It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit. —1 Corinthians 15:44-45
In previous essays we have discussed the soul in its separated state from the body. Demonstrated from sacred Scripture, we discovered that the soul of man continues as a functional entity apart from its body because it is the locus of personal identity. It is pointed out that I employed the possessive pronoun (“its”) in our first sentence when referencing the soul’s physical part. Just as the soul and the body came into existence together in the event of procreation, so will both continue together throughout eternity. The body belongs to the soul and the soul to it. The separation at death of the corruptible and incorruptible is not a permanent condition of affairs—it is only temporary. Physical death is not the period at the end of the statement of the life of the body; it is only a comma. A momentary pause in the union of visible with invisible.
The question has often been asked: “If the soul is judged redeemed and conscious and with Christ in Heaven, what need is there for a resurrection of the body?” This writing will dedicate itself to answering that question.
We will proceed on our mission by examining the teaching of Paul the Apostle (A.D. 55)
Apostle Paul
A complete study of the resurrection would require an entire book many times the size of this present work, to say nothing of the limitations of this one chapter on the subject. So, I acknowledge from the start there will be much more left unsaid than said. So, to keep our observations tightly focused we will limit ourselves to but one chapter of Paul’s first epistle to the Corinthians. Let us, then, examine 1 Corinthians chapter 15. For this exercise you should have your Bible in hand to reference each set of verses.
Resurrection Essential to the Gospel vv1-11
The Apostle begins his treatment of the resurrection with an introduction to the gospel (v1) and the pivotal position the resurrection of the physical body holds in that gospel (v4). The Christians are reminded that they have believed the gospel (v1) and that their continued salvation depended on keeping that gospel in the forefront of their minds (v2). So, then, the gospel was/is a knowledge, and the acceptance of that knowledge as truth. The “knowledge” that constitutes the gospel is the death, burial and resurrection of Christ Jesus (vv3-4), and how that “knowledge” births faith in the hearts of men. The importance of the “resurrection” aspect of the gospel is emphasized by Paul not only here, but also when writing to the Romans: “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved” (Romans 10-9). The resurrection of Christ from the dead is so important to the gospel that there is no salvation outside of its acceptance as reality.
Paul reminds the Corinthians of those to whom Christ showed Himself alive after the resurrection (vv5-8). This was not done in a corner. It was not a secret event that lived only in the imaginations of the disciples. The Apostle was not asking people to believe empty words, he was asking them to believe the empty tomb!
In Paul’s list of witnesses he mentions over five hundred brethren who saw Him at one time (v6), the Corinthians are reminded that the most part were still alive twenty five years after the event. Here, Paul introduces an appearance of Christ to Peter that is not recorded, and nowhere else mentioned in holy Scripture (v5). Besides the twelve apostles Jesus showed Himself to James and the unnamed five hundred and also to Paul last of all. Paul lists the witnesses and emphasizes that most remain alive, in order to establish the validity of the message.
Resurrection Essential to the Faith vv12-19
Paul, here, teaches the resurrection of the dead as necessary for the Christian Faith (vv16-17). If there is no resurrection, as the Greeks and many of the Jews, and it seems even some Christians (v12), believed, then Christ has not resurrected (v13). If Christ be not resurrected then an awful state of affairs exists. First, all who are testifying of the resurrection of Christ are either deceived or worse, lying (v15). If Christ is not resurrected, but still dead, then there is no reason to believe in a future resurrection of believers. If the naysayers are correct then this life is all there is and everyone should live for the day, eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we die. If there is no resurrection, the preaching of the apostles and their surrogates is vain (v14) and they are made fools in light of the suffering they all have experienced for the gospel’s sake. But what is worse, the faith of the believers is all in vain and all who have died hoping for the resurrection of the body are perished (v18). Paul writes in v19, εἰ ἐν τῇ ζωῇ ταύτῃ ἐν Χριστῷ ἠλπικότες ἐσμὲν μόνον, ἐλεεινότεροι πάντων ἀνθρώπων ἐσμέν. Translation: “If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied” (NASB).
Even as Paul preached, baptized and established churches throughout the Roman Empire some Christians, so called, were doubting, or outright denying, the resurrection. These doubters were causing much consternation over the death of believers. Many (perhaps, most) were expecting the parousia during the lifetime of that first generation of Christians. When believers began to die, and Jesus had not returned, some were fearful that the dead had simply perished in spite of their faith in Christ. This concern caused the Apostle to write: “But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.” —1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 NASB
Christ’s Resurrection Guarantees Ours vv20-28
In this section of the epistle Paul demonstrates that the resurrection of Jesus was evidence that there would be a general resurrection of the dead (v20, 23). Adam is introduced as being the cause of the death of the body, Christ as the cause for the undoing of that death by assuring the resurrection (v22). We should notice that Paul writes, “For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.” The Greek πάντες (pantes) is: all, everyone. So, because of Adam all die the physical death whether or not they are good or evil—all die. Conversely, because of Christ all “shall be made alive” whether or not they are righteous or unrighteous: all live. Jesus explained it this way, “Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation” (John 5:28-29).
Jesus is spoken of as the “firstfruits” (v23). The “firstfruits” of any harvest gives a promise of the general harvest; it is even so with the resurrection of Christ. The resurrection of Jesus was the watershed of everlasting hope. To the church at Colossae, Paul writes concerning Christ and His resurrection: “And He… is the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence” (Col. 1:18). Others had risen from the dead, to only return to the grave. Jesus of Nazareth was the “firstborn” to everlasting life. The ultimate victory of the Messianic King is the total destruction of the “last enemy:”i.e.“death” (v26). The Messiah’s resurrection was the presaging of that total victory. Daniel’s “Son of Man” (Daniel 7:13ff), by virtue of His resurrection has been given the “preeminence” (Col. 1:18) until “he hath put all things under his feet …And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son [of man] also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all” (vv27-28).
The Nature of the Resurrection Body vv29-49
Before our author addresses the actual nature of the resurrected body he revisits the consequences of no resurrection and the futility of the Christian experience in the face of such a possibility (vv29-32). To support his argument for the resurrection, the Apostle Paul mentions those who practiced water baptism in behalf of dead persons (v29). His argument was simple: If the dead do not resurrect, why were some being water baptized for them? This practice shows the relationship the apostolic church understood to exist between water baptism and the promise of a resurrection (see Romans 6:4-5): thus, the importance placed on the resurrection. Note: The Greek of this passage makes it clear that water baptism was practiced in behalf of dead persons; e.g. the text from which the King James Version is translated reads, “huper ton nekron”: “for the sake of the dead ones.” GLTTrAW reads, “hyper auton”: for the sake of them. Both readings are the genitive plural form; therefore, cannot be referencing Christ as the “dead party” for which the believers were being baptized. The “dead ones” seem to be referencing those who died in faith before being water baptized.
In verses 31 & 32 Paul points out that he resigns himself to die every day, and that he puts himself in jeopardy of physical death daily, even to the point of fighting with wild beasts at Ephesus; if there is no resurrection from the dead there is no benefit to the risk he joyfully subjects himself. “Let us eat and drink; for to morrow we die,”: from a line in the Thais of Menander. But, “Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners.” (v33). The line from Menander, Paul considers bad advice. In view of the resurrection and of the judgement the resurrection announces, the Corinthians are urged to “awake to righteousness, and sin not” (v34). Some at Corinth (some who profess Christ) do not have the “knowledge of God” (v34). Clearly, Paul is referencing the knowledge of the gospel of which the resurrection is foundational.
Some of those whom the Apostle is shaming asked the question (in derision), “How are the dead raised up? and with what body do they come?” (v35). Giving such ones no quarter, our author retorts with a stinging, “Thou fool …” Then proceeding with an illustration from nature, Paul points out that no grain puts forth life until it first dies. His intent is clear. The body must die before it can come to life again (v36). The horticultural message understood by all is that the farmer does not sow the plant that shall be, but the bare seed (v37). Even so, the body that is planted in the grave is not the body that will come forth into new life. The bare seed that is planted produces a plant with shape and foliage totally unlike, in appearance, that which went into the ground. The seed produces after its own kind (v38). Every seed its own body, whether it be wheat or some other grain. The Apostle is clearly wanting his readers to understand that all will not be the same in the resurrection. Whatever, type of body the resurrection produces will be determined by the nature of the seed planted (v38).
There are earthly bodies and heavenly bodies. Paul writes it this way, “There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another.”(v40). Then to make clear his meaning he writes, “So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption [the terrestrial]; it is raised in incorruption [the celestial]:” (v42). Not to be overlooked are Paul’s comments on the celestial bodies: “There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for one star differeth from another star in glory.” (v41). After demonstrating the differences between the corruptible body of flesh and the incorruptible body of the resurrection, our author goes further and declares different types of “glory” for the incorruptible bodies of the resurrection (v41). The Apostle explained this in another place: The works of the Christian will be tried to determine if they are works of gold, silver, precious stones or of hay, wood and stubble. If the works have been inferior, the rewards will be lost but the disciple will be saved. So, then, the nature of the believers resurrection, as to what glory they will come forth depends on the life lived in the former existence. The author of Hebrews tells of those who did not accept deliverance from torture (when they could have), so that they might have a better resurrection. One may extrapolate from this that the same is true with those that come forth to the resurrection of the damned (John 5:29).
In vv44-49 we are made to understand the difference between the natural body and the spiritual body. The natural body is the body we have been born with and in which we have lived our natural lives. It has been subject to the ravishes of time, sickness and physical injury. The spiritual body is the resurrection body. It is called “spiritual” not because it is incorporeal but because it is from the spirit realm. Our author explains, “It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit” (1 Cor. 15:44-45). The first Adam (the first man) and Christ are compared. The first Adam was made alive in the flesh, the last Adam (i.e. Jesus Christ) was made a life giving Spirit. Now, you will permit me to illustrate that this has the body Jesus was resurrected with in view. It was a spiritual body. Yet, it was not incorporeal: it was corporal. Jesus demonstrated this when he said, “Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have.” (Luke 24:39). To prove He was flesh, and not a ghost, He ate with His disciples (Luke 24:42-43) after His resurrection. The Angel proclaimed that this “same Jesus … shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven” (Acts 1:11). John writes in his first epistle, “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.” (1 John 3:2). So, then we have some insight into the nature of the resurrected body: it will be like the body of Christ after His resurrection. It was corporal, yet glorified. Jesus traveled at the speed of thought, he could and did pass through solid matter, he could and did eat natural food with His disciples and He could and was touched and handled by natural men.
In a second letter to the Corinthians, Paul writes of the body that will be in the resurrection with great longing. He writes thusly:
“For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. Now the one who has fashioned us for this very purpose is God, who has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.
“Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. For we live by faith, not by sight. We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.” —2 Corinthians 5:1-10 NIV
Victorious Resurrection vv50-58
When Paul writes in v50 that “flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption” he has the physical earthly body in view with its physical life source of “blood”. Jesus stated clearly that He was flesh and bone. In the resurrection He was made a life giving spirit; e.g. blood was replaced by Spirit. So it is in the general resurrection. The Holy Spirit of God will quicken (make alive) our mortal bodies and work the required change to a spiritual body fitted for eternity. Our natural bodies are corruptible only because they are made of material that is of the earth: earthly stuff. In the resurrection our bodies will be made from material that is from heaven: heavenly stuff. It is this “change” Paul intends when he writes in vv51 & 52, “Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.” We are told that our corruption will put on incorruption and our mortal will put on immortality. This references the body, not the soul. The soul is already immortal, here, the soul is getting equipped with a body to match itself. This language is language of the “change.”
“So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.” —Paul the Apostle
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Why Is The Resurrection Required
So far, in this writing, we have been considering the Apostle Paul’s thoughts on the resurrection and its importance to the Christian religion. At this point I would like to consider the often asked question by those who embrace “soul sleep.” The segment of Christians (and I am generous with the cognomen) who do not believe in the substance dualism of man, and therefore, advocate soul sleep, or, even more drastic—soul death (these people and groups are generally considered to be Christian Mortalists: because they do not believe in the immortality of the soul of man), are fond of asking the question: “If the soul is judged redeemed, is conscious and with Christ in Heaven, what need is there for a resurrection of the body?”
“In no wise are the bodies themselves to be spurned. (...) For these pertain not to ornament or aid which is applied from without, but to the very nature of man.” —Augustine of Hippo
As the Christian Faith is presented in holy Scripture, there are two main reasons why the soul MUST be reunited with its body. Reason number one is the Judgement, reason number two is the Administration of the Eternal Kingdom.
I. Resurrection Required For The Judgement
For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad. —2 Corinthians 5:10
Let us begin this section on the “judgement” with an observation that the Bible places the resurrection of the body at a point in time before the judgement.
Do not think for one moment that because the wicked dead go to a place of torment upon the death of the body, and the righteous to Paradise at the very moment of death (as is demonstrated in the Lazarus and Dives narrative, and a multitude of other texts), that there will be no final judgement: for, indeed, there will be. While it is true that a sort of determination is made, by the Great Judge of the Universe, at the point of the death of each individual as to his or her eternal destiny, there will be a formalizing of that determination at the Great White Throne Judgement, when each person will stand before God in his or her resurrected body to receive the official verdict. How then, one may ask, are “the spirits of just men made perfect” before such a judgement takes place? The Bible answer to that is: God knows the end from the beginning, and calls those things that are not yet, as though they are. Why then, the judgement seat? Is it just so much heavenly theater? Not at all. The Judgement is required, because God’s righteousness will not be imputed and His acts will be justified before the throngs of this world and that one; everyones’ deeds will be revealed, and all will proclaim that the God of the universe is just.
But, apart from the justification of the Judge, another purpose for the formal judgement to take place AFTER the resurrection is found in the “substance dualism” of mankind. Man is body and soul, and we agree with Augustine: The body does not simply pertain “to ornament or aid which is applied from without, but to the very nature of man.” When Paul writes about the judgment, he states clearly: “that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad” (2 Corinthians 5:10). Notice: “the things done in his body.” The “body” then, being a necessary part of the nature of man, must participate in man’s judgement whether good or bad: because the “body” had a part in the deeds, whether good or bad.
The first treatises ever written on the resurrection of the body in Christian literature was by Athenagoras of Athens (ca. A.D. 177). We will pick up the Athenian’s arguments for the resurrection at chapter XVIII of his book on “The Resurrection of the Dead.” I will share this without comment, but I ask the reader to notice his emphasis on “substance dualism” and the absolute need for there to be a body and a soul present at the judgement for there to be equity in the verdict.
Athenagoras the Athenian, Chapter XVIII—But if each of these things belongs to man by nature, and he requires food for his life, and requires posterity for the continuance of the race, and requires a judgment in order that food and posterity may be according to law, it of course follows, since food and posterity refer to both together, that the judgment must be referred to them too (by both together I mean man, consisting of soul and body), and that such man becomes accountable for all his actions, and receives for them either reward or punishment. Now, if the righteous judgment awards to both together its retribution for the deeds wrought; and if it is not proper that either the soul alone should receive the wages of the deeds wrought in union with the body (for this of itself has no inclination to the faults which are committed in connection with the pleasure or food and culture of the body), or that the body alone should (for this of itself is incapable of distinguishing law and justice), but man, composed of these, is subjected to trial for each of the deeds wrought by him; and if reason does not find this happening either in this life (for the award according to merit finds no place in the present existence, since many atheists and persons who practice every iniquity and wickedness live on to the last, unvisited by calamity, whilst, on the contrary, those who have manifestly lived an exemplary life in respect of every Virtue, live in pain, in insult, in calumny and outrage, and suffering of all kinds) or after death (for both together no longer exist, the soul being separated from the body, and the body itself being resolved again into the materials out of which it was composed, and no longer retaining anything of its former structure or form, much less the remembrance of its actions): the result of all this is very plain to every one,—namely, that, in the language of the apostle, “this corruptible (and dissoluble) must put on incorruption,” in order that those who were dead, having been made alive by the resurrection, and the parts that were separated and entirely dissolved having been again united, each one may, in accordance with justice, receive what he has done by the body, whether it be good or bad.
Athenagoras the Athenian, Chapter XX.—Man Must Be Possessed Both of a Body and Soul Hereafter, that the Judgment Passed Upon Him May Be Just. For either death is the entire extinction of life, the soul being dissolved and corrupted along with the body, or the soul remains by itself, incapable of dissolution, of dispersion, of corruption, whilst the body is corrupted and dissolved, retaining no longer any remembrance of past actions, nor sense of what it experienced in connection with the soul. If the life of men is to be utterly extinguished, it is manifest there will be no care for men who are not living, no judgment respecting those who have lived in virtue or in vice; but there will rush in again upon us whatever belongs to a lawless life, and the swarm of absurdities which follow from it, and that which is the summit of this lawlessness—atheism. But if the body were to be corrupted, and each of the dissolved particles to pass to its kindred element, yet the soul to remain by itself as immortal, neither on this supposition would any judgment on the soul take place, since there would be an absence of equity: for it is unlawful to suspect that any judgment can proceed out of God and from God which is wanting in equity. Yet equity is wanting to the judgment, if the being is not preserved in existence who practised righteousness or lawlessness: for that which practised each of the things in life on which the judgment is passed was man, not soul by itself. To sum up all in a word, this view will in no case consist with equity.
Athenagoras the Athenian, Chapter XXII.—Continuation of the Argument. In addition to what has been said, is it not absurd that, while we cannot even have the notion of virtue and vice as existing separately in the soul (for we recognise the virtues as man's virtues, even as in like manner vice, their opposite, as not belonging to the soul in separation from the body, and existing by itself), yet that the reward or punishment for these should be assigned to the soul alone? How can any one have even the notion of courage or fortitude as existing in the soul alone, when it has no fear of death, or wounds, or maiming, or loss, or maltreatment, or of the pain connected with these, or the suffering resulting from them?
Athenagoras the Athenian, Chapter XXV.—Argument Continued and Concluded. Nor again is it the happiness of soul separated from body: for we are not inquiring about the life or final cause of either of the parts of which man consists, but of the being who is composed of both; for such is every man who has a share in this present existence, and there must be some appropriate end proposed for this life. But if it is the end of both parts together, and this can be discovered neither while they are still living in the present state of existence through the numerous causes already mentioned, nor yet when the soul is in a state of separation, because the man cannot be said to exist when the body is dissolved, and indeed entirely scattered abroad, even though the soul continue by itself—it is absolutely necessary that the end of a man's being should appear in some reconstitution of the two together, and of the same living being. And as this follows of necessity, there must by all means be a resurrection of the bodies which are dead, or even entirely dissolved, and the same men must be formed anew, since the law of nature ordains the end not absolutely, nor as the end of any men whatsoever, but of the same men who passed through the previous life; but it is impossible for the same men to be reconstituted unless the same bodies are restored to the same souls. But that the same soul should obtain the same body is impossible in any other way, and possible only by the resurrection; for if this takes place, an end befitting the nature of men follows also. And we shall make no mistake in saying, that the final cause of an intelligent life and rational judgment, is to be occupied uninterruptedly with those objects to which the natural reason is chiefly and primarily adapted, and to delight unceasingly in the contemplation of Him who is, and of His decrees, notwithstanding that the majority of men, because they are affected too passionately and too violently by things below, pass through life without attaining this object. For the large number of those who fail of the end that belongs to them does not make void the common lot, since the examination relates to individuals, and the reward or punishment of lives ill or well spent is proportioned to the merit of each.
II. Resurrection Required For The Administration of the Eternal Kingdom
In the last section of this writing we have seen how the Judgement requires the reuniting of the soul and body, for there to be equity in God’s verdicts. Thus, we see why God requires the body to be present. In this section we will ask and answer the question: What does the immortal soul need with a body?
The answer to the question, What does the immortal soul need with a body? is manifest when we understand the following things to be true. First, man is Yahweh’s crowning creation, made in His likeness and image. Second, man is the federal head of all creation. Third, although man was marred in the fall, he was redeemed at Calvary. Fourth, God’s creation is a universe of matter. Fifth, as the federal head of God’s creation, redeemed man will co-rule, along with Christ, a physically corporal universe in a physically corporal (albeit, a glorified) body.
In Revelation, chapter 21, John shows his readers an image of Heaven coming down onto the earth. He writes of that future event in this manner: “And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.” Apostle John, Revelation 21:1-5
Biblically, we may, and should, speak of the present Heaven and the future Heaven. The present heaven is Paradise (called by Jesus “Abraham’s Bosom”) which has been relocated from the underworld to the place where Jesus now is. (Those who advocate for “soul sleep” argue that the souls of the righteous dead could not be alive and conscious of the living because our lives would, many times, cause them sorrow. They reason that that could never happen, because there are no tears in Heaven. To this objection to the consciousness of the soul presently, we would point out that the promise of no more tears is only for the future Heaven, not the present one.) The future Heaven is yet to come, when God creates a new earth and a new Heaven. An important purpose, and need, for the resurrection is to unite the soul with a glorified body that will function in that new Heaven and new earth — the perfect age. Think with me on this for just a moment: God and His hosts of angels are spirit beings inhabiting the spiritual dimension of a physical universe. The present Heaven is in that spiritual dimension, as are the souls of the righteous departed. However, God, in His wisdom, created the physical universe out of matter (which He brought forth from nothing). Although the universe is made from matter and the “second law of thermodynamics” states that all matter is in a state of decay, God has decreed that His universe be eternal. So, to underline the point: although the “second law of thermo-dynamics” states that all matter is in a state of decay, the Creator God has created an eternal universe by fiat. His will is that His Kingdom spread throughout His universe and increase eternally. When writing about that eternally expanding Kingdom the prophet Isaiah wrote:
“Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.” —Isaiah 9:7
Now, there is a difference in the Messiah’s Kingdom continuing for ever and increasing for ever. The Bible declares the Kingdom will INCREASE eternally. Three things are required in this eternally expanding “government”: the governor (Messiah Jesus), the governed (mortal people who continue to procreated) and territory for the governed to occupy. The Messiah is eternal, but for the governed and their territory to INCREASE eternally there must be a numerical expansion of the governed (this will not be provided by the redeemed saints who, in their glorified state, will not be procreating) and a geographical expansion beyond planet earth. The Bible is clear, then, that the multitude of stars and their solar systems are awaiting the human race to arrive under the governance of the Messiah. If one questions how a universe can be eternal when our science tells us it is in a state of constant decay, the bible gives the answer: “The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.”
Jesus gives us the foundation information of this eternal Kingdom made up of mortal men, when, in Matthew, He speaks of the sheep and goat nations. When the Messiah returns to the earth, we are told, He will herd the nations into a corral for branding. There, He separates the “nations” into sheep nations and goat nations. The sheep nations will enter into His eternal Kingdom and the goat nations will not. Jesus explains it this way:
“When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: … Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:” —Matthew 25:31-34, 41
With all the above being true, the reason for the resurrection is manifestly clear: The redeemed who will rule and reign with Christ over the sheep nations, in His eternally expanding Kingdom, are to have bodies of glorified matter, like the body with which Jesus resurrected, in order to function properly in a universe made up of matter. What that function will be we can only guess, for the Bible’s purpose is not to give us a detailed schematic for the perfect eternal age to come.
Pre-Christian pagan philosophers had imagined the immortality of the soul, but never, in the most lucid moments of their inspiration, did they dream the body would get up and join it.
Amen
Apostolically Speaking,
☩☩David Ignatius
Read more epistles from the Bishop on the subject of The Intermediate State of the Soul at the links provided here:
The Intermediate State of the soul, Part One; An Examination of Soul Sleep, aka Christian Mortalism
https://bishopjerrylhayes.blogspot.com/2019/09/the-intermediate-state-of-soul-part-one.html
Substance Dualism and the Immortal Soul
http://bishopjerrylhayes.blogspot.com/2019/10/substance-dualism-and-immortal-soul.html
Intermediate State of the Soul (Substance Dualism and the Immortal Soul #2)
http://bishopjerrylhayes.blogspot.com/2019/10/the-intermediate-state-substance.html
Intermediate State of the Soul (Substance Dualism and the Immortal Soul #3)
http://bishopjerrylhayes.blogspot.com/2019/10/the-intermediate-state-substance_15.html
Intermediate State of the Soul (Substance Dualism and the Immortal Soul #4) Jesus Preaches to Spirits in Prison
http://bishopjerrylhayes.blogspot.com/2019/10/the-intermediate-state-substance_16.html
Intermediate State of the Soul #5 (The Theology of Paul the Apostle)
https://bishopjerrylhayes.blogspot.com/2019/10/the-intermediate-state-theology-of-paul.html
Intermediate State of the Soul #6 (The Rich Man Is Conscious In Hell)
https://bishopjerrylhayes.blogspot.com/2019/10/intermediate-state-of-soul-rich-man-is.html
This essay is excerpted from the Bishop's book "Biblical Anthropology."
Biblical Anthropology is a study in what the Bible teaches concerning the origin, nature (ontology), history and destiny of mankind. Reviewed in this work is the debate over whether or not the human being is bipartite—such as only body and soul, or tripartite—such as body, soul and spirit. Biblical Anthropology addresses the question of whether or not the soul is mortal or immortal; that is, does the soul have existence apart from the body. What, exactly happens at death? Will there be a resurrection of the body, and if so what nature will the resurrected body take? These are important questions addressed in this book. Bishop Jerry L Hayes presents a very orthodox view of Christian biblical anthropology which relies heavily on holy Scripture with a generous sprinkling of quotes from the ancient churchmen such as Athenagoras, Tertullian, and Augustine to name a few.
Order your personal copy of this classic work on biblical anthropology by clicking the link provided here:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1703392698/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=Bishop+Jerry+Hayes%2C+Biblical+anthropology&qid=1572374388&s=books&sr=1-1&fbclid=IwAR3TaRUBLqYEIj2lC1GYgNzYf_E5yAomZHRcaKnBmFj0zJfy9mURNCb_wbM
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