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The Daily Word of Righteousness
Your Redemption Draws Near, #10
And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body. (Romans 8:23)
Why There Will Be a Resurrection of the Body
Many saints have had an experience in which their body either approached death or else was actually dead for a brief space of time. During the period of near death, or death, they experienced some of the beauty and joy of the spirit realm. Also, Sundar Singh of India and other Christians have had visions of Heaven in which they saw the beauty of Paradise, the Lord Jesus, the angels, and deceased loved ones and friends.
Most of such visions of Heaven are similar and give the reader a sense of peace and joy and a longing to pass from this world into the next, there to enjoy freedom from dread and pain.
To go to Heaven, to the Paradise of God, has been the hope of Christians throughout the centuries. The thought of being lifted into the perfect world has served as a hope that has spurred the disciples to greater diligence, and has comforted the dying and their relatives.
Who wouldn't want to go to Heaven?
When we contemplate how marvelous the spirit Paradise is, how desirable, we begin to wonder why the Lord Jesus has promised to raise our body from the grave.
We understand we go to Paradise when we die, and it is not at all necessary for the Lord to raise our body in order for us to go to Paradise.
If Paradise is all our heart could desire, and if we do not need to be brought back to life in order to get there, what then, is the purpose of the resurrection of our physical body from the grave?
We understand from the writings of Paul that the resurrection of the physical body is the central hope of the Gospel of the Kingdom of God.
If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable. But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept. (I Corinthians 15:19,20)
It is clear from the fifteenth chapter of I Corinthians that Paul viewed the resurrection of our body from the grave as the central hope of the Gospel, the hope upon which all else depends.
Paul's emphasis on the resurrection of our body from the grave reveals that the purpose of salvation is to restore our body to life.
Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished. (I Corinthians 15:18)
Today we would say of believers that if they have fallen asleep (died) in Christ they are with the Lord in Heaven.
Paul said of believers that if they have fallen asleep they have perished, unless they are to be raised again in the body.
We see from this that the current emphasis on Heaven as our goal rather than the resurrection of our body is not scriptural.
To be continued.