DEAD, BUT NOT DORMANT

“Low in the grave He lay, Jesus my Savior! Waiting the coming day, Jesus my Lord!” So, tomorrow, we will sing and celebrate, “Up from the grave He arose, with a mighty triumph o’er His foes!” 

Yet, what of that in-between time, when His body was sealed in the sepulcher?  Peter tells us that though His crucified body was in a tomb, His spirit was very much alive and active, (1 Pet. 3:18). Christ was dead, but not dormant.

The Bible does not teach, “soul sleep.”  Paul said, “We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord,” (2 Cor.‬ ‭5‬:‭8‬‬).  Neither was Jesus in a state of unconsciousness between His death and resurrection. 

The Old Testament term for the world of the dead is Sheol and the New Testament word is Hades. According to the story our Lord told of the rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16:19-31, there were two areas where the souls of the dead would dwell: “torment” for the wicked and “Abraham’s bosom” (figurative language for “paradise”). Recall that Jesus promised the dying thief, “today you will be with Me in Paradise,” (Lk. 23:43). Thus, when Jesus died physically, He was alive spiritually—closing His eyes on Calvary, He opened them in Paradise. He was dead, but not dormant.

What did He do during that time?  We know that in Sheol/Hades there is “a great gulf fixed,” so that none can cross over from perdition to paradise or vice versa, (Lk. 16:26), yet they can converse as we hear the rich man in torment crying out to “Father Abraham,” for a drop of water to be brought to him by Lazarus, (Lk. 16:24) and Abraham responds to him with the impossibility of that. They communicate with each other. Jesus was spiritually in paradise with the repentant thief that very day as He promised. He was there and “preached to the spirits in prison,” (1 Pet. 3:19). 

This was not an evangelistic sermon. The decision of where we will spend eternity is made in this lifetime—with no “second chance” after death. It was in this case a proclamation “to the spirits in prison, who were formerly disobedient…in the days of Noah.”  In torment, these fallen demons were locked away in a special prison. Peter would add this in his second epistle, “For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment;” (2:4). The Greek word for “hell” is Tartarus, the name of that special compartment in torment for these wicked demons to be imprisoned. 

Jude speaks of them also, “And the angels who did not keep their proper domain, but left their own abode, He has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day;”(Jude‬ ‭1‬:‭6‬‬).

It is my understanding that these demons in some fashion inhabited human form and were used by Satan—the Prince of Demons—to corrupt the human race by sexual relations with human women in Noah’s day, (cf. Gen. 6:1-8). The Serpent had been told after he seduced Adam and Eve in the Garden, “ ‘And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel.’ ” (Gen.‬ ‭3‬:‭15‬‬). If the Devil could corrupt “the daughters of men,” (Gen. 6:1), then there would be no seed of woman to crush his head!  It would have worked, “But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD,” (Gen. 6:8).

Satan persisted in attempts to fully corrupt the nation of Israel and thus no Messiah would be born. Yet, God always had a remnant of believers. Even, when Messiah came, the Devil tempted Jesus in the wilderness. Yet, Christ remained sinless and on the cross, though the Seed of woman had His heel bruised—the Lord’s suffering and physical death—by that means, crushed the Serpent’s head!

So, Christ descended into the realm of the dead and proclaimed His victory over the Devil and his demonic hordes!

As bad as this sermon was for the imprisoned demons, it was glorious for the people of God in paradise. You see, the Old Testament saints were saved by faith in Christ just like we are—Abel, Noah, Abraham, Moses, and all the redeemed (cf. Heb. 11).  They were saved by looking ahead to Christ’s atoning work on the cross, whereas we look back to it. Those saved in the Old Testament were saved by “the lay-away plan.”  You know how you find a Christmas gift for someone, so you don’t want it reserved. It is put in lay-away, until the price is paid, and then you possess it. So, the Old Testament saints went to paradise, or “Abraham’s bosom,” so to speak, until Christ would pay the price of their redemption. After His resurrection, and His ascension, He would empty that compartment in Hades and take the souls of those Old Testament believers to Heaven and into the presence of the Father. “Therefore He says: ‘When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive, And gave gifts to men.’ (Now this, ‘He ascended’—what does it mean but that He also first descended into the lower parts of the earth? He who descended is also the One who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things.)” (Eph. ‭4‬:‭8‬-‭10‬‬). 

He was dead, but not dormant!

THE TEARS OF JESUS

It is the shortest verse in the Bible—“Jesus wept” (John 11:35). Yet, how profound are those two words.

The obvious reason for why He cried is that He was in the presence of those who were mourning—especially his dear friends Mary and Martha, whose brother Lazarus has died. If Christmas means anything, it means that God entered the world as a helpless babe—who despite Luther’s well-intended sentiment, “the little Lord Jesus, no crying He makes,”—likely announced His arrival the same way all do—by crying. Scripture speaks of Jesus’, “vehement cries and tears,” (Heb.5:7) and stresses that He, “sympathizes with our weaknesses,” (Heb.4:15). Jesus knew what it was like to grieve at a graveside. When you cry those bitter tears, be assured that He has too.

Another factor, which may have led Him to weep, was that He was in the presence of those who refused to believe in Him and Jesus knew that the reason for death was unbelief and disobedience. The world had been under the curse ever since man rejected paradise by deciding he knew more than God and could handle things better himself. Jesus came to bring us back to paradise—but, many standing there that day rejected Him still. In fact, the presence of Lazarus after his resurrection provided an impetus to deal with Jesus’ threat to the religious leaders.  “From that day on, they plotted to put Him to death” (John 11:53).

Let me offer another suggestion for Christ’s tears. He knew what Lazarus was enjoying in heaven, and He was summoning Him back into a world of suffering and sorrow!  Lazarus would not be resurrected in the fullest sense, but would be restored to physical life. Since he would not be glorified, he would continue to age and die again!  That is a heartbreaking thought. Unlike many who have made movies and money sharing their journey to heaven and back, we have no recorded words of Lazarus about the experience. We know Paul was forbidden to speak of his trip to Paradise (2 Cor.12:1-4).  No wonder he lived in light of eternity and said, “to depart and be with Christ...is far better” (Phil.1:23).

The next time you go the funeral of a Christian, grieve with the family, and be broken-hearted for living in a broken world, but shed no tears for the departed. They are happier than they have ever been!  When we enter the world we cry and others rejoice, but when we depart they cry and we rejoice.

ULTIMATE FREEDOM

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

Now when He had said these things, He cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth!” And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with graveclothes, and his face was wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Loose him, and let him go.””
‭‭John‬ ‭11:25, 43-44‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Lazarus still had a problem. He had been summoned from death, yet he was bound in his grave clothes. He shuffles to the doorway of the tomb and Jesus commands, “Loose him, and let him go.” (John 11:44).

This body can become a prison, as we long for freedom.  I have eternal life as Jesus has summoned me from the graveyard of sin and death. Yet, each day I struggle with these grave clothes. This old body I dwell in is still subject to the bondage of the curse. But, one day, I will break out and soar!

The late Dottie Rambo used to sing it this way:

The holy hills of Heaven call me
To mansions bright across the sea
Where loved ones wait and crowns are given
When the hills of home start calling me

This house of clay is but a prison
Bars of bone hold my soul
But the doors of clay are gonna burst wide open
When the angel sets my spirit free
I'll take my flight like a mighty eagle
When the hills of home start calling me

I see loved ones over yonder
Tears are gone and hearts are free
And from the throne of my Savior beckons
And the hills of home are calling me

This house of clay is but a prison
Bars of bone hold my soul
But the doors of clay are gonna burst wide open
When the angel sets my spirit free
I'll take my flight like a mighty eagle
When the hills of home start calling me
Calling me
 (You can listen on the link below)

Are you afraid of death?  The reality is that you are going to die and after this the judgment.  Listen: “God…now commands all men everywhere to repent, because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained, He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead.” (Acts 17:30b-31)
https://youtu.be/jXrL-Z44KHc

THE GRACIOUS FULNESS OF DELIVERANCE: A Powerful Liberty

Read John 11:37-44.

Facing death, it is comforting that Jesus cares, but our greatest consolation is that Jesus conquered!  He turned every funeral into a celebration—as He does here.

There was an authoritative cry of command.  It has been well said that if Jesus had not called Lazarus personally, every dead person in the graveyard would have risen!  Some day, maybe soon, that resurrection voice will speak again.

“For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.” (1 Thess.4:13-18).

Those words do comfort us.  We know that in Christ, our loved ones gone before us will be waiting for our arrival. Happy reunion day! We will be fully delivered from suffering, sorrow, and sin! This is the powerful liberty we find in the resurrection. Can you imagine the joyful embrace between the sisters and their brother when Lazarus arose?  This is what we are so eager for!

When our other grandchildren are opening Christmas presents this year, we will miss our little Mya’s squeals of delight. But we will hear her laughter again, when we see her in heaven! My father used to sing much about heaven, but then disease took his music as dementia took his mind.  His voice was silenced when death came.  Now, he sings with the saints in glory and I’ll join him in the song of Moses and the Lamb someday.  “When this poor, lisping stammering tongue, lies silent in the grave, then in a nobler, sweeter song, I’ll sing Thy power to save.”  (William Cowper)

Do you have that hope of heaven, firmly fixed in your faith in Christ?

THE GRIM FACT OF DEATH: A Present Reality

Read John 11:1-16.

There is nowhere we can run to escape the grim reaper. He will track us down.  Scripture affirms, “It is appointed unto man once to die, but after this the judgment.” (Heb.9:27)

Isn’t it remarkable that the Bible says that Jesus loved Lazarus, but His love did not prevent his sickness and death?  Though He had power to heal, He chose to delay with the result being Lazarus’ death.

Joni Eareckson Tada was paralyzed as a teen in a diving accident—a quadriplegic, who now is plagued by chronic pain.  Her faith is tested, but triumphant.  She says, “God permits what He hates to accomplish what He loves.”

Why did Jesus allow Lazarus to die?  He tells the disciples that it was foremost for the glory of the Father (John 11:4) and then for the grounding of their faith (v.15, 41-42).

The disciples didn’t get it.  Martha and Mary were dismayed (v.21, 32).  Later they would know.  We see the whole story.  We live life forward, but understand it backward.  Only heaven may bring answers to our deepest questions.  That is where our faith must kick in (see 2 Cor.4:16-18; 5:6-7).

What Jesus did was share their sorrow (v.33-36).  As we face the grim fact of death, the words of this song are poignant:

“Does Jesus care, when I’ve said goodbye to the dearest on earth to me?  When my sad heart aches, till it nearly breaks, does Jesus know, can He see?  Oh yes, He cares, I know He cares.  His heart is touched by my pain.  When the days are dreary, the long night’s weary, I know my Savior cares.”

I AM THE RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE

“Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live.” (John 11:25)

There are many fears that people face.  There is acrophobia—the fear of heights; agoraphobia—the fear of crowds; arachnophobia—the fear of spiders.  By the time we get to the z’s—we end with zoophobia—the fear of animals.

You might laugh at some of those, but there is one fear that plagues us all—necrophobia—the fear of death.  That grim specter haunts humanity.

It is not only our greatest fear, but our greatest foe—rightfully so.  We all must face it, and we cannot fight it.  Yet, one Man battled it and beat it! Christ has conquered death!  Because He lives, we shall live also.  The story of Christ raising Lazarus from the dead—a story documented in the eleventh chapter of John—will be our focus this week. I hope you will join us for the study each day!

YAHWEH OUR HEALER

“and said, ‘If you diligently heed the voice of the LORD your God and do what is right in His sight, give ear to His commandments and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have brought on the Egyptians. For I am the LORD who heals you.’” (Exodus‬ ‭15:26‬‬)

God plagued the Egyptians because of their defiance of him. He promises the Israelites that He will spare them of such plagues if they obey His commands.

Someone may ask me, “Do you believe in Divine healing?”  My answer is, “What other kind is there?”  All healing is Divine healing.  God identifies Himself as Yahweh Rapha—the LORD our Healer.

There is the miracle of our body’s resistance to sickness and its capacity to be restored.  Without that, a cut could prove fatal. Obedience to God’s ways makes for a healthier lifestyle. A lot more people will be shot in a bar or contract disease in a brothel on Saturday night, than will happen in a church building on Sunday morning!

Then, there are marvels of medicine. Wisdom from the Creator has been given to druggists and doctors.  The development of vaccines, testing technology to diagnose illness, and surgical methodology to correct it are gifts from Yahweh Rapha.

That is not to discount miraculous answers to prayer.  God can, and does, sovereignly and supernaturally, bestow healing at times. Its rarity is what makes it a miracle, but He does do this—according to His design and not our demand.

Ultimate healing will be found in the resurrection.  It is provided in the atonement. Perfect, painless health awaits an environment where sin is no more. The lifting of the curse frees God’s people from all sickness. We won’t even get the sniffles!

CHRIST’S REIGN: Ruling in Majesty

Read Revelation 20.

When Jesus taught His disciples to pray, “Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven,” He was not teasing us. There is literally a time coming when Christ will return and bring the Kingdom of God to earth and the will of God to be done for a thousand golden years. Jesus will sit on the throne of global dominion and rule in majesty.

The Millennium—the thousand year reign of Christ on earth—means that Satan will be bound (v.1-3). When the Serpent slithered into Eden, paradise was lost. Then paradise is regained as he is chained and cast into the bottomless pit.

It will be a time when saints will be enthroned (v.4-6). The people of God will be delegated areas of responsibility during the Millennium. The church—raptured from earth and glorified—returns with Christ to reign. Then the Tribulation martyrs are raised, as well as the Old Testament saints, so all the people of God reign with Christ.

There will be people who survive the horrors of the Tribulation, who bowing to Christ, will be welcomed into the Millennium. These will have children as earth is repopulated. As wonderful as the conditions—Christ reigning and Satan removed—these must still deal with their fallen nature, and sadly some will rebel and face the consequences.  In fact, when Satan is released, many will follow him (v.7-10). That rebellion is quickly crushed and Satan joins the Beast and False Prophet in Hell.
It is then time for all the wicked dead to be raised and judged (v.11-15). They will be given bodies suited for their eternal state of torment—the second death, in dying and being unable to die as they are cast into the lake of fire.

Paradise or punishment?  Where will you spend eternity?

MYSTERIES REVEALED: The Next Big Thing

Read 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18.

What is the next big thing to watch out for that would herald the coming of Christ for His church?  Are there prophecies to be fulfilled?  Are there signs to watch for?

No. Zip, zero, zilch. From the first century to the twenty first century, there has never been a generation that could not expect to see Jesus coming in the clouds for them.

The next big thing is the rapture of the church.  While, it is fascinating to see developments rapidly falling into place, which intensify my belief that very soon we will hear the trumpet call, the reality is Jesus could appear before I finish typing this post, or before you finish reading it.  What if it were today?  That is how we ought to live.

Paul speaks here of the rapture of the church.  While the term is not found in the Bible, the teaching certainly is.  The word comes from the Latin expression for being “caught up.”

Paul tells us to comfort one another with these words.  It is comforting in knowing we will again see our loved ones who died in faith.  They will rise first and we will be “together with them.”  It is comforting to know that living saints will be transformed, set free from the sin, suffering, and sorrow of this world.  It is comforting to know that before God pours out His wrath on a Christ rejecting world during the seven years of tribulation, that Jesus will remove His bride, the church.

MYSTERIES REVEALED: The Defeat of Death

Read 1 Corinthians 15:51-55.

We live in a world where death is ever-present. Green hills are intermittently dotted with tombstones.  Funeral services are offered in letters mailed to aging people. Hospital patients may be sent to hospice units—medical comfort for hopeful recovery supplanted by comfort care in anticipated decline and demise.

Sin is the cause. The world is cursed and death is the consequence. Man’s rebellion against God permeates every inch of the globe and sentences every sinner to execution.

Yet, Jesus came to overcome death, hell, and the grave. In His resurrection and glorification there is the assured promise of ours.  While this body of flesh and blood is not adequate to dwell in heaven, there will be a translation in which we receive a new body.  For the Christian, this occurs at the rapture of the church.

The dead in Christ will rise—with new bodies, no longer subject to decay. The living saints will be instantaneously transformed, as well. The trumpet blast will summon us to meet Jesus in the air.  Earth’s gravity will no longer be able to contain us.  The new body elevates us to a state that transcends time and space.

Paul essentially sticks his tongue out at death!  He has no fear.  The sting has been stolen and death’s defeat assured. We can stick our tongue out at death, too!  A name written on a death certificate is not a concern if that name is written in the Lamb’s Book of Life!

GLORIFICATION: HOME AT LAST

Read Hebrews 11:8-16

God’s people, in this world, walk by faith and not by sight. Glorification comes when faith becomes sight.  Then we are home at last!  Freed from a world of wickedness and a body of weakness, fitted for our real home in Heaven!

It was that promise this sustained the patriarchs like Abraham, his wife Sarah, Isaac and Jacob.  They moved from place to place, living in tents, nomads without a permanent dwelling. Nor did they need one.  Their confession of faith was that they were just pilgrims passing through. The city they looked for was the New Jerusalem above.  They lived and died in faith and the moment they closed their eyes here, they opened them in glory!  

No earthly carpenter here can construct what the Eternal Carpenter of Nazareth has built in Heaven above!  Jesus promised He would go to prepare a  place for us, and when ready will return to move us in with Him (see John 14:1-3).

Practically speaking, this hope for tomorrow makes a difference in the way we live today. It helps us resist the allure of the material world and the pleasures of sin which are but for a season, and sharpens our focus while fueling our passion for the world to come.  Our eyes are on the prize and, like Abraham, there is no turning back.

Of such people this is said, “Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them.”  What a day that will be!

GLORIFICATION: PAULINE PERSPECTIVES

Read 2 Corinthians 4:16-18; Philippians 3:20-21; 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18

Paul had much to say about the promised glory to come for the child of God. His magnum opus concerning the resurrection is found in 1 Cor.15, which we previously examined, but it was by no means the only time he referenced this doctrine that was a driving force in his life.  Today’s devotion will focus on some additional Pauline perspectives on our future hope.

Glorification is our great COMPULSION.

 “Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.” (‭‭II Corinthians‬ ‭4:16-18‬).

Paul lists a number of difficulties he faced in serving Christ.  Yet, he did not despair.  He was a driven man, and this compulsion was maintained by looking ahead to the glory to come.  His resolve was fueled by the hope he possessed. We may say with the old Gospel song, “It will be worth it all, when we see Jesus.”

Glorification is our great CONSUMMATION.

“For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself.” (Philippians‬ ‭3:20-21‬).

All that we do for God, every service we render for others, and all hardship we endure is in view of the consummation of all things in glory. As we use this body for Him, the toll of that effort wears us down, but in the end we can press on, knowing that there is a new body being prepared in exchange for this worn out one.

Glorification is our great CONSOLATION.

 “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.” (I Thessalonians‬ ‭4:16-18‬).

There is no sorrow so deep as when we are separated from our loved ones by death.  Likewise, there is no solace so delightful as when we will be reunited with them.  That is the promise when Christ returns for His church.  The dead in Christ will rise and the living saints will be changed—all of us glorified and taken to heaven, to be with the Lord and with one another forever.  It is our message of consolation to one another.

What a happy hope!  This was Paul’s perspective.  Is it yours?

GLORIFICATION: AN OVERVIEW

Read 1 Corinthians 15.

There are some chapters in the Bible that jump out as key passages for specific themes.  Genesis 1–creation. John 3–regeneration.  1 Corinthians 13–love.  1 Corinthians 15–our focus today—an overview of the resurrection.

1.  THE BASIS OF THE RESURRECTION (v.1-11). Paul lays out the case for Christ’s resurrection.  Credible testimony has been made from those who saw Jesus alive from the dead.  Paul’s own life had been transformed by seeing Him.

2.  THE NECESSITY OF THE RESURRECTION (v.12-19). If there is no resurrection event, then Christ was not raised and should Christ not be raised, then we have no hope.  Christianity is a house of cards.

3.  THE ORDER OF THE RESURRECTION (v.20-28). Christ is the prototype for the resurrection.  We will be like Him in glorification.  The rapture of the church will be a time when the dead in Christ will rise with new bodies and living saints will be transformed.

4.  THE IMPLICATIONS OF THE RESURRECTION (v.29-34).  The reality of the resurrection has implications for how we live today.  If this life is all there is, then sacrificing for eternity is foolish.  Live it up now, for this would be it.

5.  THE FORM OF THE RESURRECTION  (v.35-49).  That new body will be superior to this one in every way.  Yet, it will be a real body.  As our physical body was suited for life on earth, the spiritual body will be designed for life in eternity.

6.  THE VICTORY OF THE RESURRECTION (v.50-58).  The Christian cannot lose.  Triumph in Christ is assured.  Death has been defeated!

“Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.” (v.58)

GLORIFICATION: THE PROMISE OF JESUS

Read Matthew 22:23-33. 

It was an old trick.  The Sadducees had used it on their theological opponents—the Pharisees—often.  The Sadducees were the liberals of their day, denying the supernatural, including the resurrection.  That is why a Sadducee was “sad, you see.”  They took Moses’ command that when a brother dies, his brother is expected to marry the widow and care for her, and in the hypothetical they present, this happens an absurd seven times.  So, they stumped the Pharisees with the question they think will buffalo Jesus, “Therefore, in the resurrection, whose wife of the seven will she be?”

Our Lord responds by pointing to the root of their problem, “You are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God.”  He then proceeds to tell them that marriage is an institution of earth, that will be superseded by a higher relationship in eternity.  A sexual union with a spouse is supplanted by a spiritual union to Christ—the church is His bride. Jesus says we will be, “like the angels.”

He does not say that we will be angels!  I have often heard people say that.  You don’t want to be an angel.  You will be glorified humanity. Jesus wasn’t saying you would become an angel.  He was saying that in their devotion to Christ alone, we will be like holy angels. They do not wed, but focus on serving God and worshipping Him.  They are consumed with His glory, and all this will be true of us.  You won’t earn wings, but you will get a new body, designed for Heaven. 

The Sadducees claimed to believe only the first five books of the Bible.  So, Jesus proved their ignorance of the Scriptures by quoting from one of those books, Exodus 3:6, 15. The faithfulness of God’s Word extends to the very tenses of verbs, as God decreed, “I am the God of Abraham...Isaac, and...Jacob.”  He is eternally their God, for they are eternally with Him—and so shall all God’s people be.

Note, that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob retained their identity.  In many ways, heaven is an extension of this life, but only on a higher plane.  I will know my wife and she will know me.  I will love my wife, but with perfect love, and so I will love everyone absolutely.

“God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.”  Case closed!

GLORIFICATION: AN OLD TESTAMENT PERSPECTIVE

Read Job 19:23-27 and Daniel 12:1-3.

There are three tenses in salvation.  There is salvation from sin’s penalty, a past experience of justification when a believer has come to faith in Christ.  There is salvation from sin’s power, a present experience of sanctification as a believer lives by faith in Christ.  There is salvation from sin’s presence, a promised experience when a believer’s faith becomes sight. It is the third dimension we will focus on this week: glorification.

We begin with an Old Testament perspective from Job and Daniel.  Because revelation is progressive—that is, God discloses truth in an increasing way as one moves through the Scripture—there is not as much about the promised glory of the resurrection and our life in heaven found in the Old Testament. The teaching, while not fully developed, is there, however.

What a hope it was for Job!  Imagine all this man suffered. He lost everything—except for the hope of glory!  Yet, he expected an existence where he would have a new body, in a new place, where he would not feel the pain and heartache of this world. He would not be a ghost, floating around, as he speaks of “my flesh” and “my eyes” being with God and seeing God.  The resurrection body will be a different type of body and yet a real body.

Daniel says more about the resurrection.  He points to the timing—in the last days of earth’s history and the return of Christ.  He writes of “many,” because this refers to “your people”—Daniel’s fellow Israelis—who will be raised following “a time of trouble,” meaning the seven year Tribulation Period. There are actually a series of resurrections—Christ being the firstfruits, then the dead in Christ at the Rapture, and now these Old Testament saints at His return to earth to reign. Lastly, the wicked will be raised.  The righteous will be raised with bodies suited for Heaven and the wicked with bodies designed for Hell, but for all people everlasting existence, somewhere, destined for reward or retribution.

Where will you spend eternity?

PEACE ON EARTH

Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection.  Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years.  (Revelation 20:1-10)

That first silent night was suddenly shattered by spectacular sights and sounds, as angels said, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men!”  The heavenly messengers announced the fulfillment of the messianic promises of the Old Testament.  For example, Isaiah called Jesus, “the Prince of Peace,” and said that in His reign the nations would beat their swords into plowshares and spears into pruning hooks, with war and violence banished from the earth.  Yet, as we end this Christmas season and stand on the threshold of a new year, we see a world filled with bloodshed and fear the threat of terrorism.  Still, the child of God can submit such fear to the promises of a sovereign God and supplant them with faith in His supreme purposes.  There may be horror today, but there is hope for tomorrow.  Jesus is coming again and He will put things right in this world.  That is what the twentieth chapter of Revelation proclaims.

This chapter commences with the seven-year tribulation period concluded.  All the terrible judgments described in the bulk of the book reached their climax with the Lord Jesus coming with heaven’s armies to wipe out the Antichrist and his military.  The global economic system of the Beast and the worldwide ecclesiastical system of the False Prophet have been destroyed and the demonically driven duo cast into the Lake of Fire.  Next in Revelation 20:1-3, we read that the third member of that terrible trinity of terror—Satan himself—will be bound with chains and imprisoned in the bottomless pit.  The world will be liberated by the Lord!

This will inaugurate 1000 years of heaven on earth (v.4-6).  The church will reign with Christ—in all probability from the New Jerusalem which is suspended above the earth.  We will have freedom of movement throughout the universe in our glorified bodies.  John writes of the first resurrection.  It is the first of its class—a resurrection to life.  Blessed are all those of the first resurrection order for they are all those who have died in faith.  The second kind of resurrection is that of the wicked who will be raised to stand before the Great White throne and sentenced to everlasting damnation (v.11-15).  We say that these are two classes of resurrection in that several resurrections of the first order have already occurred at this point—Jesus, a handful of Old Testament saints with Him, the dead in Christ at the rapture of the church, and the two witnesses in Revelation 11.  As the millennial reign of Christ begins the tribulation martyrs are raised, and I believe the rest of the Old Testament saints as well.  The latter group will reign, I think, from the old Jerusalem—possibly with David sitting on his former throne as Christ’s regent on earth.

We will need to reign, for as strange as it seems, even in this environment, the evil hearts of humans will need to be governed.  Those who survive the tribulation and are converted will repopulate the earth and their offspring will need to be saved.  Many will reject Christ and at last, when Satan in released, will follow him to their doom (v.7-10).  Such is the depraved heart of man!  I am glad I am part of the first resurrection class!

COMFORT IN CHRIST

“Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”  (John 14:27)

In a matter of hours, the dreams of the disciples would be dashed.  Jesus would suffer and die—His limp, lifeless body stretched on a slab in a sepulcher of stone.  Knowing the hour was rapidly approaching, Jesus sought to comfort them.  He said in John 14:1-3,

“Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me   In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you.  I go to prepare a place for you.  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.”

Christ gave us peace in our hearts.  How could He talk of peace at such a troubled hour?  Jesus knew that such peace did not depend on outward circumstances, but was the gift of God.  Truly, it is, “the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding" (Phil.4:7).  It was a favorite word of Jesus.  Time after time, we find the Prince of Peace uttering the words, "Peace be unto you."   We have peace through the Scriptures.  Jesus went on to say, "And where I go you know, and the way you know.”  (John 14:4)  God has spoken with authority concerning the issues of life and death.  We also have peace through the Spirit (John 14:17-18).  The Spirit of God indwells each child of God. He is called the Comforter.  The Greek word means, “One who stands alongside.”  He stands with us that we might stand our burdens.

Christ not only assured peace in our hearts, but the preparation of our home.  Paul said that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord (2 Cor.5:8)—and what a glorious welcome we receive there!  A place is prepared particularly for us.  In the twenty first and twenty second chapters of Revelation, John described the Holy City coming down from God as a bride adorned for her husband. It is a place where there is never a night, and the Lamb is the light.  The streets are paved with gold.  Gates are fashioned of a single pearl.  Walls are made of jasper.  The tree of life bears twelve kinds of fruit, planted beside the river of God that flows from His throne.  It will be a place of no sin, sickness or sorrow.  God will wipe away every tear from our eyes.  We will put on a robe of immortality.  Death for the Christian is just moving day.  It is moving out of the old house we used to occupy, which is no longer fit for habitation, and moving into a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.

Christ gave us peace in our hearts, the preparation of our home, and, also, a promise of certain hope, “Because I live, you will live also.”  (John 14:19b)  Hopes that withered on Friday, would bloom anew on Sunday!  The source of our hope is in the fact that Jesus is alive!  He has conquered death, hell, and the grave.  The span of our hope is forever—eternal life in glory!  What a blessed hope this is!  No matter what you face today—the best is yet to come!  No matter how dark the hour—the brightest day is going to dawn!

THE DEFEAT OF DEATH

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live.”  (John 11:25)

There is no place we can run to escape from death.  The Bible says, "it is appointed unto man once to die but after this the judgment."  Word comes to Jesus that Lazarus is struggling with deadly illness.  Though He had the power to heal, Jesus restrained Himself from doing so in order for Lazarus to die!  He tells His disciples that it will be for the glory of the Father and the grounding of their faith.  Yet, the disciples were perplexed and Martha wonders why.  Lazarus' sisters were broken-hearted.  Their tears would give way to inexpressible joy, but not at first.  Perhaps you are perplexed at God's ways of working in your life, or that of your loved ones.  Let us cling to the hope expressed by the songwriter, "We'll understand it better by and by."

Jesus did not prevent the death of Lazarus, but He came to the sisters.  He wept with them.  He shared their sorrow.  He will do the same for you.  This is a story of tears and trials, but at the end, of triumph.  This is God's promise to the child of God.  Weeping may endure for the night, but joy comes in the morning!

Jesus described the death of Lazarus to his disciples as sleep.  Why did Jesus liken death to sleep?  For one thing, sleep is harmless. For the child of God, death should hold no terror for it cannot harm us. David said, "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me."  Sleep is not only harmless, but it is healthy.  The Bible says, "Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from henceforth that they might find rest from their labors."  The toil of life is over when we reach heaven.  All that burdens us will be banished in the life to come.  Sleep is also temporary.  We go to bed at night with the expectation of rising in the morning.  When a Christian dies, he goes to sleep in Jesus anticipating the resurrection. 

Every funeral Jesus attended turned into a celebration.  There was a personal summons issued to Lazarus.  Someone has well said that the voice of Jesus carries such authority that had He simply said, "Come forth" every dead person would have risen.  An hour is coming in which all the dead will hear that call.   Our separation from loved ones is not permanent.  There will be a reunion one day.  Can you imagine the joy as Mary and Martha embraced the warm flesh of their brother whose body only hours before lay cold in the tomb?  We anticipate the same rejoicing when we see those who have preceded us into heaven.

Lazarus was bound up in grave clothes and Jesus commanded that he be set free.  Death for the child of God means liberty.  Paul spoke of how we groan in this body, longing to be liberated, looking for that new body.  In heaven, we shall be in a land of absolute freedom—free of sin, sorrow, sickness, suffering, and separation.  This is the hope assured in that Christ is risen from the dead, and promises, “Because I live, you will live also.”  (John 14:19b)  We exult with Paul, “O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?” (1 Cor.15:55)

THE SUFFERING OF THE SAINTS

Therefore we do not lose heart.  Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day.  ‎For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory….  (2 Corinthians 4:16-17)

Is healing in the atonement?  Doubtless—every blessing flows to us from that crimson stream of Calvary.  One dimension of our redemption is a new body.  That awaits the resurrection, however.  Romans 8:23 promises, “Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body.”  I would not deny that miracles take place today and extraordinary healings are experienced.  God is still God, and does what He wishes.  That is different than turning Him into a cosmic errand boy to serve my desires.  To dictate to the Sovereign Lord and demand healing is a blasphemous role reversal.

Many godly people suffer enough without some self-appointed theologian coming on TV and declaring their problem is they don’t have enough faith to receive their healing.  Now, the physical affliction of the saint compounds by the mental anguish of guilt.

Paul was an instrument God used to bring miraculous healings to some—but not all.  “Trophimus I have left in Miletus sick.”  (2 Tim.4:20).  Why didn’t you send him an anointed prayer cloth for a donation Paul?  Neither did the Apostle receive his healing though he asked three times (2 Cor.12:7-10).  We do not know specifically what the condition was, and it is possible that this was not a disease, but some other trial.  That pain was caused is clear and despite the prayers of faith, God chose not to remove it.

History is filled with spiritual giants who suffered greatly.  Moses had a speech impediment; Job suffered agonizingly; Timothy had stomach problems—and the list could go on with Amy Carmichael, blind Fanny Crosby, John Newton, Spurgeon, Joni Eareckson Tada, and many more.  Examine the lives of all God has used mightily and you will see a dark thread of suffering—tears and tragedies—woven into the fabric of each.  The health, wealth, and prosperity preachers of today are not worthy to untie the shoes of these anointed afflicted.

Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 4:16-17 that pain produces a greater glory.  If we want glory, we must endure suffering—the cross precedes the crown (2 Tim.2:12; Rom.5:3-5; 8:18).  Should we then rate our faith as substandard because we don’t get our miracle?  Examine Hebrews 11:33-40.  Following a roll call of those who saw the miraculous were those who suffered the grievous—and ALL are extolled as heroes of faith!

So, are you sick?  Try to get well!  Ask God to heal you.  Go to the doctor.  Take some medicine.  You will be well someday—even if it awaits that Eternal Day.  If God chooses to permit the pain, then know there is a purpose in it, and that the suffering of the saints will only enhance the future glory.  “Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake.  For when I am weak, then I am strong.”  (2 Cor.12:10)  Don’t lose heart!  Press on to glory!

DEATH DEFEATED!

But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.  (1 Corinthians 15:20)

I don’t know any other way to break this to you, but to just come out and say it—I have a terminal illness.  So do you.  It’s called life—and it’s eventually fatal!  We contracted this at birth.  There is good news, however.  Death has been defeated!  That is Paul’s premise in 1 Corinthians 15.

The Apostle bases this in THE RESURRECTED SAVIOR (v.1-20).  He begins the chapter as an attorney presenting his case in court.  He lays out the evidence for Christ’s resurrection, summoning eyewitness after eyewitness.  Paul even includes his own testimony that Jesus is alive.  The Christian faith is founded on this fact.  His death on the cross cannot save us if some tomb still holds His bones.  Christ’s resurrection makes His crucifixion triumphant instead of tragic.  Our hope is a living hope!  Jesus promised and delivered on this, “Because I live, you will live also.”  (John 14:19b)

This means we will become THE RESURRECTED SAINTS (v.21-34).  One day—maybe soon—Christ is coming for His church.  He will raise the dead saints and translate the living ones, giving us new bodies, like unto His glorified form.  Paul lays out the logical reasons to believe in and the practical results of Christ’s resurrection.  There are implications not merely for the sweet by and by, but for the nasty now and now!  We can deny ourselves and take up the cross in following Christ because we know that ultimately there is victory and reward in heaven!

Paul next discloses THE RESURRECTION STATE (v.35-53).  I told an aging saint who was sharing all their aches and ailments, “There is nothing wrong with you that the resurrection won’t fix!”  The new body we will be given will be flawless and not subjected to human frailties.  It will be impervious to sickness, sorrow and sin.  Now, our bodies can become a prison.  Bars of bone bind our soul that yearns to be free of pain.  The physical frame can deteriorate and so can the mind—dementia stealing away the personality, leaving a shell of what the person was.  In the resurrection God says, “No more of that!”

No wonder this leads to THE RESURRECTION SONG (v.54-57)  We sing in triumph over the tomb!  I can still recall when I was a little barefoot boy running through the yard at play under a bright summer sun.  Our lawn was about as much clover as grass, and the honeybees delighted in those tiny flowers.  They were not as pleased when I stepped on one—the result being a venous sting.  I would hop to my mother, crying, and she would console me as she removed the stinger, “That old bee can’t hurt you anymore—look, it’s lost its sting.”  That is what Jesus did for us—He took the sting of death away!

This is not just “pie in the sky by and by,” as some deride it.  There is THE RESURRECTION SUMMATION (v.58).  What we do today matters, because there is an eternal accountability.  Our labor for the Lord will not be in vain!