On Death (Part 5)

X. Death and the grave met their match in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. He was manifest to destroy the works of the devil, and did so. 1JO 3:8 c/w HEB 2:14-15. A. Only Christ, by virtue of a perfect, sinless life had power to lay down His life and take it up again. JOH 10:17-18; ACT 2:24. B. As a show of His mighty power, the bodies of many sleeping saints arose likewise. MAT 27:51-53 c/w COL 2:15. C. In destroying the works of the devil, Christ took away: 1. the dominion of death. ROM 6:9. 2. the law of sin and death. ROM 8:2. 3. the sting of death. 1CO 15:55-56. 4. the fear of death. HEB 2:15. 5. the keys of hell and death. REV 1:18. a. That fact that He liveth (present tense) now and was (past tense) dead, declares His resurrection. b. That He is alive for evermore declares His immortality. c. He thus holds the keys of hell and death. (1) key: In pregnant sense, with reference to the power of custody, control, admission of others, etc., implied by the possession of the keys of any place; hence, as a symbol of office, and fig. the office itself. (2) Christ holds authority over hell and death. (3) The key that locks the damned in hell also locks the saved out. d. The death and hell which were the bane of the creation shall be cast into the lake of fire at the Second Coming. REV 20:14. XI. Believers have the comfort and assurance that there is a bodily resurrection at the end of time, of which the resurrection of the body of Jesus Christ is the firstfruits. 1CO 15:19-23; REV 1:5. A. What was legally confirmed and personally realized by Jesus Christ shall then be fully brought to pass: death swallowed up in victory. 1CO 15:54. B. Those justified by Christ shall be resurrected at the last day. JOH 6:39-40, 44, 54 c/w JOB 14:12. 1. This will be at His coming again, His second appearing. JOH 14:1-3; HEB 9:28. 2. The resurrection will be general, both of the just and unjust. ACT 24:14-15; JOH 5:28-29; MAT 13:30, 38-39, 47-50. 3. Mind how this contrasts the popular fable which holds: a. Jesus' second coming is to resurrect the righteous only; the rest: left behind. b. Life and death continue on earth during a great tribulation. c. Jesus comes a third time to resurrect tribulation martyrs. d. A thousand years later, Jesus resurrects the wicked dead. C. The resurrection of the body was the hope of the believing ancients and patriarchs. JOB 19:25-27; HEB 11:19. D. The resurrection of the body was the hope of O.T. prophets and martyrs. ISA 26:19; HOS 13:14; HEB 11:35. E. The resurrection of the body is the true hope of Israel. ACT 24:14-15; 26:6-8; 28:20; 1PE 1:3-4, 13. F. The resurrection of the body is the hope of all believers now, as ever. 1TH 4:13-18. G. The denial of the future bodily resurrection denies Christ, destroys hope and overthrows On Death 8-29-15 Page 12 faith. 1CO 15:12-19; 2TI 2:16-18. XII. This section addresses the afterlife experienced after the resurrection of the body. A. Paul describes the nature of our resurrected body contrasting it with our present body that is sown after we die. 1CO 15:42-44. 1. Paul speaks of the burial of the body as a sowing. a. This is in keeping with the resurrection of the body for when a seed is sown, something is expected to come forth. b. Jesus described sowing as dying and burial. JOH 12:24. c. The body is sown in anticipation of its springing forth. 2. The same “it” that is sown is raised. Although what is raised is different from what is sown, it bears the identity of what is sown. 3. The body is sown in corruption and raised in incorruption. a. incorruption: Freedom from physical corruption or decay; incorrupt condition (a sound condition not infected by that which causes decay). b. Note the word freedom defining incorruption. (1) Corruption imposes bondage. It limits and weakens the ability and endurance of the body. (2) To be raised in incorruption is to be gloriously liberated. ROM 8:21. 4. The body is sown in dishonour and raised in glory. a. dishonour: The reverse of honour; the withholding of the tokens of esteem, respect, or reverence due to any one; the condition in which these are withheld or the contrary shown; a state of shame or disgrace; ignominy, indignity. b. The honour heaped upon beautiful, strong bodies in youth is withdrawn with the aging and death of those bodies. c. glory: objectively. Exalted praise, honour, or admiration accorded by common consent to a person or thing; honourable fame, renown. Resplendent beauty or magnificence. An effulgence of light such as is associated with our conceptions of heaven. A state of exaltation and splendour. d. A state of glory is the opposite of a state of dishonour. e. Paul speaks of this transformation of the body from dishonour to glory in PHIL 3:21. (1) Our present body is vile. (2) vile: Physically repulsive, esp. through filth or corruption; horrid, disgusting. (3) It is a body of dishonour to be buried just as we throw vile refuse in a landfill to bury it. (4) But it will become an exalted, radiant body like the body of Christ. REV 1:13-16 c/w MAT 13:43; REV 22:5. (5) It will be a sinless body in the image of God. 1JO 3:2 c/w 2CO 4:4. f. Furthermore, our bodies will be eternally renewed to the glory of youth like the glorified body of Christ. JOB 29:2-4, 20; 33:19-26; PRO 20:29; PSA 103:5; 110:3. g. This glory that will be revealed in us is such that our present sufferings are not even worthy to be compared with it. ROM 8:18.