Resurrection & Eternal Destiny

Resurrection is Factual

There is no doubt that Scripture teaches the resurrection of the body. This teaching of bodily resurrection comes strictly through Biblical revelation. Unlike the Greeks who taught that only the soul is immortal, the Bible teaches us that our bodies will be resurrected as we live eternally.

Resurrection Taught in the Old Testament

Let’s look as a few passages in the Old Testament.

Job 19:25–27 KJV 1900

25 For I know that my redeemer liveth, And that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: 26 And though after my skin worms destroy this body, Yet in my flesh shall I see God: 27 Whom I shall see for myself, And mine eyes shall behold, and not another; Though my reins be consumed within me.

Job, as we know, suffered greatly as God allowed Satan to test Job’s faith. Throughout Job’s immense pain, he longed for death to come as a way of relief. At times, he desired to know there was some sort of hope beyond the grave that would make his present suffering more tolerable.

Job 14:13–14 KJV 1900

13 O that thou wouldest hide me in the grave, That thou wouldest keep me secret, until thy wrath be past, That thou wouldest appoint me a set time, and remember me! 14 If a man die, shall he live again? All the days of my appointed time will I wait, Till my change come.

In our text, Job expresses his hope in the living God. What was his hope? His hope was that his suffering would be vindicated by God even after his death. Note Job’s assurance that ever after “worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God.” In the Hebrews, the verb “see” indicates the vantage point of seeing is from the person speaking. In other words, Job had no doubt whatsoever that he would be in a body seeing though physical eyes in his resurrected state.

Here is another fascinating passage in the Old Testament.

Exodus 3:6 KJV 1900

6 Moreover he said, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look upon God.

So what is fascinating about this passage is the fact that Christ himself cited this verse as proof of resurrection in Matthew 22:31–32 “31 But as touching the resurrection of the dead, have ye not read that which was spoken unto you by God, saying, 32 I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.” Essentially speaking, God identified himself to Moses in the famous burning bush and He did so by associating Himself with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in a living relationship that did not cease when those patriarchs died. You see the great “I Am” it the God of the past, present, and future. His statement of “I am the God of…Abraham…Isaac…and Jacob” meant that right then, right there as He was talking to Moses they, his forefathers, were in Jehovah’s presence. They were just as real as Moses in that moment. Thus, He is not only the God of the dead, but of the living.

Here are couple of great passages in the Psalms.

Psalm 16:8–11 KJV 1900

8 I have set the Lord always before me: Because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. 9 Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth: My flesh also shall rest in hope. 10 For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; Neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. 11 Thou wilt shew me the path of life: In thy presence is fulness of joy; At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.

David speaks of his own future resurrection this psalm. Later, in the New Testament, Peter cited this psalm (Acts 2:25-28, 31) as finding ultimate fulfillment in the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Psalm 49:14 KJV 1900

14 Like sheep they are laid in the grave; Death shall feed on them; And the upright shall have dominion over them in the morning; And their beauty shall consume in the grave from their dwelling.

This verse simply states that the righteous (upright) will triumph (have dominion) over the wicked either in this life or the next (in the morning).

Here are few passages from the prophets.

Isaiah 26:19 KJV 1900

19 Thy dead men shall live, Together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: For thy dew is as the dew of herbs, And the earth shall cast out the dead.

This verse is obvious teaching about bodily resurrection. Note “with my dead body shall they rise” is clear indication of future bodily resurrection.

Daniel 12:2 KJV 1900

2 And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.

Again, this verse teaches bodily resurrection both for those who are righteous as well as those who are wicked. The New Testament reaffirms this in John 5:28-29

John 5:28–29 KJV 1900

28 Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, 29 And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.

However, each resurrection respectively, the righteous vs. the wicked, will not occur at the same time according to Revelation 20:4-5

Revelation 20:4–5 KJV 1900

4 And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. 5 But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.

Zechariah 14:5 KJV 1900

5 And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains; For the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal: Yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake In the days of Uzziah king of Judah: And the Lord my God shall come, And all the saints with thee.

Note that “all the saints” will come with “LORD my God.” A truth that will be realized at Christ’s Second Coming.

Resurrection Taught in the New Testament

I am mainly going to just read some of the key passages and let them speak for themselves.

Christ predicted His own resurrection.

Matthew 16:21 KJV 1900

21 From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day.

Matthew 17:23 KJV 1900

23 And they shall kill him, and the third day he shall be raised again. And they were exceeding sorry.

Matthew 20:19 KJV 1900

19 And shall deliver him to the Gentiles to mock, and to scourge, and to crucify him: and the third day he shall rise again.

Christ taught bodily resurrection as factual.

Matthew 22:31–32 KJV 1900

31 But as touching the resurrection of the dead, have ye not read that which was spoken unto you by God, saying, 32 I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.

John 2:19–22 KJV 1900

19 Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. 20 Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days? 21 But he spake of the temple of his body. 22 When therefore he was risen from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this unto them; and they believed the scripture, and the word which Jesus had said.

John 5:28–29 KJV 1900

28 Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, 29 And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.

John 11:25–26 KJV 1900

25 Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: 26 And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?

We find several teachings in Paul’s Epistles concerning bodily resurrection.

1 Corinthians 15:20–24 KJV 1900

20 But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept. 21 For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. 22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. 23 But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming. 24 Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power.

I would simply include this entire chapter as the treatise for bodily resurrection.

2 Corinthians 5:1–4 KJV 1900

1 For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 2 For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven: 3 If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked. 4 For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life.

Philippians 3:21 KJV 1900

21 Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.

1 Thessalonians 4:13–18 KJV 1900

13 But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. 14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. 15 For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. 16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. 18 Wherefore comfort one another with these words.

The Order of Resurrections

We have already established the fact that bodily resurrection falls into only two categories: the resurrection of life (also known as the first resurrection) and the resurrection of condemnation (the second resurrection).

Luke 14:13–14 KJV 1900

13 But when thou makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind: 14 And thou shalt be blessed; for they cannot recompense thee: for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just.

John 5:28–29 KJV 1900

28 Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, 29 And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.

These resurrections will not occur at the same time. Time is not the distinguishing feature. Eternal life or eternal damnation is.

As far as order, we must understand that there is one other resurrection that stands outside of these two that is the “firstfruit” resurrection.

The Resurrection of Christ

His resurrection is the first ever bodily resurrection. Even though Christ, raise others from the dead before His own death, Jesus Christ was the first to rise from the grave with a body that was no longer subject to death.

Romans 6:9 KJV 1900

9 Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him.

Revelation 1:18 KJV 1900

18 I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.

For this reason, the Holy Spirit called Jesus the Firstborn from the dead.

Colossians 1:18 KJV 1900

18 And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.

As, as we can read in 1 Corinthians 15:23, His resurrection is the first of many to come.

1 Corinthians 15:23 KJV 1900

23 But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.

The next resurrection is this.

The Bodily Resurrection of Those Who are Christ’s at His Coming

This resurrection involves the dead saints of this age, the Age of Grace or the Local Church according to 1 Thessalonians 4:16

1 Thessalonians 4:16 KJV 1900

16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:

After this resurrection, we have...

The Bodily Resurrection of the Tribulation saints together with resurrection of the Old Testament saints.

Revelation 20:3–5 KJV 1900

3 And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season. 4 And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. 5 But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.

Daniel 12:2 KJV 1900

2 And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.

Isaiah 26:19 KJV 1900

19 Thy dead men shall live, Together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: For thy dew is as the dew of herbs, And the earth shall cast out the dead.

We have the final resurrection which is...

The Bodily Resurrection of All Unsaved Dead

Revelation 20:5 KJV 1900

5 But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.

Revelation 20:11–14 KJV 1900

11 And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. 12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. 13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. 14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.

Conclusion

As we wrap up this short study on bodily resurrection, let me point out the following. The first four stages of bodily resurrection as known as the first resurrection or the resurrection of life. Remember bodily resurrection in Scripture is not time related but destiny related. It is ether resurrected unto eternal life with God or eternal damnation separated from God. Thus, the last stage, resurrection of all unsaved dead, is the second resurrection or the resurrection unto damnation. You don’t want to be in the last one for sure.