Joint Heirs of the Resurrection
The biblical faith is forward-looking and integral to its doctrine of salvation is the future resurrection of the dead. And that event will also mark the commencement of the New Creation. In the New Testament, this hope is linked to two events. First, the past resurrection of Jesus, and second, his future arrival at the end of the age. And salvation will remain incomplete without the resurrection of the saints.
Unfortunately, over the centuries, this fundamental
hope has been pushed into the background to make way for ideas alien to the
Bible. While this is due to many factors, it is especially due to the
assimilation of pagan ideas into the apostolic traditions.
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| [Photo by Simeon Muller on Unsplash] |
And all too often, popular ideas about the afterlife have more in common with Neoplatonism and Gnosticism than with the teachings of Jesus and his apostles.
OUR MORTALITY
Writing to the churches of Rome, Paul
declares that if the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead dwells in us,
then He that “raised Christ Jesus from among the dead will quicken even our
death-doomed bodies.” Here, the future “quickening”
of our bodies is connected to the past resurrection of Jesus - (Romans
8:9-11).
At present, we possess “death-doomed
bodies,” not because they are physical, but because we are condemned to
bondage, decay, and death because of sin. Even though we are indwelt by the
Spirit, because of Adam’s transgression, we remain subject to death. We are, in
the truest sense, mortal.
If God is to redeem us and recover all that
was lost, salvation must include the human body. Likewise, the creation itself was
also condemned by Adam’s sin to corruption, and therefore, it must also be
redeemed.
But because we have the Spirit of God, it attests that we are “JOINT HEIRS” with His Son. We, therefore, will be “glorified together with him.” Just as he was resurrected, so we also will be raised from the dead with immoral bodies. Even the creation itself is “ardently awaiting” that day since, like humanity, it has been subjected to “vanity” and death, and so it also longs for deliverance.
On that coming day, the “creation itself
will be freed from the bondage of decay into the freedom of the glory of the
sons of God.” The possession of the gift of the Spirit is the “first fruit”
of the future resurrection life, therefore, we also “ardently await the
adoption, the redemption of our body.” Paul is talking about the bodily
resurrection of believers and the arrival of the new creation – (Romans 8:15-23).
RESURRECTION IS PIVOTAL
In Corinth, some believers were denying the future resurrection. Paul responds by reminding the Corinthians
of the gospel that he first delivered to
them - “How that Christ died for our sins, and was buried, and that he has been raised on the third day.”
However, if there is no future resurrection, then “even Christ has not
been raised,” and if not, then the gospel is void, the apostles all lied,
and we are all “yet in our sins,” without hope and “most to be pitied.”
Once again, Paul links the future resurrection of believers with the past resurrection
of Jesus - (1 Corinthians 15:1-20).
The resurrection of Jesus is the “first fruit of them who have fallen
asleep.” Just
as death came through Adam, so the “raising of the dead comes through one
man, and in Christ, all will be made alive.” This will occur at the “arrival” or ‘parousia’ of Jesus
when he consummates the kingdom and subjugates all his enemies, especially, the
“last enemy, death.” With his arrival, death itself will cease – (1
Corinthians 15:20-28).
Resurrection does not mean the resuscitation of “death-doomed bodies,”
nor does it mean living in a disembodied state. Our present body is “sown in
corruption but will be raised in incorruption.” It will be a body fitted
for life in the Spirit.
Paul did not see bodily existence as incompatible with the Spirit. The difference is the kind of body one has, whether a “body of the soul” or a “body of the spirit.” And just as we now bear the “image of the man of the earth,” Adam, so we will “bear the image of the man of heaven,” Jesus.
When he does “arrive,” believers who
remain alive will be transformed, and those who have died will be raised from
the dead, and both will receive “immortality…for whenever this
mortal will clothe itself with immortality, then will be brought to pass the
saying, ‘Death has been swallowed up victoriously’,” for death
will cease forevermore – (1 Corinthians 15:50-57).
THE DEAD IN CHRIST
When the
Thessalonians expressed grief over the deaths of fellow believers, Paul
reminded them that they were not without hope.
If we “believe that Jesus
died and rose again, so God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep through
Jesus.” At his “arrival,” Jesus will descend from heaven and the “dead
in Christ will rise first.” After that, both the living and now resurrected
saints together will “meet” him as he descends from heaven, and so, “evermore
we will be with the Lord.”
As in Corinth,
so also in Thessalonica, Paul connects the future resurrection to the past
raising of Jesus from the dead, and to his “arrival” at the end of the
age. And again, he portrays it as a collective event; meaning, all believers will
be raised and transformed at his “arrival” from heaven.
In his letter to the Philippians, Paul
demonstrates just how foundational to his faith this hope is. Having counted
all things as loss for the sake of Christ, his life became centered on pursuing
him - “if by any means I may attain to the resurrection from among the dead.” If he does
not participate in the future resurrection, his salvation will remain
incomplete – (Philippians 3:10-11).
Thus, the biblical
hope of salvation lies in the future. While upon repentance our sins are
forgiven and we become “heirs with Christ,” the final realization of
that promise remains incomplete until the return of Jesus at the end of the
age. On that day, dead believers will be resurrected, and those remaining alive
on the earth will be transformed, and together all saints will then be with
Jesus forevermore. And with the resurrection of the dead, the New Creation will
commence.
