OUR BODIES Devotion 7 of 15 One of the pivotal doctrines of Scripture is the resurrection of the dead. I have observed, especially in recent years, the near-total absence of preaching on this grand theme. I have even heard successful preachers admit to their reluctance to speak on this subject. They do not feel comfortable with it, because they are too much at home in this world, and their understanding is too rudimentary. Their inadequate familiarity with the world to come, coupled with their lack of full assurance, cause them to draw back from the subject. Such men are a handicap to the people of God! ABRAHAM REASONS It is edifying to read of our father Abraham. His faith constrained him to reason in a godly manner, even though, from a comparative view, he did not have much revelation. When commanded to offer up his "only son," Isaac, the patriarch did not stagger through unbelief. Instead, he reasoned after a godly manner--without a Bible. "Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead . . . " (Heb 11:19). THE REASONING OF JOB In a more primitive day, before the law and the prophets, Job reasoned, "If a man die, shall he live again? all the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come. Thou shalt call, and I will answer Thee: Thou wilt have a desire to the work of Thine hands" (Job 14:14-15). He knew God could summon the dead from the graves. He viewed this as a "release," and was willing to wait patiently for it. – TOMORROW:
" . . . Now the body is not for fornication, but for the Lord; and the Lord for the body . . . Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? . . . Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body. What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's." (1 Corinthians 6:13-20, KJV).
We have become new creations in Christ Jesus, and are destined for the world to come. Aware that faith makes us misfits in this world, holy men of God often spoke of the resurrection of the dead. The Apostles "taught the people, and preached through Jesus the resurrection from the dead" (Acts 4:2). In Athens, "a group of Epicurean and Stoic philosophers" became agitated when Paul "preached unto them Jesus, and the resurrection" (Acts 17:18). They certainly would not have much trouble with much of the religious fare that is being served up today! The point at which the multitudes became divided came when "they heard of the resurrection of the dead" (Acts 17:32).
In his trial before the Sanhedrin, Paul struck at the heart of things when he cried out, "I stand on trial because of my hope in the resurrection of the dead" (Acts 23:6, NIV). Before Felix, Paul encapsulated his faith in these words, "I have a hope in God--a hope that they themselves also accept--that there will be a resurrection of both the righteous and the unrighteous" (Acts 24:15, NRSV). He testified to the same persuasion before Agrippa, whom he challenged with the words, "Why should it be thought a thing incredible with you, that God should raise the dead?" (Acts 26:8).
Paul affirmed that he had thrown every competing influence overboard "if by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead" (Phil 3:11). Reasoning in a manner quite unfamiliar to the purported scholars of our day, Paul said, "If there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised" (1 Cor 15:13, NRSV). The resurrection of the dead is pivotal in the redemptive economy!
In Abraham's time, there had not been a single word revealed about the resurrection, as far as the record is concerned. God did not say He was going to raise the Seed of the woman from the dead. He did not tell Abraham He would raise the promised Seed from the dead. There simply was no revelation on this subject. Yet, knowing God, Abraham reasoned "God could raise him (Isaac) from the dead." This was a central consideration, not a peripheral one. It teaches us that due contemplation of the resurrection, lies at the heart of godly thought!
As he reasoned on these things, they obtained greater clarity. "For I know that my Redeemer lives, and that at the last he will stand upon the earth; and after my skin has been thus destroyed, then in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see on my side, and my eyes shall behold, and not another. My heart faints within me!" (Job 19:25-27). The patriarch longed for the resurrection, even though he knew very little about it. To him, however, it did not make sense that man's destiny would end in the grave! It also made perfect sense that he would eventually see the One for Whom he lived. That vision would be accomplished within the total man. In his "flesh," or body, he would see the Lord for himself. The sight would not be the experience of another, related to him in a testimony. He would see the Lord for himself– in a resurrection body! How he longed for the time.
Child of God, you do not want to be outdone by Job, who had no Bible, no ten commandments, no extensive revelation about the Messiah! The remarkable decline in spirituality with which we are surrounded is confirmed by the strangeness of Job's words. He was more aware of the resurrection of the dead without a Bible than professed believers of our time are with one! Such things should not be. In Christ Jesus God has spoken with greater clarity and in greater abundance than He ever has before. One of the areas that has been exponentially illuminated is that of the resurrection of the dead – the transformation, or regeneration, of the body. We do well to be familiar with this matter.
PRAYER POINT: Father, I desire to experience the power of Christ's resurrection now, and a resurrection that will bring eternal advantage when He comes again. In the name of Jesus, help me view the resurrection as it has been revealed by the Spirit.