The Promise of the Resurrection

By Pastor Greg

When God created the dog, He said, "Sit all day by the door of your house and bark at anyone who comes in or walks past.  For this, I will give you a life span of twenty years." The dog said, "That's a long time to be barking.  How about only ten years and I'll give you back the rest?" So God agreed. When God created the monkey, He said, "Entertain people, do tricks, and make them laugh.  For this, I'll give you a life span of twenty years." The monkey said, "Perform ricks for twenty years?  That's a pretty long time.  How about I give you back ten like the dog did?" And God agreed. When God created the cow, He said, "You must labor in the field all day long and suffer under the sun. You must have calves and give milk to support the Man for sixty years." The cow said, "That's kind of a tough life.  How about twenty years, and I'll give back the other forty?" And God agreed again. When God created man, He said, "Eat, sleep, play, marry and enjoy your life.  For this, I'll give you twenty years." But man said: "Only twenty years?  Could you possibly give me my twenty, the forty the cow gave back, the ten the monkey gave back, and the ten the dog gave back; that makes eighty, okay?" "Alright," said God. “If that’s what you want”. So that is why the first twenty years we eat, sleep, play and enjoy ourselves.  For the next forty years we slave in the sun to support our family.  For the next ten years, we do monkey tricks to entertain the grandchildren.  And for the last ten years, we sit on the front porch and bark at everyone.

Now although that story makes us chuckle, it misses one very important point; our years are not 70, or if due to strength, 80 (Psalm 90:10). If the promise of Jesus is true, there is no number to describe our years. This is what the word eternal means: unending. But, what will that unending life be like? What kind of experience will we have? Will we let loose of all that is physical and exist for eternity as only something spiritual? Not so, says Jesus. He says that not only will we have eternal life, but that there will be a resurrection as well.

Last week we took a look at the promise of Eternal Life. Jesus promised that whoever believes in Him will not die but have eternal life. But there is another promise Jesus made; the promise of a resurrection, which He confirmed with the empty tomb. Although, where Eternal life speaks of stepping out of darkness and into the light, the Resurrection of the dead speaks of awakening from a slumber.

Toward the end of His earthly life, Jesus has a conversation with a group of Sadducees about the resurrection. Luke says this religious group did not believe in the resurrection of the dead, which is why they were sad, you see. Oh, the idea of the resurrection was commonly accepted by most Jews, but this group wanted to disprove it through a clever argument. However, Jesus makes it pretty clear that they had no idea just what the resurrection would be like (read Luke 20:27-38).

Jesus takes these doubters back to the encounter Moses had with God at the Burning Bush. Jesus asks these enlightened men to consider what God said to Moses. God said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob” (Exodus 3:6), not “I was”. Apparently these Sadducees decided the resurrection was not true because they could not conceive how it would happen or what it would be like; something that has been plaguing our world for nearly two thousand years.

The enlightened people in Corinth had a difficult time imagining the resurrection of the dead as well, which is why Paul speaks so strongly in trying to clear up their misconception (turn to 1 Corinthians 15). In 1 Corinthians 15 he says that after Jesus ends the rule of Satan in this world, even death will be abolished (verse 54). And those who are asleep will be raised (verse 20). He says that in Christ all shall be made alive (verse 22). But if those who are in Christ already have eternal life today, what does he mean by saying they will be made alive again after death has been defeated? Paul is talking about the physical resurrection of all who have died believing in Jesus. It is the promise of a new body which is similar, but not the same as what we had while we lived here on earth. The old body that has died will be awakened and raised as one that is imperishable – one that will not die.

This idea of a resurrection can be seen when Job declares “Even after my skin is destroyed, Yet from my flesh I shall see God” (Job 19:26). And Paul echoes this in 2 Corinthians 5:1. “For we know that when this earthly tent we live in is taken down (that is, when we die and leave this earthly body), we will have a house in heaven, an eternal body made for us by God himself and not by human hands”. In Heaven, bodies will not be reproduced, but recreated in glory by God Himself. And they will be an eternal body, which explains why Jesus corrected these Sadducees. Those who have been resurrected will not need to marry because life will be eternal.

The hope of Christianity hinges upon the Resurrection of Christ, says Paul. If Christ did not rise from the dead then we are still dead in our sins. Death has not been conquered, and those who have already died are permanently gone. If there is no resurrection, then why live a righteous, holy life in the first place? We might as well live like the rest of the world because if Christ did not rise again, there is nothing beyond the grave. And if that is true, then we are really left without any hope. If death still claims us captive, then the poison of sin still remains.

The Good News is that the tomb is empty. The grave could not hold our Savior. Even those opposed to Christ admitted that the tomb was empty. And just what does this mean for you and me? It means that those who believe in God’s only begotten Son will not just step out of the darkness and into the light, but they will awaken from a slumber one day when God calls humanity out of the grave as well. The righteous will be called to a resurrection of life, but the unrighteous will be called to a resurrection of judgment (John 5:28-29).

We celebrate the resurrection of Jesus on this Easter morning because it testifies that the words of the Messiah are faithful and true. “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up” (John 2:19). But it also testifies that the grave will not be able to hold us as well. Oh, you and I might spend 80 years on this earth, perhaps 100, and although our bodies will die, we will not die. This is what the promise of Eternal Life means. We will not be left naked, existing for the rest of eternity as a disembodied spirit floating on some cloud in the sky. The promise of the resurrection means that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are preparing for us a new body; a glorified body which will never die.

”Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is” (1 John 3:1-2)