the New Testament teaches for salvation.
What we will all have in common with Lazarus?
It won’t be:
It is (save the Lord’s return during our life):
“Now when He had said these things, He cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth!” And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with graveclothes, and his face was wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Loose him, and let him go.”” (John 11:43-44)
In John chapter eleven, the Bible gives us the historical account of Jesus raising His friend Lazarus from the dead. To this point in Jesus’ ministry, it was His most wonderful and undeniable miracle. Because of Christ’s mighty works, the plan for His execution was expedited (John 11:45-57). The chief priests even sought to kill Lazarus, since his resurrection at the hands of Jesus caused so many people to believe (John 12:9-11).
But there is something else here to consider.
What happened to Lazarus when he died? Did he go to paradise (Abraham’s bosom (Luke 16:22; 23:43)), or did he go to torments in Hades (Luke 16:23)?
It could be speculated that he went to either of the two places. If he had been a faithful Jew, turned disciple of John the Baptist, now currently a disciple of Jesus — as most information leads one to believe, it is assumed he would have gone to paradise. On the other hand, if he had been simply listening to Jesus as a friend, and had not yet committed himself to the commands of God under the Mosaic system, it is possible, God knowing his heart, that he would have been sent to torments.
For a minute, consider the ramifications for Lazarus concerning his earthly resurrection:
1. We have heard for years about “near-death experiences.” Nothing can be factually documented about the claims of these cases. But the facts surrounding Lazarus are quite different. He would have certainly learned something about the afterlife when he died.
In Luke 16, Jesus taught that when the other Lazarus (the beggar) died, angels were waiting and accompanied his soul to Abraham’s bosom. So immediately upon death, Lazarus of Bethany would have gone somewhere. Since his earthly remains had been in the tomb four days (John 11:17), he would have seen some things that others have not seen.
2. It may be that Lazarus could tell Jesus what to expect. Six days before the Passover, Jesus sat at the table with the risen Lazarus and talked (John 12:2).
We know not of the content of that conversation. Could it be possible that Lazarus shared his experience with Jesus? Was he sad to be back here on earth because he had been in paradise, or was he glad to have a second chance to get his life right? Did he have comforting words for his friend, Jesus, concerning the place where Jesus had told His disciples He was about to go? Did he have discouraging words for his unfaithful and disobedient acquaintances about the horrors of death for those who know not God? Continue reading