Jesus came to redeem us from the consequences of the fall – Part 21

What Has Christ Done For Death? Contd.

(b) Believers exist in full consciousness (Luke 16:19-31) and experience joy at the kindness and love shown by God (cf. Eph 2:7). (c) Heaven is like a home, i.e., a haven of rest and security (Rev 6:11) and a place of community and fellowship with other believers (John 14:2). (d) Activities in heaven will include worship and singing (Ps 87; Rev14: 2-3; 15:3), assigned tasks (Luke 19:17), and eating and drinking (Luke 14:15; 22:14-18; Rev 22:2). (e) While awaiting the bodily resurrection, believers are not invisible disembodied spirits, but are clothed with a temporary heavenly form (Luke 9:30-32; 2Cor 5:1-4).

However, this Biblical teaching about the resurrection of the body (e.g., 1 Cor 15) emphasises that a permanent re-embodiment of spirit is the final state of the believer. This teaching has important ethical implications for the believer, making the use of the body as the temple of the Holy Spirit here on earth a matter of great significance. Unlike pagan teaching, the body is more than merely a shroud for the human soul and spirit. (f) In heaven, believers maintain their personal identity (Mat 8:11; Luke 9:30-32). (g) Believers who have passed on will continue to be concerned about God’s purpose on earth (Rev 6:9-11).

(4) Even though much hope and joy awaits the believer at death, believers still grieve when a loved one dies. After Jacob’s death, for example, Joseph mourned deeply for his father. His response to his father’s death is an appropriate model for all believers who experience the death of a loved one (see Gen 50:1).

What is Resurrection life?
The Resurrection of the Body: An overview
“But someone will say, “How are the dead raised up? And with what body do they come?” (1 Cor 15:35)
The resurrection of the body is an essential doctrine in Scripture. It refers to God’s raising a human body from the dead and reuniting it with the person’s soul and spirit, from which at death it was separated during the intermediate state.

(1) The Bible reveals at least three reasons why the resurrection of the body is necessary.
(a) The body is essential to the total human personality; humans are incomplete without a body. Thus, the redemption Christ offers applies to the whole person, including the body (Rom 8:18-25). (b) The body is the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 6:19); it will become once more a temple of the Spirit at the resurrection. (c) To undo the result of sin at all levels, humanity’s final enemy (death of the body) must be conquered through the resurrection (1 Cor 15:26).

(2) Both the OT (cf. Gen 22:1-14 with Heb 11:17-19; Ps16: 10 with Acts 2:24ff; cf. Job 19:25-27; Is 26:19; Dan 12:2; Hos 13:14) and the NT (Luke 14:13-14; 20:35-36; John 5:21,28-29; 6:39-40,44,54; 1 Cor 15:22-23; Phil 3:11; 1 Thes 4:14-16; Rev 20:4-6,13) teach the future bodily resurrection.

(3) Our bodily resurrection is guaranteed by the fact of Christ’s resurrection (see Mat 28:6; Acts 17:31; 1 Cor 15:12,20-23).

(4) In general terms, the believer’s resurrected body will be like the Lord’s own resurrected body (Rom 8:29; 1 Cor 15:20,42-44,49; Phil 3:20-21; 1 John 3:2). More specifically, the resurrected body will be: (a) a body possessing continuity and identity with the body of this life and therefore recognisable (Luke 16:19-31); (b) a body changed into a heavenly body adapted for the new heaven and new earth (1 Cor 15:42-44,47-48; Rev 21:1); (c) an imperishable body, free from decay and death (1 Cor 15:42); (d) a glorified body, like Christ’s (1 Cor 15:43; Phil 3:20-21)