The physical resurrection of the Bible

The physical resurrection of the Bible is taught throughout the Scriptures. Daniel taught the resurrection in Daniel 12:1-4 and John 5:24–29. The references to the resurrection are legion in the Bible, but there is only one chapter that we call the “Resurrection Chapter” in the Bible. and that is 1 Corinthians 15. The church at Corinth was troubled by many different issues. One of those was a major theological issue—the resurrection. According to 1 Corinthians 15:12, some in the church were denying the reality of the resurrection. 

1. The Resurrection is a Historical Reality (Verses 1-11) 

The first eleven verses tell us that the resurrection is a historical reality. In verses 3–5 of 1 Corinthians chapter 15, Paul lists several of the post-resurrection appearances of Christ, including one occasion when over 500 people were present. Vs.6 

2. The Resurrection is a Logical Necessity (Verses 12-19) 

Now we’re coming to the next paragraph: the resurrection is a logical necessity. In other words, if you remove the resurrection of Jesus Christ, all of Christianity falls apart. Nothing makes sense without the resurrection. Christianity is so incomplete as to be nonsensical if you leave out the resurrection of Christ. In verses 12–19, the apostle Paul gives five implications for removing the resurrection of Jesus from Christian theology. 

First, without the resurrection we have no message: Our preaching is pointless, useless, and wasted. Read verses 12–14. 

Second, our faith is pointless: We don’t have anything worth believing. We don’t have a message worth sharing or a message worth believing. Look at verse 14 again. 

Third, we are all liars: What we’re telling the world is nonsense. Look at verse 15. 

Fourth, we are all lost: There is no forgiveness of sins, for our justification would not have been ratified by the resurrection. Jesus died so we could live a life that’s forgiven, and He was raised so that we might live a life that’s forever. His death and shed blood on the cross provided for our forgiveness, and the power of His resurrection gives us eternal life. But there would not even be forgiveness without the resurrection. The resurrection was necessary even for the atonement to take place. Look at verses 16-17. 

Fifth, we are left with nothing but ultimate existential despair: In the verses 18-19: This is how crucial the resurrection of Jesus Christ is to our entire system of faith. It is at the core and crux of our theology. If the body of Jesus Christ were still in the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea, then we would have no message to preach, no faith to exercise, we would be liars, we would still be lost in our sins, and we would be left with nothing but cosmic existential despair. 

3. The Resurrection is a Sequential Event (Verses 20-28) 

But all that is hypothetical, said Paul, because Jesus Christ has indeed been raised from the dead. Having made that declaration, Paul goes on to tell us something very interesting about the resurrection. When we refer to the resurrection, we aren’t referring to one singular event, but there will be several resurrections –- at least three and maybe four. 

Read Verse 20. What does the word “firstfruits” mean? This is an Old Testament term, but it’s also a term all of us understand who have done some gardening. It obviously refers to the first crops harvested each year in the early harvest. All who garden know that some varieties begin bearing a little before the others. In the Old Testament, the people would take the first reapings of their harvest and present them to the Lord as an act of worship, trusting Him to bless the remainder of the season. 

The reason the offering of the firstfruits was so important in the Old Testament was this: it was pointing towards the resurrection of Jesus Christ. In the harvest at the end of the age, the resurrection of Jesus Christ stands at the forefront. 

Read verses 21–24.

As I’ve studied the Bible, it seems to me that there are five different resurrection events. 

First, there are the resurrection events that occurred prior to the resurrection of Christ. In the Old Testament, for example, there were several people who were raised from the dead, most of them connected with the ministry of the prophets Elijah and Elisha. 

In the New Testament, Jesus raised three people up from the dead. The entire eleventh chapter of John’s Gospel deals with the resurrection of Lazarus. Matthew has an interesting verse that tells us when Jesus died on the cross, a number of people from the Old Testament period rose up out of their graves. Peter and Paul both raised people from the dead. But all these people died again. They were not truly resurrected in a permanent, transformational, glorious sense. They were resurrected from the dead back to life, but they all died again to await the final resurrection. These were real people who really died and who really came back to life, but they were tokens or symbols or examples of the power of God, pointing to the ultimate resurrection. 

Second, there was the actual resurrection of Christ. This was the first true and genuine resurrection in history. In other words, Jesus Christ was raised incorruptible from the grave and can never die again. His risen and glorified body is incapable of dying. Romans 6:9 says, “For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, He cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over Him.” 

Third, there will be the resurrection of the godly dead when Christ comes at the rapture of the church, as described in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18. 

Fourth, there will be the resurrection of the Tribulation saints. When Jesus comes at the moment of the rapture of the church, Christians will be taken off the face of the earth, and the stage will be set for the antichrist. According to the book of Revelation, multitudes of people are going to come to faith in Christ during the Great Tribulation. There will be 144,000 Jewish evangelists going out into all the world. 

There will be two great witnesses in the city of Jerusalem. There will be all the Bibles and literature left behind. The harvest of souls into the kingdom during the Great Tribulation will be the greatest revival in world history. But the forces of Satan will see to it that they destroy and slaughter these people as fast as they’re saved. When the armies of the earth encircle Jerusalem, and just as it seems the city of Jerusalem and all the Jewish people are gone, at that moment Christ will return. And when He comes again, He will bring to life those who died as believers during the Great Tribulation. 

In the book of Revelation, Jesus comes again in chapter 19, and He instantly defeats the antichrist and the armies of evil. READ Revelation 20:4 -6

When it says the first resurrection, it means as opposed to the second resurrection at the end of the millennial reign, which will be the resurrection of all the unsaved. 

Fifth, there will be the resurrection of all the unsaved of the ages at the end of the millennial reign. Read verses 11–15.

This, then, is the final sequence in the series of five resurrection-like events. The prequel involved the Old and New Testament saints who were raised to life but not truly resurrected in an ultimate glorious sense. They were simply pointing towards the future. Then we had the first person truly resurrected in history—the Lord Jesus Christ—on Easter Sunday. Then there will be those resurrected when Jesus comes again, at the beginning and end of the Tribulation period. Then, last of all, there will be the resurrection of the unsaved dead for judgment. Now, going back to 1 Corinthians 15, look at how Paul wraps up this discussion with verses 25–28. That leads to the eternal state or heaven described in Revelation 21–22. 

Conclusion: Perhaps you’re saying, “This is a little complicated. Why isn’t there just one resurrection? Why does it have to happen in so many stages?” Well, it’s not complicated or illogical at all. Think of the way everything started in Genesis 1. God didn’t create everything at the same moment. He spread it out over six days, and the creation occurred as a sequential event. That’s the way it will be in the New Creation at the end of time. So if you’re thinking of buying a cemetery plot, don’t think of it in gloomy terms simply as the place where you’ll be buried. Think of it in glorious terms as holy ground. On that little patch of ground, you will experience your greatest miracle. It’s the very spot where you will be resurrected, glorified, and snatched up to the heavens. Therefore, comfort one another with these words. 

By CovenantMedia