The Resurrection Part 2
In order to understand "resurrection", we must understand "death".
The "resurrection from the dead" that the Bible speaks of is the resurrection from spiritual death. Genesis 2:15-17
The church often uses the terms resurrected body, resurrection of the body or physical resurrection, but the Bible never uses these phrases.
The phrases "Resurrected body", "resurrection of the body", or "physical resurrection" do not ever appear in the Bible.
The Bible only uses the phrase "resurrection of the dead" and "resurrection from the dead".
Death is the absence of life and is the consequence of sin. Resurrection to life is the restoration of life lost in Adam. 1 Corinthians 15:22
The life lost in Adam was NOT physical life. The death introduced by Adam was NOT physical death.
The death introduced by Adam was a "sin death" or the loss of fellowship with God.
What gives us power to understand the Word of God is knowledge. Matthew 22:29 says, "Ye do err, not knowing the Scriptures, nor the power of God."
The Apostle Paul stood before Governor Felix in Acts 24 and spoke about the hope of Israel, the resurrection. Acts 24:14-15; Acts 24:21; Acts 24:24 & Acts 26:6-8 Paul’s source of resurrection doctrine was Moses and the prophets.
In 1 Corinthians 15:51-52, The Apostle Paul spoke about the resurrection. He wasn't introducing a new concept about the sounding of a trumpet but simply restating its previous use by the Lord in gathering God's people.
Remember, the only sounding of a trumpet mentioned in the New Testament before 1 Corinthians 15:52 is in Matthew 24:29-31. The Apostle Paul said it was the last trumpet.
Revelation 8:6, 10:7 The Book of Revelation describes seven trumpets.
Matthew 24:29-31 is the source of 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17. Matthew 24 was fulfilled in AD 70.
Paul affirmed twice 1 Corinthians 15:52, 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17 that the sounding of the trumpet at the resurrection and return of Jesus would occur before that generation ended. See Matthew 24:34, Mark 13:30, Luke 21:32.
You can see the pattern of consistency and the time statements of imminence. In Revelation Chapter 10, the mystery of God would be finished as declared by the prophets.
Revelation 11:15,18 speaks of the seventh trumpet and the time of the dead. John said repeatedly in the Book of Revelation 1:1,3 that all this was coming shortly and the time was at hand. These terms occur throughout the Book of Revelation.
In the Book of John, chapter 11, Jesus said that He was the resurrection, the promised one that was to come to confirm the promises made unto the fathers, the promised resurrection for Israel. Romans 15:8
Jesus said He was the life and that whosoever lived and believed in him and lived under the New Covenant that was being established would never die. John 11:26
Plainly speaking, for Israel, Jesus was the resurrection.
For us, Jesus is the life.
In 1 Corinthians 15:51-54, Paul expected something special to happen in the lifetimes of the first century Corinthian saints. He said "We shall not all sleep (die), but we shall all be changed." He said that this would happen at the Last Trump.
At that exact moment when the dead were resurrected in AD 70, the living saints were given the promised gift of eternal life. Those who were mortal put on immortality never to be separated from God's presence. "And so shall we ever be with the Lord." 1 Thessalonians 4:17
The Apostle Paul said, "The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death." 1 Corinthians 15:26 We, who today live in the age of the everlasting kingdom, have eternal life.
How great is the joy when you understand the day of resurrection and that the Scripture is fulfilled which was written, "Death is swallowed up in victory." 1 Corinthians 15:54
In Genesis 2:15-17, Adam and Eve died spiritually that day and were cast out of God's presence. Spiritual life is what was lost, NOT physical life.
Physical resurrection is not what the Bible means by resurrection from the dead. Ephesians 2:1 We regain our spiritual life by obeying the Gospel. 2 Timothy 1:10
Many Bible passages address a "rapture of the church". Scripturally, it is the rising of the dead and the changing and catching up of those alive, in essence, the resurrection.
How and when an individual believer participates in the resurrection has been one of the most distorted, confused, and misunderstood concepts of the Gospel.
Only in the past fulfilled perspective of eschatology is the resurrection no longer a mystery because ignorance is removed and replaced with knowledgeable scriptural reality. 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17 & 1 Corinthians 15:51-54.
Those who would know about the life that would never end must enter the power of Jesus' death and resurrection through Baptism. John 3:3-5, 8:51, 11:26
Those who are born again are free from sin and death.
The Biblical definition of life and death is not redemption from biological death, but redemption from death caused by sin.
It is resurrection life in Jesus Christ that has become a reality. All who come into Christ today are free from sin and walk in newness of life. Romans 8:2, 6:3-4
We receive life from the dead and are raised together with him by faith in the operation of God in baptism. Colossians 2:12 Remember, we are not sinners because we sin, we sin because we are sinners, but the blood of Jesus continually cleanses us from all sin. Romans 7:23, 1 John 1:9
We can continually live in God's presence both now and forevermore.
Here is some other resurrection Scriptures found in both the Old Testament and in the New Testament: Daniel 12:2, John 5:28-29, Isaiah 26:129, Acts 24:14-15
In Matthew 24:15,21, Jesus gave the sequence of events.
Jesus said that as a direct result of the appearance of the Abomination of Desolation, the Tribulation would follow.
In Matthew 24:31,34, we find the prediction of the resurrection at the sounding of the great trumpet at the coming of the Lord. This last trump is also referenced in 1 Corinthians 15:52.
Now the Scriptures have given us the whole sequence of events of the Last Days:
1) the Abomination of Desolation, then
2) the Great Tribulation,
3) the Resurrection,
4) the Judgment followed by
5) the Rapture which marked the Last Day of the Last Days.
The resurrection out of the dust in Isaiah 26:19 is the same resurrection as in Daniel 12:2. Jesus said that the sounding of the Great Trumpet (the time of resurrection) would be at His coming in judgment, power, and great glory. Matthew 24:29-31
Resurrection Day was on the Last Day of the Old Covenant. This marked the beginning of the Eternal Day! Revelation 21:25
Conclusion
In the Bible, there are:
Two deaths Genesis 2:17, Genesis 5:5, Romans 5:12
Two lives Genesis 2:7, Romans 6:23, John 10:27-28
Two resurrections, one at the end of the Old Covenant John 5:28-29, and another that is ongoing throughout eternity Romans 6:3-5
The worse kind of death is the second death; the best kind of life is eternal life.
Remember, physical death is but a doorway through which we must pass being then given our new glorious body fit for heavenly existence and immediately ushered into the presence of God. 2 Corinthians 5:1