...from the desk of Rande Wayne Smith D.Min., Th.M., M.Div.

The Apostles’ Creed - 12

… THE RESURRECTION OF THE BODY; AND THE LIFE EVERLASTING

1 Corinthians 15:20
Jesus said to them, “The truth is that Christ has been raised from death, as the guarantee that those who sleep in death will also be raised.”

May the Lord grant that we may engage in contemplating the mysteries of His Heavenly wisdom with really increasing devotion to His glory and our edification.  Amen.

Is Ted Williams dead or what? You may know, if you’re a baseball fan, that this hall-of-famer suffered a fatal heart attack some years ago at the age of 83. They immediately packed his body in a crate of ice, and sent it to Scottsdale, AZ to the Alcor Life Extension Foundation. Once he arrived in the crate, the staffers opened it up, drilled holes in his head, and inserted temperature probes … (which are really going to hurt if he’s ever brought back to life). Then they took 60% of the water from his cells, and replaced it with a human anti-freeze. They then lowered his body temperature to a negative 196 degrees Celsius. (There are some old sport’s writers who have suggested that this actually kind of warmed Ted up!) Then they put him in a waterproof sleeping bag and lowered him, head first, into a stainless steel cylinder filled with liquid nitrogen.

Rick Riley, who used to write for Sport’s Illustrated, and is now a commentator on ESPN … he’s a really funny guy … says, you’ve got to get a kick out of this because in his retirement Ted Williams was a noted deep sea fisherman, and now today he’s hanging upside down by a hook. Riley says somewhere a whole lot of marlin are laughing.

So, is Ted Williams dead or what? No, according to the Alcor Life Extension Facility. He’s completed his first life cycle, and now he’s in his second life cycle.

So, is this the best we can hope for following our death … being brought back 20 or 30 years later to extend our life on this planet? Is that your hope?

This morning we’re concluding a 12 week series that we began back in September on the Apostles’ Creed … a basic statement of faith that’s been around since the second or third century. These are the truths that followers of Jesus believe. These are the truths that we affirm. And this morning we’re going to conclude our study of the Apostles’ Creed with a statement about the future … we’re going to see what we have to look forward to in the afterlife.

Scripture talks about our resurrected life in a variety of passages, but 1 Corinthians 15 is the central one. If you have questions about the resurrection body and life everlasting this is where to find the answer.

So this morning I want us to ask the questions that an investigative reporter would ask … who, what, where, when, why, and how.

Let’s get started … on what basis do we believe what we just recited in the Apostles’ Creed about the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting? How can followers of Jesus believe something so absolutely crazy? Our bodies are going to be resurrected from the dead … are you kidding me? It’s never been done. I mean, people die and are buried … and that’s the end.

But wait a moment, what do you mean it’s never been done. Followers of Jesus believe that it has been done. And we believe that there’s plenty of evidence. There are even eyewitness accounts to support this particular statement that Jesus rose from the dead. “I passed on to you what I received, which is of the greatest importance: that Christ died for our sins, as written in the Scriptures; that he was buried and that he was raised to life 3 days later, as written in the Scriptures; that he appeared to Peter and then to all 12 apostles. Then he appeared to more than 500 of his followers at once, most of whom are still alive, although some have died. Then he appeared to James, and afterward to all the apostles.

“Last of all he appeared also to me.”

There were eyewitnesses to the resurrection of Jesus Christ. But, just in case you’re struggling about the creditably of those eyewitness accounts, I would encourage you to read Lee Strobel’s book, “The Case For Christ.” Lee was a Yale Law School graduate, former legal affairs editor for the Chicago Tribune, former atheist, who has become convinced, by the evidence that Jesus rose from the dead.

So, what is the basis for our belief that one day our bodies will be resurrected from the dead? We believe that because Jesus rose from the dead. We believe in our future resurrection because a resurrection has already taken place. “The truth is that Christ has been raised from death, as the guarantee that those who sleep in death will also be raised.” “Guarantee” means a pledge that obligations will be met. Do you remember Roger Banister? He was the first person to ever run a mile under 4 minutes. Before Roger Banister ran his sub 4 minute mile, many track experts said it just couldn’t be done. It was humanly impossible. It could even be dangerous to a person’s health.

And then Roger Banister came along, and he broke the 4 minute mile. And people started saying, “it can be done. Roger Banister has done it.” And suddenly, one person after another started breaking it. I looked on the internet to see how many people have done it so far. I didn’t even count them. There’s page after page after page after page. What was once considered humanly impossible is now being done by High School students. It couldn’t be done … until Roger Banister did it.

A resurrection of the body seems to be humanly impossible … but it’s been done. And one day a bunch of people are going to follow suit. This “what” is the basis behind our belief in our own resurrection. We believe it; Jesus rose from the dead as “the guarantee that those who sleep in death will also be raised.”

Second question … who? When I say “our resurrection” … who am I talking about? Who will experience the resurrection of the body and life everlasting? Paul says, “And now I want to remind you, my friends, of the Good News which I preached to you, which you received, and on which your faith stands firm. “That is the gospel, the message that I preached to you. You are saved by the gospel if you hold firmly to it – unless it was for nothing that you believed.”

Paul talks about people who have been “saved.” Saved from what? Saved from everlasting death … saved from the prospect that their body will remain in the grave forever. Who are these people who have been saved with the promise of everlasting life? They are those who have heard the Good News about Jesus Christ, and put their faith in Him, and taken their stand on this truth.

Let’s suppose this morning I said to you, “I have a crisp, $100 bill for every person here who will stop by the information table on the way out and pick it up.” Now, who will get those $100 bills? … Everybody who lays claim to one. Does that mean that everyone will walk out of this place $100 richer? Probably not.

Why not? Well, there would be a group of people who would say, “That’s ridiculous, he’d never do that.” They just wouldn’t believe me. They wouldn’t want to appear gullible. They’d walk right past. There’d be another group who wouldn’t get their $100 because they were so busy that they just forgot to stop and pick it up. They’re talking to their friends. They’re in a hurry to get a piece of Mike’s cake. And sometime this evening they’re going to slap themselves on the forehead, “stupid idiot, I forgot to pick up my $100.”

Still others wouldn’t pick up their $100 out of shear scorn. “What’s Rande doing, giving away $100? How irresponsible. If I want $100 I’ll go out and earn $100. I don’t want to be indebted to him.”

The only people who would get the $100 are those who stopped and picked it up. The offer isn’t exclusive. Anybody can get it. But only some will. You see where I’m going with this. A resurrected body, life everlasting … step right up. But only some will. Others will consider it too unbelievable to be true, and never receive it. Others will become so distracted with this world, with their houses, their jobs, their families; they’ll never stop to get hooked up with Jesus. And still others will scorn, and say, “If I want something from God I’ll work for it, thank you.” And reject it as an offer of a free gift.

Listen to what Jesus says about this. “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me will live, even though they die; and those who live and believe in me will never die.” And the Apostle John states it about as clearly as possible. “The testimony is this: God has given us eternal life, and this life has its source in his Son. Whoever has the Son has this life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.” I want to ask you this morning as pointedly as I can, are you certain, (I’m not talking about being ½ sure, I’m not talking about being 80% confident), are you totally certain that you will have a resurrected body and life everlasting? Are you certain that your life is wedded to Jesus? Because if you’re not absolutely sure … then make sure you talk to me. Don’t leave here today without the certainty that you’re one of the “who.” This is not an offer that everyone will take God up on.

Third question … why? Why is the resurrection of the body such a big deal? Let’s suppose for just a moment that it’s a bunch of nonsense. What if when you’re dead you’re dead? What do we stand to lose by accepting this belief? Again, Paul provides the answer.

“If Christ has not been raised from death, then we have nothing to preach and you have nothing to believe. More than that, we are shown to be lying about God, because we said that he raised Christ from death – but if it is true that the dead are not raised to life, then he did not raise Christ. For if the dead are not raised, neither has Christ been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is a delusion and you are still lost in your sins. It would also mean that the believers in Christ who have died are lost. If our hope in Christ is good for this life only and no more, then we deserve more pity than anyone else in all the world.” Paul gives us several reasons why belief in the resurrection of our bodies is of critical importance. First … if there’s no resurrection then the whole Christian message is a hoax. It’s one big lie.

The politically correct police, those who push tolerance today, tell us that if you boil Christianity all down, it’s simply is “love your neighbor as you love yourself.” That’s all it is.

That’s just not so. The central truth, the foundational doctrine of the Christian faith is that Jesus Christ rose from the dead. Take that away and nothing else can be trusted.

Paul says that preachers like he, like me, have been telling the mother of all lies; so don’t believe another word we say … if the resurrection is false.

Secondly, Paul says, “If Christ has not been raised … you are still lost in your sins.” Let me explain what’s happening here. We believe that God is a just God. And that means He can’t allow wrongdoing to go unpunished and still remain just. So, somehow sin has to be accounted for, your sin, my sin. Now we have a choice; we can either pay the penalty for our sin ourselves, or we can put our hope and trust in a substitute who is willing to pay it on our behalf … which is what Jesus claimed to do upon the cross.

Some people might wonder how we know if what Jesus did on the cross was sufficient payment. How do we know that it worked? That God is satisfied? The answer to that is very simple … Jesus triumphed over death. If you take away the resurrection of Jesus Christ, then who’s going to pay for your sin? A just God is going to demand payment. What are you going to do in order to get forgiven? What’s plan B for you?

Here’s another reason … no resurrection means that our loved ones, who believed in Jesus and have died, are gone forever. We’ll never see them again. You can talk all you want about “living on” in our memories … but what hope is that for someone who’s standing at the grave of a loved one?

A fourth reason … if there’s no resurrection then Christianity is only good for this life. And if it’s only good for this life then followers of Jesus are to be pitied. Dr. Albert Schweitzer said that it didn’t really matter whether Jesus rose or not. In fact, he said it didn’t really matter if Jesus even lived on earth or not. It was the idea of Jesus … His moral code, a sense of purpose in life … that’s what’s important.

Dr. Schweitzer may have been smart medically, but theologically he was stupid. Paul says that if this life is all there is then my hope has been a delusion and I’m living in a fairy tale. In fact, I’ve been making sacrifices for a future that doesn’t exist. That’s the why.

Question #4 … what does this resurrected life look like? Are we disembodied souls? Are we angels? Do we become superheroes? What does Scripture say about the state of our resurrected bodies?

Paul writes, “Someone will ask, ‘How can the dead be raised to life? What kind of body will they have?’ You fool! When you plant a seed in the ground, it does not sprout to life unless it dies. And what you plant is a bare seed, perhaps a grain of wheat or some other grain, not the full-bodied plant that will later grow up. God provides that seed with the body he wishes; he gives each seed its own proper body.”

Paul’s suggesting that there’s a continuity between our current body, that’s planted like a seed in the grave, and our future resurrected body. Now he goes on to say that there will be a magnificent difference too, because the stock of wheat is nothing like that tiny little seed.

“And the flesh of living beings is not all the same kind of flesh; human beings have one kind of flesh, animals another, birds another, and fish another.

“And there are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies; the beauty that belongs to heavenly bodies is different from the beauty that belongs to earthly bodies. “The sun has its own beauty, the moon another beauty, and the stars a different beauty; and even among stars there are different kinds of beauty.

“This is how it will be when the dead are raised to life. When the body is buried, it is mortal; when raised, it will be immortal. When buried, it is ugly and weak; when raised, it will be beautiful and strong. When buried, it is a physical body; when raised, it will be a spiritual body. There is, of course, a physical body, so there has to be a spiritual body.”

Let me explain what’s being taught here in these contrasts that Paul gives. What’s the difference between the current body that you have, that unless Jesus returns, will someday be laid in a grave, and the resurrected body to come? The body we presently have is mortal … it will be immortal. Do you see any signs of morality in your present body? Of course!

2nd contrast, when buried, our present body is ugly and weak; when raised, it will be beautiful and strong. What’s Paul talking about? Have you ever seen somebody die of cancer? It stinks. Pain, loss of hair, nausea. Ever see someone with Parkinson’s who used to be healthy and strong and now wobble as they walk? Ever see someone struck down by MS and sitting in a wheelchair?

I think of Leisa Voleck’s last years with Alzheimer’s. That’s ugly. Scripture says that our resurrected bodies will be beautiful. They’re going to be magnificent.

Third contrast … our present bodies are weak, our heavenly bodies will be strong. Don’t just think physical strength here. Think much broader than that. Do you have any emotional weaknesses in your life? Do you have any relational weaknesses? Do you have any intellectual weaknesses? Do you have any spiritual weaknesses? One day all those weaknesses, that so characterize our lives here on earth, will be replaced with strength.

One final contrast … we now have a physical body, we will have a spiritual body. Now the term spiritual doesn’t mean immaterial, it doesn’t mean you’re going to be a ghost. Spiritual in Scripture refers to a person who is responsive to God. It’s a person who is led by God’s Spirit. Paul says that one day we will be totally in sync with God. We will be totally spiritual. I don’t know about you, but I’m really looking forward to the day that I obey God wholeheartedly.

So, when’s that going to happen? Don’t we get our new body when we die? We often talk like that about life after death. If your grandmother dies, and she suffered in her final years with painful arthritis … you stand at her casket with loved ones, and think of Grammy with her new body doing cartwheels down the streets of gold in Heaven. It’s a great thought. But is that what Scripture teaches? Paul talks about the timing of our new bodies. “Listen to this secret truth: we shall not all die, but when the last trumpet sounds, we shall all be changed in an instant, as quickly as the blinking of an eye. For when the trumpet sounds, the dead will be raised, never to die again, and we shall all be changed.” When does the exchange of a dead body for a resurrected body take place?

According to these verses … it happens when Jesus returns at the end of time. Okay … suppose I die today, but Jesus doesn’t come back for 100 years, what’s going to happen to me, bodily speaking, for the next century? Theologians refer to this as the intermediate state … the period between when we die and the time that Jesus returns and all bodies are resurrected from the grave.

Now unfortunately Scripture doesn’t have a whole lot to say about this intermediate state. It has a lot to say about the here and now. It has a lot to say about the everlasting life we’ll live if we’ve come to faith in Jesus. But it says very little about the intermediate state. And so we’re left to surmise. So here are the 3 best positions of what it will be like, and you can take your pick.

There are some theologians who say that we’ll get our resurrected bodies the instant we die because there is no concept of time in eternity. In this life it may take another 100 years before Jesus returns and resurrects our dead bodies, but in eternity we’re not going to have to wait for that event to take place, because the time between when we die and Jesus’ return will be like a blink of the eye. There’s no time in eternity. It’s an interesting concept.

Option #2 … some theologians say that God will give us an intermediate body before we get our final, eternal resurrected body. Now personally, I’ve never really liked that. It always struck me as driving around Heaven in a rental car. I don’t want a “loaner” when I get to Heaven. But, if we stop and think about it … this body’s a loaner, isn’t it? And it’s not been a total disaster. I’ve walked around in this for 62 years and it’s had some good points, and it’s bound to be a trade up to the intermediate stage body. So, this is a possibility.

Option #3 … maybe after death our soul goes straight to Heaven, but it then waits until Jesus returns to get a corresponding body. Now that’s not really bad when you stop to think about it, because our soul is who we are. Our soul is the immaterial part of us. When we die we go immediately into the presence of God.

Paul says “to leave our home in the body … (is to) be at home with the Lord.” And then one day in eternity, what is good will get even better, because Jesus will return to earth and give us resurrected bodies. I like option 3, but Scripture doesn’t rule out the other 2 options.

Here is a sixth and final question … where should this doctrine of the resurrection of the body and life everlasting lead us? How should it impact us today? What difference should it make in the lives of believers? The answer is … hope.

“So when this takes place, and the mortal has been changed into the immortal, then the scripture will come true: ‘Death is destroyed; victory is complete!’ ‘Where, Death, is your victory? Where, Death, is your power to hurt?’ Death gets its power to hurt from sin, and sin gets its power from the Law. But thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!

“So then, my dear friends, stand firm and steady. Keep busy always in your work for the Lord, since you know that nothing you do in the Lord’s service is ever useless.”

Hope. Hope for people who have cancer. Hope for people who have Parkinson’s. Hope for people with Alzheimer’s. Hope for people who have lost loved ones in Christ. There’s hope … and without it we’d be crushed. And there’s hope for those of us who right now find life is going just grand. We have life by the tail, but we’re so caught up in the here and now, we forget that there’s a hope out there for the future. And no matter how good we think this life is … the best is yet to come. And regardless, this life is going to be gone like that. So this message is important because God wants to tell us, “Think about what will be forever.”

Tomorrow morning get up and say, “I’m not a citizen here; I’m a citizen of a Kingdom to come. And I’m going to live like that. I’m going to live like one day I’ll be transformed into a likeness of Jesus Christ. And my hope will be to take as many people with me as I possibly can.”

You know, often we say in moments of great enjoyment, “I don’t want this to ever end” … but it does. Heaven, however, is different.

I believe in the resurrection of the body; and the life everlasting. Amen

(sing with me)...

    When we’ve been there ten thousand years,
    Bright shining as the sun,
    We’ve no less days to sing God’s praise
    Than when we’d first begun.

MARANA THA