Christianity Oasis Forum

[Netchaplain]

“Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live.”

“He shall live!” Of everything that concerns a “resurrection,” the eternality which it establishes is the prominent significance, thus, focusing on the term “live” should not be deemed less urgent than any other aspect concerning it. After all, isn’t eternity with God the primary issue?

Concerning resurrection, the term live is the key aspect. Once a spiritual body is unified with a physical body in the womb (“There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body”—1 Cor 15:44) the term “live” is established, because living involves an existing spiritual body (eternal after created) in conjunction with a physical body.

There is a temporal resurrection and an eternal resurrection, both of which Scripture provides disclosure. Since Christ has “in all things” the “preeminence” (Col 1:18), it is obviously understood why there are no examples of an eternal resurrection until He was raised. This answers to “the first begotten of the dead” (Rev 1:5) and “the firstborn from the dead” (Col 1:18), which means Christ was the first to be raised to an immortal life and not a mortal one.

Some of the temporal examples are a widow’s son in the city of Nain (Luke 7:12-15), Jairus's daughter (Luke 8:41, 42, 49, 54, 55), Tabitha (Acts 9:40) and Lazarus, but my favorite is when “many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; and coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many” (Matt 27:52, 52). This is said to occur “after His resurrection,” but I want to bring attention to a prior occurrence, in which “the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom” (v 51).

The point of interest here is the fact the veil “was torn in two from top to bottom,” which confirms an act only God could perform by the phrase “from top to bottom.” This indicates the veil was not entirely severed, ceasing near the bottom. If it were torn completely into two halves, it would not be possible to determine it was “from top to bottom” and given it was twenty-two yards high and four inches think there was no other option concerning how it occurred.

I would also like to bring attention to the first resurrection, which is that of the saints in Revelation-Twenty: “and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years; but the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished; Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection” (vs 4, 5, 6).

The word “lived,” designs the intention of not just being in their spiritual bodies but also in their incorruptible bodies (Rom 8:23), which those of the last resurrection will also receive, indicated by “the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished,” which occurs in verses 12, 13.

Jesus said, “the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live” (John 5:25), which includes everyone because, “all who are in the graves will hear His voice” (v 28), just at different times. So if someone ever asks you if you think Elvis is really alive, you can truthfully answer, “Not yet.”

A Joyous Easter to all your Families and blessed be God!
-NC (Bob)