John 5:28 states that all who are in their graves shall hear His voice and shall come forth. It is our belief that only the physical body is in the grave, the soul and spirit being somewhere in the spirit realm. I think most Evangelical people believe this.

So Jesus is saying the body of every person who has lived and died on the earth shall one day hear His voice and come forth from wherever he or she has been interred. This seems clear to me.

But Luke 20:35,36 appears to contradict this. Jesus said here that only those considered worthy will take part in the resurrection from the dead.

The same concept of being found worthy to attain the resurrection from the dead appears also in the third chapter of the Book of Philippians, where we find the Apostle Paul, toward the end of his career, striving with all his might to gain Christ, especially that he might participate in the resurrection (Greek: out-resurrection) from the dead.

In John, Christ is saying all shall be brought forth from the grave. In Luke, Christ is saying only those considered worthy will be resurrected.

It is evident that there are two aspects of resurrection. There is no truth more vital to the understanding of American Christians than the fact that the resurrection from the dead has two distinctly different aspects.

The doctrine of the resurrection of the dead and the doctrine of the coming of the Kingdom of God to the earth have both been lost to us since the first century. They are being restored today because of the closeness of the end of the Church Age.

You and I will one day be raised from the dead. This is a fact and it cannot be changed in any manner. Whether we like it or not, our physical flesh and bones are going to be brought forth to stand once again on the earth.

The power that operates in assembling the parts of our dead body and animating them so they stand on the earth is not, according to my understanding, the eternal Life of God; because extremely wicked men will be raised from the dead and they will never experience the eternal Life of God.

Rather, the power that assembles and animates our flesh and bones is the same power of God that operates the universe, that created the galaxies. The eternal, incorruptible resurrection Life of God is another matter. This is Life issuing from the Person of God through Jesus Christ. It is not just power it is the Presence of God. It is the full experience of this life that is our goal, not just the power that operates the universe.

There is nothing we can do about the beginning, primary aspect of the resurrection. What is at issue is what happens after the assembling and animating of our flesh and bones. If we have cooperated with the Spirit of God in the transformation of our personality; if we have denied ourselves, taken up our cross, and followed Jesus Christ throughout our discipleship; if we have presented our body a living sacrifice to God as our act of worship; then our flesh and bones will be clothed with a degree of eternal life in proportion to the faithfulness with which we have served the Lord.

To be continued.