By Titto Thomas
Billy Graham once said “I have read the end of the book; therefore I am convinced of my future hope!” Isn’t that true of the bible? Isn’t it thrilling to learn that we will not stay conquered by death, but rather will be resurrected into the very presence of God. According to the Bible there is going to be a bodily resurrection for all people. While unbelievers will be resurrected to hell, believers will be resurrected to heaven.
In this post I want to look at our future resurrection in detail.
When?
The Bible teaches us that Jesus Is coming back. This return will be restricted to the clouds. It is at this time that the first resurrection starts- the resurrection of the believers. All those who died in Christ and all those who will be living in Him are going to be resurrected and caught up with Him (I Thessalonians 4:16-17).
Now, what about those people who accept Christ after this first coming? They will be resurrected at the third coming of our Lord. The third coming will be a glorious appearance where He will come as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. At this point the remaining believers will be resurrected. This completes the resurrection of the believers (Revelation 20:4-5).
After the third coming Jesus will reign on earth for a thousand years. At the end of this thousand year period, the remaining people will be resurrected and judged. This resurrection is for those people who have rejected Jesus (Revelation 20:13).
How?
Now let’s look at how we will be resurrected. In I Corinthians 15, Paul likens our death and resurrection to that of a seed. This perishable seed will be sown into the ground and after the outer covering perishes, it will regain a new form. Likewise, after our bodies perish on being sown into the ground, we will resurrect into a new imperishable body.
Like Jesus’ new body after resurrection our new body will also be a tangible one. Jesus re-iterated that he had not resurrected into a spirit, but had real flesh and bones (Luke 24:39). He ate normal food with the disciples (Luke 24:41-43), yet he could appear and disappear (Luke 24:36, Luke 24:31 and John 20:19). Thus, this new body will have more characteristics of the spirit than of the flesh.
Many people are blinded by the false belief that when they die, they just perish. However, the Bible teaches us otherwise and warns us that every action on earth will have a consequence in eternity. In the next series of posts we will show you what happens after resurrection.
Encouraging post for us who long for His appearing! Can’t say I ever heard of the Third coming! I know there are many interpretations of this doctrine.
Dear Mike,
The terminologies don’t matter, you could use different words. The Greek word used for the coming of the Lord is “parousia” and this word is best translated as “manifest” or “appear”.
The Jews believed/believe that the coming of the Messiah/Christ was a single event. If you read Messianic prophecy it does seem as though all these events would take place in on go, but it is not so. There are different appearances, with different purposes.
A partial blindness has occurred to the Jewish people, and this will be so till the fullness of the Gentiles come in. (Romans 11:25). Once the fullness of the Gentiles come in, the Lord will start dealing with the Jews. This is why the tribulation is referred to as Jacob’s trouble, their “New Testament” wilderness for their stubbornness and disobedience. Paul warns however:
Quite right, they were broken off for their unbelief, but you stand by your faith Do not be conceited, but fear;for if God did not spare the natural branches, He will not spare you, either. (Romans 11:20-21)
This again is why Jesus’ entire focus of the Great Tribulation is Jerusalem and Judah (Matthew 23:37-39; Matthew 24:1-2, 15-16).
My heart does not lie in arguing about the order of His coming. One thing I know, He said He was coming quickly and that we were to watch and pray, and to equip people to grow in faith and obedience. Let’s go forth in the name of the Lord!
=)
Sidharth
Thank you (1 Thes 4:18).
So thankful for this Blessed Hope. Spurs me on to holy living and sharing Jesus…
The definition of God is omnipresent, omniscient and omnipotent. So God being omnipresent we are always in “the very presence of God.” I guess you meant to say resurrect into the awareness of the very presence of God.
You are preaching here the backward advice that one should look forward to going to heaven as the result, or reward, of action in the present. Because as we know, looking forward to results prevents or distracts one’s full enjoyment of what he or she does in the present. And thereby one misses the boat of Ralph Waldo Emerson’s wise council, “The reward of a thing well done is having done it.”
Like Emerson, I propose Heaven and Hell are in one’s present experience of good and bad respectively; and at the end of life, when we leave our body and are beyond time and space, Heaven and Hell will be the sum total of all the good and bad we experienced on Earth as an image of God. And if one has not done justice to experiencing the wonders of living in the image of God, that soul will have the added remorse of selling a diamond for the price of spinach.
Dear Richard,
God is Omnipresent by His Spirit, but there are different dimensions of His Presence. If you read the Old Testament, you would clearly understand this. This is why Scripture says God came walking in the cool of the day in the garden (Genesis 3:8), why Moses saw the Lord’s back side but could not see His face (Exodus 33:23), why Ezekiel saw the Lord on the throne (Ezekiel 1:24-28). He lives in unapproachable light whom no human being has seen or can see (1 Timothy 6:16). He veils His glory so that we do not perish by it.
Resurrection isnt a mental, make-believe. It is God’s victory over the reign of death— first at the spiritual realm and then at the physical.
We are called to eternal life, and this eternal life does not start off once you die, but we have been made partakers of this eternal life while we are in this world itself. However, Richard, what Titto is dealing with is the “Resurrection of the dead”. The moment you and I die (death is inevitable, if you disbelieve this I can’t help you
). our bodies go to the dust, but our spirit man (the real us) goes to God. Resurrection of the dead is the point in time when the elements of our body are transformed to a different substance, even an eternal one.
Heaven is a Kingdom where God’s prefect will and reign is. Sadly we dont have that on earth. We don’t have hell on earth either, because Hell is a place that is void of God.
And we are not given citizenship by the weightage of our works, but by the eternal work Christ has done on the Cross, period.
We can live in a world of fantasy of our minds, but truth is eternal.
Our philosophies don’t count.
Sidharth
Great Post as always
and a lovely template
Godbless Imrah
Sidharth,
thanks for commenting on our blog! Keep up the passion!
-Joe!
In response to your comment…..Jesse Stockman plays fiddle for The Isaacs.
Just came back for a visit. Love the new digs! Blessings to all!