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Introduction:

“In life we are in death.” Death is a fact of life. The poets have described death as the Grim Reaper. Our Lord in Revelation 6:8 portrayed death as the rider on the pale horse. Death rides on to overtake us all. As a result it is common place among us. People are dying all around us all the time. Funerals are being conducted every day.

When death takes a loved one or dear friend, it arouses grief, sorrow, mourning, despair, and loneliness. If death were the last word to life, despair, grief, sorrow, and senselessness would fill our hearts as we contemplated what will happen to us and what has happened to our loved ones who have died. We would be without hope.

Focus:

We are not without hope, however. The opposite is true. Our aim in this Bible study is to grow in the hope that is ours as we learn what will take place on the Great Day of the Lord when the dead are raised to life.

Searching the Scriptures:

1. Some people believe in a life after death for the soul or spirit. But guided by their human reason they do not believe in the resurrection of the body. They doubt its possibility and even consider it foolishness. This is born out by people’s burial customs and philosophies, as we will observe in the following paragraphs of this first section of this study.

The ancient Egyptians built elaborate tombs and pyramids for their pharaohs. These burial places were filled with wealth and good things for the pharaohs’ use and enjoyment in their deaths. This custom indicates that they believed in a spirit world in which the spirits of the dead lived on. It also indicates that their beliefs in a life after death were carnal in nature, reflecting their love of life’s pleasures on earth.

Professor and Missionary Ernest Wendland described the burial customs of the Africans on pages 83 and 84 of his book Of Other Gods and Other Spirits. He stated that the Africans’ ultimate hope after death lie in an existence of some kind in a spirit world. Some tribes believed in reincarnation, but it was the spirit of the deceased that must be reincarnated. One’s only bodily existence was here in this world. The spirit of the deceased continued on as a part of the community. This spirit was called a member of the ‘living dead.’ The spirit’s existence continued on as long as the person was remembered. After that it entered a different kind of nebulous spirit world. The spirit lived a happy or a sad life according to how its survivors showed respect for its memory, and according to whatever distinctions the individual may have achieved while living on earth. Consequently, those who died young, unmarried, or childless had little to look forward to after death. From this description of the Africans’ belief about life after death it is obvious that they believe in a life of the spirit after death. Their belief, however, is despairing, not hopeful.

The ancient Egyptians and the Africans alike lacked a hope in the resurrection of their body. To them existence was limited to life in this world and to the immortality of the spirit afterwards.

We Americans have our funeral customs also. Unfortunately, much of the American customs amount to little more than a mask and a camouflage to the reality and finality of death. They hold out no real hope for the life of the deceased after death. The ornate coffins, the mountains of flowers, the names and terms substituted for the word “death”, the “natural look” of the deceased lying in his coffin, the soft background music and soft lighting amid comfortable surroundings, the expensive limousines, the green artificial turf placed around the gravesite to hide the dirt and the hole in the ground--all contribute to the facade. When such customs are looked at for what they are, they do little more than create an empty illusion to escape the fact of death, that the person has died and is no more. The survivors are then left to ponder how senseless death makes life. One lives only to die? For what purpose? How meaningless! How hopeless.

A funeral director once shared with me some of his experiences with families who had made funeral arrangements with him. He said one family wanted their family member laid out in the coffin with a beer can in his hand. They wanted this because the deceased had lived for parties and good times. The director refused to grant their request, a request that revealed they had little hope for their deceased family member.

Naturalists and evolutionists deny the possibility of the supernatural. They also think humans are just another kind of an animal which has evolved to be what it is. If they are logically consistent in their philosophy, they must believe that those who die cease to exist. They must maintain that there is no life after death or immortality of the soul, for there can be no soul or a resurrection of the body. Their outlook on humans’ life and death, then, is altogether hopeless.

The following passages indicate what the human reason thinks about the resurrection of the dead.

Acts 17:16-21 & 32 below reveals that people think the resurrection of the body to live eternally is nonsense. They consider it foolishness and sneer at it.

Acts 17:16 Now while Paul was waiting for them in Athens, his spirit in him was being irritated because he was observing the city was full of idols.
Acts 17:17 Consequently, he was reasoning in the synagogue with the Jews and the God-fearing Gentiles, and in the market place every day with those who happened to be there.
Acts 17:18 Then some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also began to converse with him, and some were saying, “What might this babbler wish to say?” But others, “He seems to be a preacher of strange deities:” because he was preaching Jesus and the resurrection.
Acts 17:19 And after taking hold of him they lead him to the Areopagus, saying, “May we know what is this new teaching which is being spoken by you?
Acts 17:20 For you are bringing some astonishing things to our ears. Therefore we want to know what these things mean.”
Acts 17:21 (Now all the Athenians and the strangers who were visiting there customarily spent their time in nothing other than telling or listening to something quite new.)
Acts 17:32 Now when they heard about the resurrection of the dead, some sneered, but others said, “We will hear you concerning this matter again.”

1 Corinthians 15:12 below shows that the human mind thinks the raising of the dead to live again is unbelievable.

1 Corinthians 15:12 Now if Christ is preached that he has been raised from the dead, how is it possible that some among you are saying that there is no resurrection of the dead?

Human reason could learn a lot about the resurrection of the body if it only observed what occurred each spring. 1 Corinthians 15:35-38,42, which follows, sums up for us the lesson to be learned. Like the lifeless seed that is planted in the ground springs from the earth with a new living, glorious body and form, so the lifeless body of man is laid to rest in the earth and will spring from the earth with a new, changed body and life.

1 Corinthians 15:35 But someone will say, “How are the dead raised? And with what kind of body do they come?”
1 Corinthians 15:36 Stupid! What indeed you sow does not give life unless it dies.
1 Corinthians 15:37 And what you sow, you do not sow the body that will be but a bare seed whether perhaps of wheat or of some other grain.
1 Corinthians 15:38 But God gives it a body just as he wished, and to each of the seeds its own body.
1 Corinthians 15:42 In this manner also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown a perishable body; it is raised an imperishable body.

To summarize the preceding paragraphs in this study, while some believe in a life after death for the spirit, a great many do not believe in the resurrection of the body to eternal life. The resurrection of the body is foolishness and nonsense.

2. In this second section of this study we will discover that we have good reasons to believe that there will be a resurrection of the dead and that there is an eternal life.

The Scriptures in the Bible are the inspired Word of God, as stated plainly in the following passages:

1 Thessalonians 2:13 And for this reason also we give thanks to God constantly, because when you received the word of God that you heard from us, you received it not as the word of men but as it truly is – the word of God, which is also at work in you who believe.

2 Timothy 3:16 All Scripture is God-breathed, and is useful for teaching, for reproving, for correcting, for instructing in righteousness.

The Scriptures in the Bible are true and without error, as the following passages state:

Numbers 23:19 God is not a man, that he should lie; Nor a son of man that he should be sorry. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not carry it out?

John 17:17 Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.

The inspired Word of God in its Old Testament truly teaches us there is a resurrection of the dead and eternal life. We will see this in the following paragraphs.

Jesus taught in Matthew 22:23-32 that the Old Testament revealed there was a resurrection of the body.

Matthew 22:23 On that day Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to him, and they asked him,
Matthew 22:24 saying, “Teacher, Moses said, ‘IF A MAN DIES, HAVING NO CHILDREN, HIS BROTHER AS NEXT OF KIN SHALL MARRY HIS WIFE AND RAISE UP CHILDREN FOR HIS BROTHER.’
Matthew 22:25 Now there were seven brothers with us; and after the first married he died, and having no children he left his wife to his brother.
Matthew 22:26 In the same way also the second and the third, down to the seventh.
Matthew 22:27 And last of all the woman died.
Matthew 22:28 So in the resurrection whose wife of the seven will she be? For they all had married her.”
Matthew 22:29 Then when he answered Jesus said to them, “You are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God.
Matthew 22:30 For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are they given in marriage, but they are like the angels in heaven.
Matthew 22:31 But concerning the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken to you by God, saying,
Matthew 22:32 ‘I am the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob?’ He is not the God of the dead but of the living.”

The preceding verses of Matthew 22 state the Sadducees did not believe in the resurrection of the dead. Jesus said their lack of faith in the resurrection was an error on their part. He said that first they did not understand the Old Testament Scriptures, and second they did not understand the power of God to raise the dead. Had the Sadducees understood the Old Testament Scriptures, they would have known and believed there was a resurrection of the body.

The Old Testament proof of the resurrection of the dead and of eternal life was found in Exodus 3:6, which Jesus quoted. The fact that God said he was the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and the fact that God is not the God of the dead but of the living, Jesus said proved that those three patriarchs were living even in his day, a couple thousand years after their deaths, and that they had a part in the resurrection of the dead.

Since Jesus taught that God is not the God of the dead but of the living, the following passages held out the truth and the hope of eternal life and the resurrection to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, and the Israelites.

Genesis 17:7 And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for their generations to come for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your descendants after you.

Genesis 26:24 And the Lord appeared to him that night and said, “I am the God of your father Abraham. Do not be afraid, because I am with you. And I will bless you and multiple your descendants for the sake of my servant Abraham.”

Genesis 28:13 And behold the Lord stood above it and said, “I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. The land on which you are lying, I will give it to you and to your descendants.”

Exodus 3:6 And he said, “I am the God of your father – the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” Then Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God.

Ezekiel 37:27 “. . . and my dwelling place will be with them, and I will be their God and they will be my people.”

Knowing Jesus said that God is a God of the living and not the dead, the following verses which revealed that God’s people were gathered to their people gave hope and faith to the Old Testament Israelites that God’s people were living with him in heaven. The verses enabled the Old Testament Israelites to believe and to hope in an eternal life with their fellow believers in heaven. They knew they had a life after death.

Genesis 25:8 And Abraham breathed his last and died in a good old age, an old man, and full of years; and he was gathered to his people.

Genesis 35:29 Then Isaac breathed his last and died and was gathered to his people, an old man and full of days; and his sons Esau and Jacob buried him.

Genesis 49:29,33 And he charged them and said to them, “I am about to be gathered to my people. Bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite.” . . . When Jacob finished charging his sons, then he drew up his feet into the bed and breathed his last and was gathered to his people.

The words of Genesis 3:15 below were spoken to Satan, who had just brought about the fall into sin, death, and eternal damnation. The verse held out the promise of Christ’s coming. When Christ came, he would crush Satan and destroy him forever. By destroying Satan Christ would undo Satan’s accomplishments of sin, death, and eternal damnation. Thus the words of Genesis 3:15 held out the hope of the resurrection of the body and of eternal life to Adam and Eve, who were then subject to death and damnation because of their sin.

Genesis 3:15 “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; he will crush your head, and you will crush his heel.”

On Genesis 3:15 Martin Luther has been quoted as having stated, “This passage at once includes deliverance from the Law, sin, and death and reveals a clear and sure hope of the resurrection and restoration in the hereafter. For if the serpent’s head is to be crushed, certainly death, too, must be done away with and destroyed.” (Francis Pieper, Christian Dogmatics, Volume III, p.535; Concordia Publishing House, St. Louis, MO., 1953)

Daniel 12:2 taught God’s Old Testament people that there would be a resurrection of all the dead for life or damnation.

Daniel 12:2 And multitudes who are sleeping in the dust of the earth will awake, these to everlasting life, but those to disgrace and everlasting extreme hatred.

Genesis 2:9 and 3:24 both mention a tree of life. Its name and presence during that most ancient Old Testament time taught that there was eternal life for God’s people and that God had created the human race to live forever, not die.

Genesis 2:9 And the Lord God caused to sprout from the ground every tree pleasant to the sight and good for food, and a tree of life in the middle of the garden and a tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Genesis 3:24 So he drove the man out; and east of the Garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that flashed this way and that to guard the way of the tree of life.

Old Testament Job knew and believed he would rise from the dead to live again. He confessed in Job 19:25-27:

Job 19:25 Now I indeed know that my Redeemer lives, and he, the Last One, will stand upon the earth.
Job 19:26 And after my skin is destroyed, yet from my flesh I will see God,
Job 19:27 whom I, indeed even I, will see for myself, and my eyes will behold and not some stranger’s. O my heart languishes within my breast!

Psalm 23:6 has held out the knowledge and hope of eternal life in heaven with the Lord since about 1000 BC And since David, the writer, certainly knew of the eventuality of death, which he referred to in verse 4, he clearly understood and taught in the psalm that his body would rise to live forever with the Lord.

Psalm 23:6 Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all my days, And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

Jonah had the unique experience of being swallowed by a big fish, or a whale, and being in its stomach for three days and three nights. In Matthew 12:38-40 Jesus said Jonah’s experience was a type of his own resurrection from the dead on the third day.

Matthew 12:38 Then some of the scribes and Pharisees replied to him, saying, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from you.”
Matthew 12:39 But when he answered them he said, “A wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, yet no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah the prophet.
Matthew 12:40 For just as ‘JONAH WAS IN THE BELLY OF THE HUGE FISH THREE DAYS AND THREE NIGHTS,’ so will the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights.”

Genesis 2:17 was God’s Old Testament threat of death. Behind that threat, however, lies a clear indication of what God’s original purpose had been in creating the human race. God had made the human race to live forever. God had not made the human race to die.

Genesis 2:17 “. . . but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you must not eat from it, for in the day you eat from it, you will surely die.”

Genesis 1:27 states the human race was created in God’s image. The nature of God and the duration of his existence is eternal. The only way that man could enjoy the image of God’s eternal nature was to be able to live forever also. Within the image of God lies the teaching of eternal life.

Genesis 1:27 God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him, male and female he created them.

According to Genesis 5:21-24 and 2 Kings 2:11, both Enoch and Elijah were taken to heaven to be with the Lord. What happened to them taught God’s Old Testament people that there was an eternal life in heaven with the Lord.

Genesis 5:21 Enoch lived sixth-five years and fathered Methuselah.
Genesis 5:22 Then Enoch walked with God after he fathered Methuselah three hundred years, and he fathered other sons and daughters.
Genesis 5:23 Now all the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixth-five years.
Genesis 5:24 And Enoch walked with God; then he was not, because God took him.

2 Kings 2:11 And it came to pass, as they were walking along and talking, then behold, a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them. And Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind.

In Psalm 17:15 David expressed his faith and hope that he would awake from the sleep of death, his body would rise, and he himself would rejoice in being like God, righteous and glorious and everlasting. In this Old Testament verse David taught God’s people there was a resurrection of the body and eternal life.

Psalm 17:15 Indeed I, in righteousness, I will see your face; I will be satisfied with your likeness when I awake.

In the following verses Isaiah taught God’s Old Testament people that God would destroy death and end suffering. The dead would rise from the earth and rejoice in the resurrection.

Isaiah 25:8 He will swallow up death forever; And the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces. And the reproach of his people he will remove from all the earth. For the Lord has spoken.

Isaiah 26:19 Your dead will live. Their corpses will rise. You who dwell in the dust, awake and shout for joy! Your dew is like the dew of the morning. And the earth will bring forth the spirits of the dead.

After having read so many verses of the Old Testament and having observed what they taught and upheld, contrary to the opinion of those who say the Old Testament did not teach an eternal life and a resurrection of the dead, it is obvious that the Old Testament clearly and often held out the knowledge and hope of eternal life and of the resurrection of the body.

The inspired Word of God in its New Testament truly teaches that there is a resurrection of the dead and eternal life even more clearly than the Old Testament does. We will see this in the following paragraphs.

In Matthew 19:16-21 a man asked Jesus what he must do to obtain eternal life. Jesus’ answer confirmed and upheld that there was an eternal life to be had in heaven.

Matthew 19:16 And behold, one man came to him and said, “Teacher, what good thing should I do, that I may have eternal life?”
Matthew 19:17 And he said to him, “Why are you asking me about what is good? One is good. But if you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.”
Matthew 19:18 He said to him, “Which ones?” And Jesus said, “ ’YOU SHALL NOT MURDER; YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY; YOU SHALL NOT STEAL; YOU SHALL NOT GIVE FALSE TESTIMONY;
Matthew 19:19 HONOR YOUR FATHER AND YOUR MOTHER;’ and, ‘LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’ ”
Matthew 19:20 The young man said to him, “All these things I have kept. What do I still lack?”
Matthew 19:21 Jesus said to him, “If you wish to be perfect, go, sell your possessions, and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. And come, follow me.”

In Mark 9:43-48 Jesus recognized and taught that there is a life after our life in this world. We can be received into heaven or cast into hell.

Mark 9:43 And if your hand causez you to stumble into sin, cut it off; it is better for you to enter into life crippled than having two hands to go into hell, into the unquenchable fire,
Mark 9:44 where ‘THEIR WORM DOES NOT DIE, AND THE FIRE IS NOT QUENCHED.’
Mark 9:45 And if your foot causez you to stumble into sin, cut it off; it is better for you to enter into life lame than having two feet to be cast into hell,
Mark 9:46 where ‘THEIR WORM DOES NOT DIE, AND THE FIRE IS NOT QUENCHED.’
Mark 9:47 And if your eye causez you to stumble into sin, pluck it out; it is better for you to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye than having two eyes to be cast into hell,
Mark 9:48 where ‘THEIR WORM DOES NOT DIE, AND THE FIRE IS NOT QUENCHED.’
(Note: Verses 44 & 46 above are not in the earlier Greek manuscripts.)

In Luke 18:29,30 Jesus said that for those who follow him a blessed life in the age to come, namely eternal life, awaits them. Jesus made it clear there is another life in eternity after death.

Luke 18:29 And he said to them, “Truly I say to you that there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God,
Luke 18:30 who shall absolutely not receive many times as much at this time and, in the coming age, eternal life.”

In John 5:24 Jesus promised that all who believed in him would have eternal life.

John 5:24 “Truly, truly I say to you that he who hears my word and believes in him who sent me has eternal life, and he does not come into condemnation but has passed over from death into life.”

In John 5:28,29 Jesus said all the dead would be raised to life by the power of his word and command.

John 5:28 Do not marvel at this, because the hour is coming in which all who are in their graves will hear his voice
John 5:29 and will come out – those who have done good deeds to a resurrection of life, but those who have committed evil deeds to a resurrection of damnation.

In John 6:40 Jesus stated that everyone who believes in him receives eternal life and will be raised to life at the last day.

John 6:40 "For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks at the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I, I will raise him up on the last day."

In John 11:25,26 Jesus promised Martha, and now us, that he is the cause of eternal life and the resurrection of the body. Those who believe in him will have an eternal life after they die and will never die the eternal death of being condemned to hell.

John 11:25 And Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live even if he dies,
John 11:26 and all who live and believe in me shall absolutely never die.  Do you believe this?”

In Luke 23:43 Jesus told the criminal on the cross next to him that his soul after he died would be in paradise and heaven with him. The criminal would live eternally.

Luke 23:43 And he said to him, “Truly I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

In Luke 23:43,46 Jesus clarified that after his death on the cross his soul would be in heaven. He would have eternal life with his heavenly Father, to whom he committed his soul.

Luke 23:43 And he said to him, “Truly I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.”
Luke 23:46 And calling out in a loud voice, Jesus said, “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.” After having said this, he breathed his last.

Romans 6:23 assures us that the gift of God is eternal life.

Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

In 2 Corinthians 5:1-10 Paul stated what he believed and knew, which is the faith and hope of every believer in Jesus. There is a life after death outside of this earthly body that will be in heaven with the Lord.

2 Corinthians 5:1 For we know that if our earthly house, which is our tent, should be destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house not made by human hands in the heavens.
2 Corinthians 5:2 For indeed in this house we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling,
2 Corinthians 5:3 since also after having clothed ourselves in it, we will not be found naked.
2 Corinthians 5:4 For indeed we who are in this tent groan, being burdened, because we do not want to be unclothed but to be clothed, in order that the mortal may be swallowed up by life.
2 Corinthians 5:5 Now he who prepared us for this very thing is God, who gave us the down payment of the Spirit.
2 Corinthians 5:6 Therefore being confident at all times, and knowing that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord –
2 Corinthians 5:7 for we walk by faith not by sight –
2 Corinthians 5:8 we are, then, of good courage, and we prefer rather to depart from the body and to be at home with the Lord.
2 Corinthians 5:9 Therefore we also have as our ambition, whether being at home or away, to be pleasing to him.
2 Corinthians 5:10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, in order that each one may receive the things according to which he had done in the body, whether good or bad.

The whole chapter of 1 Corinthians 15 teaches us that Christ rose from the dead, that there is a resurrection of the body from the dead, that we who believe in Jesus will rise from the dead, and even what our resurrected body will be like.

1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 holds out the knowledge and the encouragement that we who die believing in Jesus will have our bodies raised to eternal life with the Lord in heaven.

1 Thessalonians 4:13 We do not want you to be ignorant, brothers, about those who are asleep, so you do not grieve as the rest who have no hope.
1 Thessalonians 4:14 For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, so also God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus.
1 Thessalonians 4:15 For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are living, who remain until the coming of the Lord, shall absolutely not precede those who have fallen asleep.
1 Thessalonians 4:16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a cried out command, with a voice of an archangel, and with a trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.
1 Thessalonians 4:17 Then we who are living, who are remaining, will be carried away into the clouds at the same time with them to meet the Lord in the air.  And so we will always be with the Lord.
1 Thessalonians 4:18 For this reason, encourage one another with these words.

The preceding New Testament passages are only a sampling of the great many New Testament passages that teach us there is a resurrection of the dead and an eternal life.

Jesus’ resurrection from the dead to live eternally is the great proof of the resurrection of the dead. Because of his resurrection we all should believe that we too will rise to live eternally. This is clear from 1 Corinthians 15:3-8 & 12-16, which follow:

1 Corinthians 15:3 For I passed on to you of foremost importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,
1 Corinthians 15:4 and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,
1 Corinthians 15:5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve;
1 Corinthians 15:6 thereafter he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, of whom most remain until now, but some have fallen asleep;
1 Corinthians 15:7 afterwards he appeared to James, then to all the apostles;
1 Corinthians 15:8 and last of all as though to one untimely born he appeared to me also.
1 Corinthians 15:12 Now if Christ is preached that he has been raised from the dead, how is it possible that some among you are saying that there is no resurrection of the dead?
1 Corinthians 15:13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, not even Christ has been raised;
1 Corinthians 15:14 and if Christ has not been raised, consequently our preaching is without any basis of truth, and your faith is without any basis of truth.
1 Corinthians 15:15 Moreover, we are even found to be false witnesses of God, because we testified against God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise, if indeed on the other hand the dead are not raised.
1 Corinthians 15:16 For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised; . . .

John 14:19 Soon the world will no longer see me, but you surely will see me; because I live, you also will surely live.

We Christians believe in the resurrection of the dead and in eternal life, because the Holy Spirit has guided us to these divine truths and has enabled us to understand them. John 16:13 and 1 Corinthians 2:14 clarify this.

John 16:13 But when he, the Spirit of truth, shall come, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak from himself, but whatever he will hear he will speak, and the things that are coming he will proclaim to you.

1 Corinthians 2:14 But the natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, nor can he understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.

According to 2 Timothy 2:17,18 Hymenaeus and Philetus wandered from the truth and destroyed the faith of others, when they erred about the resurrection of the dead. This indicates the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead is essential to the Christian faith. The resurrection of the dead is a fundamental doctrine that is at the heart of the Christian faith and must be believed. Romans 10:9 clarifies that, in addition to believing that Jesus is the Lord himself, one must believe to be saved that God raised him from the dead. Faith in the resurrection of Jesus is required for eternal salvation.

2 Timothy 2:17  . . .  and their word will spread like gangrene: of whom is Hymenaeus and Philetus;
2 Timothy 2:18 who have departed from the truth, saying the resurrection has already happened, and they ruin the faith of some.

Romans 10:9 . . . that if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved; . . .

To sum up what we have learned in this second section of this Bible study, we believe in the resurrection of the dead and eternal life for three good reasons: 1) Because God’s Word, which is the truth, in both the Old and New Testaments teach that there is a resurrection of the body and an eternal life. 2) Because Jesus himself rose from the dead and lives eternally. 3) Because through God’s Word the Holy Spirit has given us this understanding and faith.

3. The Bible informs us what death is and what happens when the body is raised from the dead. In this third section of this Bible study we will discover what the Bible says about the nature of death and the resurrection of the body.

From Matthew 25:41 we learn there is an eternal damnation in hell. Damnation in hell is an eternal death. The nature of damnation and eternal death is being eternally separated from God and his blessings in heaven.

Matthew 25:41 Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you accursed ones, into the eternal fire that has been kept in readiness for the devil and his angels.’

From the following set of passages we learn there is a spiritual death. The nature of spiritual death is being spiritually separated from God and the blessings of his kingdom of grace. The person who is spiritually dead cannot understand or accept God’s spiritual truths in the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Ephesians 2:1 And you were dead in your trespasses and sins
Ephesians 2:2 in which you once walked according to the characteristic ways of this world, according to the ruler of the domain of the air, the spirit now working in the sons of disobedience, . . .

John 5:24 “Truly, truly I say to you that he who hears my word and believes in him who sent me has eternal life, and he does not come into condemnation but has passed over from death into life.
John 5:25 Truly, truly, I say to you that a time is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.”

1 Peter 4:6 For this reason the gospel was preached even to the dead, that they may be judged in the flesh according to men but may live in the spirit according to God.

1 Corinthians 2:14 But the natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, nor can he understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.

2 Corinthians 4:3 And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled in those who are perishing,
2 Corinthians 4:4 in whom the god of this age has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, so they do not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

From the next set of passages we learn what happens at the time of physical death. The nature of physical death is this: the soul is separated from the body and from the blessings of God that it enjoyed during its life on earth.

2 Corinthians 5:8 . . . we are, then, of good courage, and we prefer rather to depart from the body and to be at home with the Lord.

Ecclesiastes 12:7 Then the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it.

Ecclesiastes 2:18 So I hated all the fruits of my labor for which I had labored under the sun, because I must leave them behind to the man who will come after me.

Ecclesiastes 5:18 Surely I have seen what is good and excellent for a man: to eat and to drink and to see that which is good in all his wearisome labor in which he toils under the sun for the few days of life which God has given to him, for this is his lot.
Ecclesiastes 5:19 Moreover, every man to whom God has given riches and empowers him to eat from them and to accept his lot and to rejoice in his labor, this is a gift of God.

Job 1:21 And he said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb and naked I will return there. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. Let the name of the Lord be blessed.”

2 Corinthians 5:8 and Ecclesiastes 12:7 together with 1 Corinthians 15:42 inform us that at the time of physical death the body is separated from its soul. The body then dies and becomes a lifeless, colorless corpse that is laid to rest in the earth where it decays and returns to dust.

2 Corinthians 5:8 . . . we are, then, of good courage, and we prefer rather to depart from the body and to be at home with the Lord.

Ecclesiastes 12:7 Then the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it.

1 Corinthians 15:42 In this manner also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown a perishable body; it is raised an imperishable body.

James 2:26 confirms that at physical death the soul is separated from the body, which then dies. But from James 2:26 we can discover the opposite of what happens in the resurrection of the body to life. Since James 2:26 tells us that when the spirit is removed from the body it dies, it is clear that when the body is restored back to life the spirit, or soul, is reunited with the body.

James 2:26 For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.

From the selected verses of 1 Corinthians 15 and John 5:28,29a which follow, we learn that in the resurrection the body is made alive once again. It is raised as an imperishable and immortal body that is never again subject to death. It comes out of the grave to live forever.

1 Corinthians 15:22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.

1 Corinthians 15:42 In this manner also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown a perishable body; it is raised an imperishable body.

1 Corinthians 15:51 Behold, I tell you a mystery: we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed,
1 Corinthians 15:52 in a moment, in a twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we indeed will be changed.
1 Corinthians 15:53 For this perishable must put on the imperishable and this mortal must put on immortality.
1 Corinthians 15:54 Then when this perishable will have put on the imperishable and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the statement that is written: “DEATH HAS BEEN SWALLOWED UP in victory.

John 5:28 Do not marvel at this, because the hour is coming in which all who are in their graves will hear his voice
John 5: 29a and will come out – . . .

To sum up what we have discovered in this third section of this study, death is the separation of the soul from the body. The body dies, is buried, decays, and returns to dust. . In the resurrection the soul is reunited with the body. The body is then made alive once again. It rises from the grave as an immortal and imperishable body that is never subject to death again.

4. In this fourth section we will discover why the dead rise to live.

The following set of verses teach us the dead rise to live because God and our Lord Jesus Christ are responsible for the resurrection of the dead. They give the dead the breath of life once again.

2 Corinthians 1:9 . . . but we had the sentence of death within ourselves, so that we should not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead; . . .

Romans 4:17 . . . God who gives life to the dead. . .

Revelation 11:11 And after three and a half days a breath of life from God entered them, and they stood upon their feet, and a great fear fell upon those who saw them.

John 5:21 For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he wishes.

John 11:25 And Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life.”

John 5:27 “. . . and he has given him authority to judge, because he is the Son of Man.
John 5:28 Do not marvel at this, because the hour is coming in which all who are in their graves will hear his voice
John 5:29 and will come out – those who have done good deeds to a resurrection of life, but those who have committed evil deeds to a resurrection of damnation.

The next set of passages teach us the dead rise to live by the omnipotent power of God. God’s almighty power was demonstrated in raising Jesus from the dead. God’s omnipotence will be unveiled in his powerful word that calls the dead back to life and raises them from the grave.

Ephesians 1:19 . . . and what is the surpassing greatness of his power toward us who believe. That power is according to the working of the strength of his might,
Ephesians 1:20 which he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, . . .

Romans 1:4 . . . who was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, according to the spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord.

John 5:28 Do not marvel at this, because the hour is coming in which all who are in their graves will hear his voice
John 5:29 and will come out – those who have done good deeds to a resurrection of life, but those who have committed evil deeds to a resurrection of damnation.

John 11:43 And after he said these things, he cried out in a loud voice, “Lazarus! Come out!”
John 11:44 He who had died came out, being bound hand and foot with linen wrappings, and his face wrapped with a face cloth. Jesus said to them, “Untie him! And let him go.”

To sum up what we have discovered in this fourth section, the dead will rise to live because the omnipotent power of God will breathe the breath of life into the dead and restore the lifeless bodies to life. Christ Jesus will call the dead to life and raise them from their graves by his omnipotent word. As his word called the heavens and the earth into existence, so his word will raise the dead.

5. In this fifth section of this study we will discover who will be raised from the dead, when, and for what purpose.

The following Bible verses teach that all the dead, both the righteous and the wicked, will be raised from their graves. The resurrection is as universal as physical death.

Acts 24:15 . . . having a hope in God, which even these men themselves embrace, that there will be a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked.

John 6:39 “And this is the will of him who sent me, that of all which he has given to me I should not lose any, but raise it up on the last day.
John 6:40 For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks at the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I, I will raise him up on the last day.”

John 5:28 Do not marvel at this, because the hour is coming in which all who are in their graves will hear his voice
John 5:29 and will come out – those who have done good deeds to a resurrection of life, but those who have committed evil deeds to a resurrection of damnation.

1 Corinthians 15:22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.
1 Corinthians 15:23 But each in his own order; Christ the first-fruits, afterwards those who are Christ’s at his coming,
1 Corinthians 15:24 then the end, when he hands over the kingdom to God and the Father, when he has abolished all rule and all authority and power.

The preceding verses also inform us that the dead will be raised on the last day. The resurrection, as well as the end of the world, will occur when Christ returns in glory.

Daniel 12:2, together with John 5:28;29 quoted above, indicate that the dead will be raised for the purpose of being judged.

Daniel 12:2 And multitudes who are sleeping in the dust of the earth will awake, these to everlasting life, but those to disgrace and everlasting extreme hatred.

Hebrews 9:28 and 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, along with the above Daniel 12:2 and John 5:28,29 passages, clarify that when Jesus comes in glory he will raise us who believed in him for the purpose of giving us eternal salvation and glory in heaven with him. Then his promises that he made to us of eternal life and glory in heaven with him will be fulfilled.

Hebrews 9:28 so also Christ, who was offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear for a second time apart from sin to those who eagerly await him for salvation.

1 Thessalonians 4:13 We do not want you to be ignorant, brothers, about those who are asleep, so you do not grieve as the rest who have no hope.
1 Thessalonians 4:14 For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, so also God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus.
1 Thessalonians 4:15 For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are living, who remain until the coming of the Lord, shall absolutely not precede those who have fallen asleep.
1 Thessalonians 4:16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a cried out command, with a voice of an archangel, and with a trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.
1 Thessalonians 4:17 Then we who are living, who are remaining, will be carried away into the clouds at the same time with them to meet the Lord in the air.  And so we will always be with the Lord.
1 Thessalonians 4:18 For this reason, encourage one another with these words.

The lesson entitled The Last Day in this series of studies on The Last Things discussed millennialism. The millennialists claim there will be two resurrections from the dead. As stated in the lesson The Last Day and clarified in the preceding passages of this fifth section, there will be just one resurrection of the dead from the grave.

The millennialists base their claim of two resurrections of the dead separated by a thousand years on Revelation 20:1-6. They assert the first resurrection of the dead will occur at the start of the thousand years of heaven on earth. The second resurrection, they say, will occur when the thousand years come to an end and the dead will be raised for the final judgment.

Revelation 20:1 And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, holding the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand.
Revelation 20:2 And he seized the dragon, the ancient serpent, who is the devil, and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years,
Revelation 20:3 and cast him into the abyss and locked and sealed it over him, in order that he may not deceive the nations any more until the thousand years should come to an end. After that he must be released for a short time.
Revelation 20:4 And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and authority to judge was given to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God, and who, to be sure, had not worshipped the beast nor its image and had not received the mark on their forehead and on their hand; and they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.
Revelation 20:5 The rest of the dead did not live until the thousand years came to an end. This is the first resurrection.
Revelation 20:6 Blessed and holy is the one who has part in the first resurrection; over these the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years.

Two resurrections are referred to in Revelation 20:1-6. Both are not a physical resurrection of the dead from the grave, however. In verse 4 John said he saw in his vision the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their preaching and confessing Christ and God’s Word. What he saw were the souls of the Christian martyrs, who were saints in heaven. Having been beheaded and martyred for their confession of faith in Jesus and the Word of God, their bodies were dead.

The NIV and NASB translations of verse 4 say they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. The NIV and NASB are in error, however. The original Greek of verse 4 needs to be translated properly as “they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.”

Keeping in mind these are the souls of the saints in heaven who lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years and whose bodies were dead, the blessedness of their having had a part in the first resurrection mentioned in verses 5 and 6 must be understood, not as a physical resurrection of their bodies but as a spiritual resurrection of their souls. The first resurrection is a spiritual resurrection, not a physical resurrection.

In section three of this lesson above, we discovered that the Bible speaks not only of a physical death but of a spiritual death as well. Spiritual death is the soul being spiritually dead and separated from God and the blessings of his kingdom of grace. Those who are spiritually dead cannot understand or accept God’s spiritual truths in his gospel. The following verses all speak of those who are spiritually dead in unbelief.

Luke 9:60 But he (Jesus) said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead. But you, go, proclaim far and wide the kingdom of God.”

Ephesians 2:1 And you were dead in your trespasses and sins,
Ephesians 2:2 in which you once walked according to the characteristic ways of this world, according to the ruler of the domain of the air, the spirit now working in the sons of disobedience,
Ephesians 2:3 among whom we also formerly lived in the lusts of our sinful nature, carrying out the will of the sinful nature and its evil thoughts. And we were by nature children of wrath, even like the rest.

1 Peter 4:5 . . . they will give an account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead.
1 Peter 4:6 For this reason the gospel was preached even to the dead, that they may be judged in the flesh according to men but may live in the spirit according to God.

Revelation 20:5, 6 is not the only part of the Bible to speak of the spiritual resurrection of the soul to life. John 5:24, 25, quoted below, speak of it. The verses state that those who come to believe in Jesus cross over from death to life. In Jesus’ day, and he said in the future, there would be those who would hear his voice and live. He obviously did not mean a physical resurrection of the dead, for the resurrection of which he spoke was already taking place in his day. He was talking about a spiritual resurrection of the soul. When a soul believes, it comes to life and crosses from death to life. This is the first resurrection mentioned in Revelation 20:5,6.

John 5:24 “Truly, truly I say to you that he who hears my word and believes in him who sent me has eternal life, and he does not come into condemnation but has passed over from death into life.
John 5:25 Truly, truly, I say to you that a time is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.”

Ephesians 2:1, 4-6 also speaks of the spiritual resurrection of the soul. The Christians to whom Paul wrote had been spiritually dead in their transgressions and sins. But in the richness of his mercy and love God had made them alive and had raised them up in Christ. Since they were not physically dead, Paul obviously was not talking about a physical resurrection of their bodies from the dead when he said God had made them alive and had raised them up. He was speaking of the spiritual resurrection of their souls--the first resurrection mentioned in Revelation 20:5,6.

Ephesians 2:1 And you were dead in your trespasses and sins,
Ephesians 2:4 . . . But God, who is rich in mercy, because of his great love with which he loved us,
Ephesians 2:5 even when we were dead in sins, made us alive together with Christ – by grace you have been saved –
Ephesians 2:6 and God raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, . . .

Colossians 3:1-3, quoted below, also speak of the resurrection of the soul. Paul wrote the verses to Christians living on earth. Yet he stated that they had been raised with Christ and were to set their hearts on things above, not on earthly things. When he stated they had been raised with Christ, he obviously was not referring to the physical resurrection of their bodies. Rather he was referring to the spiritual resurrection of their souls. This again is the first resurrection mentioned in Revelation 20:5,6.

Colossians 3:1 Since, therefore, you have been raised with Christ, seek the things above, where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God.
Colossians 3:2 Set your minds on the things above, not on the things upon the earth.
Colossians 3:3 For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

The first resurrection mentioned in Revelation 20:4-6, then, is clearly a spiritual resurrection of the soul which consisted of the soul coming to faith in Jesus. The souls of the martyrs and saints, whom John saw in his revelation, he said lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. Since their bodies were dead, what lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years was their souls in heaven. Their bodies and souls were not living in a heaven on earth as the millennialists assert.

Revelation 20:5 states that the rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were over. They had no part in the first resurrection. Consequently, they could not enjoy the blessing of being spared from the second death. They would die the second death. The thousand years is a figurative number. The number 10 in the Bible is the number of completeness. One thousand is 10 x 10 x 10. The one thousand years represents a lengthy complete amount of time, which is the New Testament era of history up to the end. The second resurrection, then, at the end of the thousand years is the resurrection of the dead on the last day. And the second death is eternal damnation in hell, which follows. The rest of the dead mentioned in Revelation 20:5 did not come to life until the New Testament era of history, the thousand years, was over. They had no part in the first resurrection, the resurrection of their souls to faith in Jesus during their life on earth. They were unbelievers who died in their unbelief. Thus they had to suffer the second death, eternal damnation in hell.

1 Corinthians 15:22-26, quoted below, makes two resurrections of the dead separated by a thousand years impossible. Verse 22 states that in Christ all will be made alive. The context of 1 Corinthians is plainly about the resurrection of the body. Verse 22 with its statement that in Christ all will be made alive is saying that all will have their bodies resurrected from the dead. All will be raised at one time, the unbelievers along with the believers in Jesus. The resurrection of the believers and the unbelievers is not separated by a thousand years.

Verse 23 then directs our attention to the resurrection of just the believers in Jesus when he comes in glory on Judgment Day. Immediately verse 24 in the NIV Bible states “Then the end will come.” The original Greek literally says, “Then, or next, the end.” The Greek does not say “will come,” as the NIV Bible has translated, using a future tense that allows for a latter future event. The Greek simply says “then the end.” So Verses 22-24 allow no time between the resurrection of the believers who belong to Christ and the end of the world mentioned in v.24. These verses do not allow for a resurrection of the believers to enjoy a thousand year millennium on earth before the end of the world. When the believers are raised, the end comes. And when the believers are raised, the unbelievers will be raised with them at one and the same time.

1 Corinthians 15:24-26 below states that Christ will hand over the kingdom to the Father after he has destroyed all his enemies. The last enemy to be destroyed is death itself, when it will be ended with the resurrection of the dead. This will happen at the end according to verse 24. Since the last enemy to be destroyed is death itself at the end of the world, it is impossible for the believers to be raised a thousand years beforehand and to be delivered from that enemy of death to enjoy a millennium on earth.

1 Corinthians 15:22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.
1 Corinthians 15:23 But each in his own order; Christ the first-fruits, afterwards those who are Christ’s at his coming,
1 Corinthians 15:24 then the end, when he hands over the kingdom to God and the Father, when he has abolished all rule and all authority and power.
1 Corinthians 15:25 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.
1 Corinthians 15:26 The last enemy that will be abolished is death.

1 Corinthians 15:51, 52 tell us the resurrection of the dead will take no time at all. The dead will be raised in a moment and in the blinking of an eyelid. In that same instant of time the bodies of those still living on earth will be changed into spiritual bodies as well. The resurrection of the dead will not be a long drawn out process or with interruption.

1 Corinthians 15:51 Behold, I tell you a mystery: we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed,
1 Corinthians 15:52 in a moment, in a twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we indeed will be changed.

To summarize what we have discovered in this fifth section of this Bible study, all the dead will be raised on the last day at the same time in one split second to be judged. The believers will be raised to receive the fulfillment of the promise of eternal life and glory in heaven. The unbelievers will be raised to be condemned.

6. In this sixth section of this Bible study we will discover what the experience of rising from the dead will be like.

The verses of 1 Corinthians 15:12-14 are a sample of the many verses in the New Testament which use different words for the resurrection of the dead.

1 Corinthians 15:12 Now if Christ is preached that he has been raised from the dead, how is it possible that some among you are saying that there is no resurrection of the dead?
1 Corinthians 15:13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, not even Christ has been raised;
1 Corinthians 15:14 and if Christ has not been raised, consequently our preaching is without any basis of truth, and your faith is without any basis of truth.

The above verses use the word “raised” for the resurrection of the body. The Greek counterpart of “raised” is egeiro, which means to be awakened and roused. So the experience of rising from the dead will be like being awakened from a sleep.

Being awakened from a sleep is a correct description of rising from the dead, because the Bible speaks of death as though it were a sleep. Death is described as a sleep in such verses as the following:

1 Corinthians 15:50 Now this I affirm, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.
1 Corinthians 15:51 Behold, I tell you a mystery: we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, . . .

1 Thessalonians 4:13 We do not want you to be ignorant, brothers, about those who are asleep, so you do not grieve as the rest who have no hope.
1 Thessalonians 4:14 For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, so also God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus.
1 Thessalonians 4:15 For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are living, who remain until the coming of the Lord, shall absolutely not precede those who have fallen asleep.

John 11:11 These things he said, and after that he said to them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I am going that I may wake him up.”
John 11:12 Then the disciples said to him, “If he has fallen asleep, he will be restored to health.”
John 11:13 Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that he meant taking a rest of sleep.

Daniel 12:2 confirms that rising from the dead will be like being awakened from a sleep.

Daniel 12:2 And multitudes who are sleeping in the dust of the earth will awake, these to everlasting life, but those to disgrace and everlasting extreme hatred.

The verses of 1 Corinthians 15:12-14, quoted above, also use the word “resurrection” for the raising of the dead. In its verb form the word’s Greek counterpart is a compound word consisting of ana, which means upward or up, and histami, which means to cause or make to stand. This tells us the experience of rising from the dead is like standing up. We who were laid down in death will have the experience of being stood up to live.

The question is occasionally asked why we speak of the dead being raised “again,” for we do not mean the body is raised a second time. Now that we know that the meaning of the word “resurrection” in the original Greek means to stand up, we can understand why the body is spoken of as being raised “again.” The body that was laid down in death is raised up to stand once again as it did before it died.

To sum up what we have discovered in this sixth section of this Bible study, the experience of rising from the dead will be like being awakened from a sleep and having our body stood up to live once again.

7. In this seventh section of this Bible study we will discover exactly what will be raised from the dead.

In the preceding sixth section we learned that the Greek word for resurrection, which in its noun form is anastasis, means the body will be stood up to live again. This Greek word clarifies what will be raised from the dead. It clarifies that the body which once stood alive and had fallen into death is the body that will be raised from the dead to stand alive once again. It will be the same body that had died. The body that had died, had been buried in the grave, and had decayed, is the body that is raised to stand up alive again.

The apostle John’s account of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead also clarifies what will be raised from the dead. Look at John’s account below.

John 11:1 Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus from Bethany, of the village of Mary and her sister Martha.
John 11:2 (And it was the Mary who anointed the Lord with perfume and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.)
John 11:3 So the sisters sent word to him, saying, “Lord, behold, he whom you love is sick.”
John 11:33 Therefore Jesus, when he saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and was troubled,
John 11:34 and he said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.”
John 11:38 So Jesus, again being deeply moved within himself, came to the tomb. Now it was a cave, and a stone was lying against it.
John 11:39 Jesus said, “Remove the stone.” Martha, the sister of him who had died, said to him, “Lord, by this time he stinks, for he has been dead four days.”
John 11:43 And after he said these things, he cried out in a loud voice, “Lazarus! Come out!”
John 11:44 He who had died came out, being bound hand and foot with linen wrappings, and his face wrapped with a face cloth. Jesus said to them, “Untie him! And let him go.”

John’s account declares that the same Lazarus who had been sick and died and was buried was the one Jesus raised from the dead. Lazarus was raised with the same body he had when he died. His body that had died was the body that was raised.

Job 19:25-27 below clarifies as well that the body that dies will be the body that is raised from the dead.

Job 19:25 Now I indeed know that my Redeemer lives, and he, the Last One, will stand upon the earth.
Job 19:26 And after my skin is destroyed, yet from my flesh I will see God,
Job 19:27 whom I, indeed even I, will see for myself, and my eyes will behold and not some stranger’s. O my heart languishes within my breast!

The above verses of Job declare that the skin of Job’s body that decayed and perished would be his flesh that he would have when he rose from the dead. The very eyes he had during his life would be the same eyes with which he would see his Redeemer at the end of the world.

1 Corinthians 15:36, 42-44 teach us that the body that is sown and buried in the ground is the body that comes to life and is raised from the dead. It is the same body, but it is a changed body that is imperishable, glorious, powerful, and spiritual.

1 Corinthians 15:36 Stupid! What indeed you sow does not give life unless it dies.
1 Corinthians 15:42 In this manner also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown a perishable body; it is raised an imperishable body;
1 Corinthians 15:43 it is sown in disgrace, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power;
1 Corinthians 15:44 it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.

Based on the preceding passages and paragraphs, several observations can be made.

1. In the resurrection Jesus will reassemble all the different parts of the body which the deceased had before his death, and make it a living body once again.

2. The different body parts of the deceased will be gathered from the dust of death or from wherever they have been scattered. This will occur whether the body was blown apart in war, or torn apart and devoured by scavengers on land or by fish in the sea, or cremated and turned to ashes which were then scattered across the oceans.

3. The reassembled bodies will be reunited with their same souls, which possessed them during their earthly lives.

4. The size of the body that is raised to life will be the size of the body that had died and was buried. If the person was an adult or a child, he will raised as such. If he was tall, short, stocky, or thin, he will be raised as such. There is no growth or reduction of the size of the body that had died.

5. In the resurrection the sex of the body remains the same. If the deceased had been a man or a woman, he or she will be raised as such, complete with his or her respective sexual organs.

To sum up what we discovered in this seventh section, the body that is resurrected from the dead is the same body that had died and was buried. The body will have the same size and sex and all its body parts, regardless of what had happened to them.

8. In this eighth section of this study we will discover what the resurrected body will be like.

In 1 Corinthians 15:35-41, quoted below, Paul anticipated that some individuals would ask how the dead are raised and what the resurrected body would be like. He answered that the body that would be raised would be different from what the body had been during its life on earth. It would be the same body but it would be changed, just like the seed that is sown when it rises to life is changed and different from what it had been at the time of its planting. Just as God created his creatures with different kinds of flesh and bodies, so he can raise up and form a resurrected flesh and body which is different from what it had been on earth. And as the heavenly bodies have different kinds of splendor and glory from one another and from the earthly bodies, so the resurrected body would be different from the earthly body in its splendor and glory. Paul stated that there is an earthly body but God gives it a resurrected body according to what he has determined. Before this resurrection of the new living body in its new wonderful life can take place, however, the earthly body must die.

1 Corinthians 15:35 But someone will say, “How are the dead raised? And with what kind of body do they come?”
1 Corinthians 15:36 Stupid! What indeed you sow does not give life unless it dies.
1 Corinthians 15:37 And what you sow, you do not sow the body that will be but a bare seed whether perhaps of wheat or of some other grain.
1 Corinthians 15:38 But God gives it a body just as he wished, and to each of the seeds its own body.
1 Corinthians 15:39 All flesh is not the same flesh, but on the one hand there is one flesh of men, on the other hand another flesh of animals, and another flesh of birds, and another of fish.
1 Corinthians 15:40 And there are heavenly bodies, and there are earthly bodies; but on the one hand the glory of the heavenly bodies is one kind, and on the other hand the glory of the earthly bodies is another.
1 Corinthians 15:41 There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for star differs from star in glory.

Philippians 3:20,21, quoted below, provide further insight into what the resurrected body will be like. In verse 21, where Paul wrote of our lowly bodies, the word “lowly” means humble station or state. Now the body’s characteristics and attributes are lowly, very humble and in humiliation. In the resurrection the body will be transformed and taken out of its present lowly, humble state. It will be exalted, glorified, and radically changed. The old humble state will be gone and the new exalted state will have come.

Philippians 3:20 For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,
Philippians 3:21 who will transform our lowly body into conformity with his glorious body according to the power that enables him to even subject all things to himself.

1 Corinthians 15:42-46,53,54 below reveal the resurrected body will be imperishable, immortal, glorious, powerful, and spiritual.

1 Corinthians 15:42 In this manner also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown a perishable body; it is raised an imperishable body;
1 Corinthians 15:43 it is sown in disgrace, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power;
1 Corinthians 15:44 it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.
1 Corinthians 15:45 And so it is written, “The first MAN, Adam, BECAME A LIVING SOUL; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit.
1 Corinthians 15:46 But the spiritual is not first but the natural, thereafter the spiritual.
1 Corinthians 15:53 For this perishable must put on the imperishable and this mortal must put on immortality.
1 Corinthians 15:54 Then when this perishable will have put on the imperishable and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the statement that is written: “DEATH HAS BEEN SWALLOWED UP in victory.”

There is a difference between the earthly perishable body and the resurrected imperishable body. Romans 6:9 and Revelation 1:18 below clarify this. The earthly body is perishable. It dies and quickly decays. Its flesh and muscles and sinews rot away until they do not exist any more. The resurrected body, however, is imperishable. It can never die and decay and rot away. It is immortal and lives forever.

Romans 6:9 . . . knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, can never die again; death no longer is master over him.

Revelation 1:18 . . . and the Living One; and I was dead, and behold I am alive forever and ever. And I have the keys of death and of Hades.

There is a great difference between the believer’s earthly body being laid to rest in dishonor and his resurrected body being raised in glory, as we can note from Phillipians 3:20,21; 1 John 3:2; and Matthew 13:43 below. The earthly body dies in the shame of sin with death being the body’s reward and retribution for sin. It dies the criminal guilty of many evil deeds and bears the marks and consequences of sin. The resurrected body, however, is free of all the consequences of sin. It is raised in the holiness and glory of our Lord. The body of the believer will radiate with the glory of the Lord and be like the stars in brilliance, as stated in Daniel 12:3.

Phillipians 3:20 For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,
Phillipians 3:21 who will transform our lowly body into conformity with his glorious body according to the power that enables him to even subject all things to himself.

1 John 3:2 Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not yet been revealed what we will be. We know that when he shall appear, we will be like him, because we will see him just as he is.

Matthew 13:43 Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.

Daniel 12:3 And those who have understanding will shine like the brightness of the vaulted heavens, and those who turn the many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever.

There is a significant difference between the believer’s earthly body being laid to rest in weakness and his resurrected body being raised in power. The body dies weak, without the strength to carry on and to live as it once did. Even the smallest task becomes a huge effort for the sick who are dying. In death itself the body has no strength at all. It is unable to lift a finger or breathe a breath. In the resurrection the body has great power and abilities, greater than the power and abilities the body had during its life on earth.

1 Corinthians 15:44 sums up what we have just learned about the difference between the earthly body and the resurrected body, as does verses.50, 53 also. The earthly body is a natural body with which we are most familiar. It is flesh and blood. The resurrected body, however, is a spiritual body that is changed and adapted for its new life in the spiritual realm with the Lord.

1 Corinthians 15:44 . . . it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.
1 Corinthians 15:50 Now this I affirm, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.
1 Corinthians 15:53 For this perishable must put on the imperishable and this mortal must put on immortality.

Describing our future life in heaven, Revelation 21:4 states: “And he will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death, nor will there be any more mourning or crying or pain; because these earlier things have passed away.” Based on this verse and what we have learned from the preceding passages about what the resurrected body will be like, several observations can be made about us believers in Jesus after we have been resurrected to eternal life in heaven.

1) We will experience no aging of our resurrected body, because it is raised imperishable, glorious, and powerful. The present aging of our body on earth is the result of our body’s being perishable, dishonorable, and weak. This aging will be gone in eternity, because this old order of things will have passed away.

2) We will have no defects or abnormalities of our body or mind. These came into being with the entrance of sin into the world and its consequences. Like aging, these too will be gone.

3) Our body will bear no marks or ravages of sin. It will be physically perfect, having been purified by the blood of Jesus. Our body will be a spiritual and heavenly body.

4) Since our resurrected body will be a spiritual body, it will not be limited by time, such as length of life, nor by space, for our body will be like Jesus’ resurrected body, which passed through solid objects like doors and walls.

5) Christ will change our body from its present humble, earthly state, which is subject to suffering, disease, bodily impairments, growing old, and dying, so we will possess new glorious attributes such as we have never known before.

6) Sin disfigured and made ugly the perfect, beautiful body God had created. When we believers in Jesus are resurrected, we will possess a perfect, beautiful body.

7) Our bodies will shine gloriously like the stars and reflect the glory of the Lord when we see him face to face and are in his presence, just as Moses’ face reflected the glory of the Lord when he stood in his presence, and as Jesus radiated a glorious brilliance when he was transfigured. See Exodus 34:29-35 and Matthew 17:1-3.

Luke 20:34-36 inform us that in our resurrected body we will be like the angels. We will neither be married nor able to die, because our body will be immortal.

Luke 20:34 And Jesus said to them, “The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage,
Luke 20:35 but those who are worthy to attain that age and the resurrection of the dead do not marry, nor are they given in marriage;
Luke 20:36 neither are they able to die anymore, for they are like the angels, and they are sons of God, being the sons of the resurrection.”

We learned above that our body will be raised with the sexual organs we have now as the man or woman that we are. But Luke 20:34-36 clarifies that we will not have a married family relationship such as we have now. What is more, since we will be like the angels, even though our body will be as it is now, it will not have the same use and bodily functions that it now has.

Our present earthly bodies are flesh and blood. They eat, drink, marry, and engage in marital relations. Our resurrected bodies will have the same physical make-up they have now but they will be spiritual bodies, not in substance but in quality. Therefore, the use of our spiritual body will not be the same as the use of our earthly body. 1 Corinthians 15:50 below states that our earthly bodies of flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. This indicates that the use of our bodies and bodily functions in our resurrected state will not be as they are now. We will no longer be dependent on or need food, drink, marriage, and sexual relationships. Martin Luther stated the matter this way: “The constitution of the body remains the same, but not the use of the body.”

1 Corinthians 15:50 Now this I affirm, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.

For the most part this section of this study has been considering the resurrected body of the believers. All that has been said of the believers’ resurrected bodies does not apply to the unbelievers’ resurrected bodies. 2 Timothy 2:20 and Romans 9:21 below clarify that the Lord has made some to serve honorable purposes and others dishonorable purposes. The resurrected bodies of the believers in Jesus serve honorable purposes. The resurrected bodies of the unbelievers who are condemned serve dishonorable purposes in hell.

2 Timothy 2:20 Now in a large house there are not only gold and silver vessels but also wooden and clay vessels, and on the one hand vessels which are for honorable uses, but on the other hand vessels which are for dishonorable uses.

Romans 9:21 Or does the potter not have the authority over the clay to make from the same lump one vessel for an honorable use and another vessel for a dishonorable use?

The believers’ bodies are raised imperishable and immortal, as are the unbelievers’ bodies. The believers’ resurrected bodies are raised in glory, being clothed in honor, splendor, brilliant radiance and light. The unbelievers’ resurrected bodies, however, have only disgrace, shame, and eternal darkness. The believers’ resurrected bodies are powerful, free of sickness, death, suffering, and torment. The unbelievers resurrected bodies, however, are weak, are subject to torments eternally, are wretched in appearance, are unsightly, and bear the marks and disfigurement of sin. The believers’ resurrected bodies are spiritual bodies that have spiritual qualities and are ruled by the Holy Spirit. The unbelievers’ resurrected bodies are spiritually depraved, hardened in sin like the demons, and lack the spiritual qualities of the Holy Spirit, which are stated in Galatians 5:22,23 and 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 below.

Galatians 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
Galatians 5:23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

1 Corinthians 13:4 Love is patient, love is kind. It is not jealous, does not boast, is not conceited.
1 Corinthians 13:5 Love does not behave disgracefully, does not seek things for itself, is not aroused to anger, does not take into account the wrong done.
1 Corinthians 13:6 It does not rejoice in wickedness, but rejoices with the truth.
1 Corinthians 13:7 It covers all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

To sum up what we have discovered in this eighth section about what the resurrected body will be like, the resurrected body will be imperishable, immortal, and the same body with all its parts. The believers’ resurrected bodies will be raised in honor, glory, power, and as spiritual bodies. They will have the same bodies but no longer the same uses of their bodies. The unbelievers’ resurrected bodies will be wretched, in darkness, suffering, disgraced, unsightly, and have the demons for their fellowship.

9. In the ninth section of this study we will discover what will happen to the people who are living on the last day.

1 Corinthians 15:51,52 below state those Christians who are living at the last day will be changed in the blinking of an eye.

1 Corinthians 15:51 Behold, I tell you a mystery: we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed,
1 Corinthians 15:52 in a moment, in a twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we indeed will be changed.

Based on the above verses it can be said that the bodies of the unbelievers and of the believers who are living will not be reunited with their souls, because they will still be living and will have their souls. But the bodies of both will be transformed and changed in the twinkling of an eye. They will cease to be mortal, perishable human bodies and will become immortal and imperishable like those who are resurrected from the dead. Their bodies will never die or decay.

Applying the Scriptures:

1. The Seventh Day Adventists and the Jehovah Witnesses deny that the wicked and the unbelievers will be raised on the last day. They maintain the wicked and the unbelievers will be annihilated in body and soul. Compare their beliefs to the fundamental doctrine of the Christian faith that the dead will be resurrected and reunited with their souls. Why are these two religious bodies sects and not a part of the Christian church? Consider 2 Timothy 2:17,18 also.

2. Read 2 Thessalonians 2:1,2. Why were the first century Christians alarmed by the teaching of Hymenaeus and Philetus that the coming of Christ and the resurrection of the dead had already taken place? Why would we be alarmed and upset if we were told this? Based on the Scriptures what feelings can we have about Jesus’ coming to raise the dead?

3. When a grandparent or other relative dies, parents find themselves wondering whether they should take their children to the funeral and how they can teach their children about death without unduly upsetting them. Based on what you have learned in this lesson, what suggestions would you offer those parents?

4. Picture the dead lying in their graves or their ashes lying in a urn or scattered everywhere. Describe what will happen to them in their resurrection.

5. Death during our lives on earth is never ending. It robs us of our lives and our loved ones. Thus funerals are commonplace among us. But why are we not without hope like the rest of the world?