The Spirit of Life - Our Resurrection

Intro

Last week we looked at the resurrection of Christ. We considered the historical reality of the resurrection, along with the theological and practical implications of it.

We saw that Jesus’ resurrection is the most important and best authenticated fact in the history of the world.

But in Paul’s argument in Romans 8, the resurrection of Christ serves as logical grounds for something else, and that is for the resurrection of the church, that future hope that our mortal bodies will be raised into immortality.

John Murray says that resurrection of Christ supplies the basis and the pattern for the resurrection of the church. As we said last week, as Jesus rose, so we shall rise.

So let’s consider the text:

Look at the text

Let’s make a few quick observations about the resurrection here.

Who is primary agent or actor in the resurrection?

God the Father. He is the one who gives life to us.

At what point does the resurrection occur?

In the future. Paul uses the word will to indicate the future tense.

What kind of life is given to us in this resurrection?

Physical, bodily resurrection.

What is the means by which God the Father resurrects our bodies?

By the Spirit who dwells in us.

So this theme here in verse 11 is what many theologians refer to as the resurrection from the dead.

That being said, let us follow Richard Phillips’ basic study outline as we consider this doctrine of the resurrection from the dead.

What is the resurrection of the dead?

Starting with the most basic definitions, Paul uses two Greek words here in Romans that bear noting. The first is what is translated raise if you’re looking at the NASB. That is the Greek word eigeras and it’s actually a fairly common word in the New Testament, used close to 150 times. It can be used in the more simple sense, meaning “Get up!” Might be comparable to our modern “Get a move on!” or “Get going!” It’s used in the gospel accounts when the angel commands Joseph to get up and take Mary and the child Jesus to Egypt. It can also be used in a political sense, speaking of the raising up of rulers, for example in Judges 2 God is described as raising up judges over Israel. That is the word eigeras as well. But the lion’s share of the word’s usage in the New Testament is to refer to resurrection, to being raised from the dead, and that is the way Paul uses it here.

The second is the word translated as the phrase “give life.” This word is far less common, occuring only 11 times in the New Testament, and exclusive to the writing of John and Paul. This word is unique in that it is almost exclusively used with a member of the Triune God as it’s subject. John speaks of both the Father and the Spirit giving life, Paul speaks multiple times of Christ giving life.

It is additionally important to note here that Paul speaks specifically of a bodily resurrection. Now we noted last week and two weeks ago that Paul teaches that there are two types of resurrection: a spiritual and physical. But rather than just assume a physical resurrection here, I think it’s important to give some solid reasons why this is true. The reason for that is that many people today will contend that there is no bodily resurrection, that we die and just cease to exist, or that we die but our souls return to life.

So I will call again upon Charles Hodge, who gives us 5 reasons why we must believe that the resurrection is a physical, bodily resurrection:

Resurrection always signifies a rising of that which was buried, or a restoration of life to that which was dead. But according to the Scriptures, the soul does not die when the body is dissolved. It therefore cannot be the subject of a future resurrection.

The Scriptures speak of those who are in their graves as rising. But only the body can be said to be buried in a grave, and therefore the body must be understood as the object of this rising.

It is our mortal bodies which are said to rise again, specifically here in our passage in Romans.

Christ rose bodily, therefore we also must rise bodily.

The earliest Christian creeds taught Christians to say “I believe in the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting.”

So having established the necessity of a physical resurrection of our bodies, we would do well to understand that resurrection as it relates to Christ.

Paul is clear in 1 Corinthians 15 that we participate in the resurrection of Christ as a result of our union with him, as we have also seen him argue here in Romans 8. Paul links the two resurrections together inextricably. If you deny one, you must also deny the other. No resurrection of Christ, no resurrection of his church, no resurrection of his church, no resurrection of Christ. Deny the historical reality, lose the future reality, deny the future reality, lose the historical reality.

We also understand that Christ is the firstfruits of the full harvest. The firstfruits precede the full harvest, and likewise Christ’s resurrection precedes ours. Nevertheless, our resurrection is of the same kind and category as Christ’s. After all, whether the firstfruits or not, a harvest of peaches is still peaches, is it not?

Therefore, we can summarize our answer to the question “What is the resurrection of the dead?” with three answers:

It is a bodily, physical resurrection.

It is a resurrection of like kind and category to Christ’s resurrection.

It is given to us as a result of our union with Christ.

Who will be raised from the dead?

Richard Phillips poses a second question regarding the resurrection from the dead. This is an interesting question, and I think it’s important for us to answer it correctly and Biblically.

In Romans 8, Paul is clearly speaking of believers. The resurrection of the dead is specifically for those whose mortal bodies house the Spirit of God who raised Jesus from the dead. So we can correctly deduce from Romans 8 that at least those who are in Christ by repentance and faith can look forward to the resurrection of the dead.

But elsehwere in the Bible we read of a resurrection of all people who have ever lived.

In John 5:28-29 Jesus says this:

John 5:28–29 NASB95

“Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice, and will come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment.

So the resurrection of the dead is technically applicable to all people. Whether in Adam or in Christ, all will be raised.

The difference lies in the end outcome of that resurrection. Those who are righteous by faith will be raised to eternal life, and those who are in their sin by their own works will be condemned to eternal judgment. This delineation will take place at the Great White Throne judgement, where all souls who have ever lived will stand before Christ to make account for their deeds. In that day, according to Matthew 25, the sheep will be separated from the goats, the faithful saints from the disobedient sinners.

To those who are righteous by faith, Jesus will make to them the following invitation according to Matthew 25:34

Matthew 25:34 NASB95

“Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.

but to those who have died in their sins, unrepentant ad unbelieving, Jesus pronounced this curse in Matthew 25:41

Matthew 25:41 NASB95

“Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels;

The resurrection of judgment ought to be a source of great worry and consternation for all people, and particularly unbelievers. John MacArthur once said in a sermon, this was in the late 1970s I believe, I heard a clip from it on the MacArthur Center Podcast hosted by Austin Duncan, and he made the most profound statement. He said this: I see no wrong with people who are saved out of pure fear. Someone who is scared into repentance and scared into the kingdom because they feel the terror of the resurrection of judgment is just as saved as someone who is drawn to Christ because of an understanding of His mercy. Fear is a powerful motivator, and what more does one have to fear than the eternal judgment of God against sin?

That has stuck with me ever since I heard it. There’s no such thing as a “wrong” way to repent and believe. If you repent and believe you’re scared, the point is still first that you’ve repented and believed.

There’s an interesting observation about judgment to be made here. You may ask why there is a bodily resurrection for those who died in their sins and face judgment. I believe it is because hell is not only a place of spiritual and mental and psychological torment, but also of physical torment. Just as the ailments of this body will cease in eternity for those who are raised to life, those who are raised to death, as it were, will only have those ailments amplified. As much as heaven is a place of physical bliss and perfection, free from pain, hell will be a place of physical suffering and torment, free from everything but pain.

The thought of this is truly horrific. That the dead who die outside Christ will be raised, not to life, but to death again, but now it is eternal death. There is no end to the pain. There is no end to the suffering. There is no end to the torment.

You may ask why I would subject you to this thought, and force you to stop and ponder the horror of the resurrection of judgment.

I will let C.S. Lewis answer that question for us:

1 & 2 Thessalonians Who Will Be Raised from the Dead?

The dullest and most uninteresting person you can talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror and a corruption such as you now meet, if at all, only in a nightmare.… It is with the awe and the circumspection proper to them, that we should conduct all our dealings with one another, all friendships, all loves, all play, all politics. There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal.… But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit—immortal horrors or everlasting splendours.

Lewis’ point is this: every single day you interact with people who will exist forever. The question is, is it an existence of eternal life or an existence of eternal death?

A deeper practical implication of Lewis’ statement, and a deeper practical implication of this doctrine, is that we must be faithful and bold in proclaiming the gospel. In order to gain eternal life, you must be in Christ, in order to be in Christ, you must place your faith in Him, and faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of Christ, and the word of Christ by anointed messengers sent to proclaim the good news. You are the messenger of the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life.

So let the horror of hell motivate each of us this morning to proclaim the gospel to a lost and dying world. Their lives depend on it.

In summary then, we can answer the “who” question, who will rise from the dead? Answer: all people will rise again, some in a resurrection of life, and some in a resurrection of judgement.

When will the dead be raised?

Richard Phillips proposes a third question: when will the dead be raised? This is an interesting question, and one that generally only nerds consider in great depth. However, I am a nerd, and I think that all of us should seek, to some degree, to be nerds about the Bible, so I will give you some brief but nerdy thoughts on when the dead will be raised.

The short answer, in the words of Richard Phillips, is

1 & 2 Thessalonians When Will the Dead Be Raised?

the resurrection of the dead will occur when Jesus returns from heaven to earth in all his glory: “For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first” (1 Thess. 4:16).

So we can being by saying with great confidence that the resurrection of the dead will occur upon Christ’s return to earth, and this resurrection is directly before the judgment we spoke about just a few moments ago.

Jesus in Matthew 25:31-32 combines three events at the end of all things: the return, the resurrection, the judgement. Listen to Jesus’ words in Matthew’s gospel:

Matthew 25:31–32 NASB95

“But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. “All the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats;

Now it is important to note that there are some teachers and scholars who will say that there are two distinct resurrections of the dead. This is a hard position to justify from God’s Word. The better understanding comes from a plain reading of Joh’s vision in Revelation 20:12

Revelation 20:12 NASB95

And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds.

John in his vision makes no distinction between the spiritual state of the dead who are raised at the resurrection, and in fact he actually makes a very clear statement that every single person that has ever lived will be raised and will stand before Christ the Judge, by his use of the words translated here great and small. The Greek words are megalous and mikrous, which sound similar to English words we have today, mega and micro, mega meaning big or large or even superior, and micro meaning small in tiny. John’s point is that all people, regardless of state or status, are included in this resurrection to be judged, and that this will happen for all people at the same time, in a single resurrection at the end of the age, rather than in waves, as it were.

So, the short answer to our question, when will the dead be raised, they will be raised at Christ’s return, all together, to be judged according to their deeds as written in the books opened before the throne at the end of time.

A fourth question should be answered as well:

How will the dead be raised?

This question can be answered in two ways. The first answer might be formulated as an answer to the question, by what power are the dead raised?

Paul’s answer in our text this morning is the power of God the Father applied through the indwelling of the Spirit.

This pictures the larger and perhaps more theological answer to that question, which is simply that we are raised by miracle of God. How are we raised? By a miracle of God.

Wilhelmus a Brakel, a Dutch reformer from the late 1600s, describes the means of the resurrection of the dead as follows:

1 & 2 Thessalonians How Will the Dead Be Raised?

This resurrection will not have a natural cause—as if those bodies could again be brought to life after a period of time by certain motions, changes, and transformations. This can neither be accomplished by an angel nor any other creature. Rather, this is a work of omnipotence and will therefore be performed by God, the Creator of heaven and earth.

This question of how the dead are raised can also be answered in another way, this time looking to the nature of the resurrection. What will our bodies be like?

Robert Letham, professor of theology at Union Theological seminary in Wales, in his fantastic exposition of 1 Corinthians 15, highlights at least three characteristics of our resurrection bodies. What will the resurrection of the dead to life look like? What will we be liked when we are raised? If you would, turn to 1 Corinthians 15:35-44 and listen to Letham’s comments:

Systematic Theology 29.4. The Resurrection of the Dead (1 Corinthians 15)

The resurrection body is not identical to our present body (15:35–38). Paul uses an agricultural model. He has already offered the analogy of harvests, and he now resumes this theme. The sequence is the process of sowing and reaping. A seed is sown, dies, and comes to life transformed (vv. 36–37). In an analogous way, the resurrection is a transformation to a different level of existence. Yet there is also continuity and identity. The transformation takes place through death, while new life follows. “What you sow is not the body that is to be,” for “what you sow does not come to life unless it dies.” A seed or kernel ends up as grain. In the case of the resurrection, the present body undergoes death, and life emerges in a different form. The resurrection body is a gift from God. “God gives [δίδωσιν] it a body as he has chosen” (v. 38). Paul later writes of it as “from heaven” (2 Cor. 5:1). God sovereignly determines the nature of the resurrection body. There is order and variety. It is beyond our knowledge, since it is in God’s hands. Yet, because of the unity between Christ’s resurrection and ours, it follows that ours will be shaped by his. Christ was recognized as a human being, engaged in conversation, ate food, cooked breakfast, and was mistaken for other people, but after the initial shock his disciples realized that it was he. Therefore, while we will experience a transformation, there is to be a recognizable continuity between our present and our resurrection bodies. As Thiselton remarks, “The manifestation of Christ’s raised body occurred within the conditions of this world. We still cannot have a comprehensive view of this ‘body,’ which is more than ‘physical’ but not less than ‘physical.’ ”

There is a wide diversity of bodies (15:39–41). Paul reinforces the difference between the two bodies. A radical transformation will occur. The raised body will not be identical to the one that rots in the grave. The diverse range of creatures is proof. Humans, animals, birds, and fish all differ. The sun, moon, and stars differ from earthly beings; there is a vast variety among themselves.

There will be discontinuity between the Adamic body and the resurrection body (15:42–44). Paul lists four pairs of contrasts: perishable versus imperishable, humiliation versus splendor, weakness versus power, and natural versus spiritual. These highlight the dramatic transformation we will share in Christ’s resurrection.

Our present body is perishable. Before the fall, Adam’s body was potentially perishable. This potentiality became actual for Adam and us all upon his violation of the covenant of life by his choice of death. So each person’s present body decays, its powers decline, it weakens, and it eventually dies. It is weak, limited, and vulnerable. It is a natural (ψυχικόν) body, designed at its best for the mundane and fallen realm.

In contrast, the resurrection body is invulnerable. It achieves the ultimate purpose God has designed for humans. It is not static; it is the dynamic, flourishing fullness of life, “an ever-increasing condition.” It is glorious; glory (δόξα) signifies what belongs to God. We will partake of the divine nature. Glorification is the goal of the Christian life and consists of sharing the glory Christ has with the Father (John 17:24; 2 Pet. 1:4). It will be powerful in contrast to our present weakness; all decay, disease, and frustration will have gone. Above all, it will be a spiritual body (σῶμα πνευματικόν) in contrast to a natural one (σῶμα ψυχικόν). It is designed for the eternal state, in which we will have immeasurably greater work. Paul does not mean it will be a spirit in contrast to a material body; that would destroy his entire argument, since the change would not be resurrection but metamorphosis. He means that the resurrection body will be under the sway of the Holy Spirit. When Paul uses πνεῦμα (spirit), he means the Holy Spirit, unless the context demands otherwise. Christ’s resurrection body was inseparably directed by the Holy Spirit, so much so that Paul virtually equates Christ and the Spirit (2 Cor. 3:17). It will be a body no less physical, but it will be more than physical, constituted by the Spirit. It will be “able to do all that we seek to do,” enhanced above and beyond its present limitations. It will be a body for the new creation, the realm of the Holy Spirit, which includes the physical. Thiselton refers to the senses of other creatures here and now that far exceed our own as suggestive of the enhanced abilities we will have then.35

What a wonderful hope we have in this resurrection. Even in a strictly physical sense, we look forward to perfect bodies not bound the same limitations we experience right now.

So to answer the question a second way, how will we be raised? We will be raised into imperishable, glorious, mighty bodies.

But the nature of the resurrection of the dead, as we have seen it thus far, demands two additional questions be answered.

Why will we be raised?

The simple version of the answer is the same answer that we might give to all questions related to God’s purposes in salvation: that He might receive utmost glory by seeing saved sinners safely home.

A second answer takes us back just a few verses to verse 9, in which we see the firstfruits of the dwelling of God with man as Christ by His Spirit dwells within us. The full and final fulfillment of that purpose of God, to dwell among His people, occurs at the resurrection of the dead to life. Therefore we can say, we are raised from the dead so that God might dwell among us fully and finally.

A third answer concerns our journey as pilgrims upon this earth. We walk as a people who look forward to that day when our faith will be made sight. The resurrection of the dead provides a hopeful, forward-looking confidence in the promises of God, so that even when our hearts are troubled and afflicted and suffering overtakes our lives, we can say with Job in Job 19:25-27

Job 19:25–27 NASB95

“As for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, And at the last He will take His stand on the earth. “Even after my skin is destroyed, Yet from my flesh I shall see God; Whom I myself shall behold, And whom my eyes will see and not another. My heart faints within me!

The hope of the resurrection is the hope of faith made sight. So we can say that we are raised from the dead so that our faith will be made sight.

How do we know that we will be raised?

This final question is what brings this home for us.

Paul’s simple answer here in our text is this: if we have received the Spirit of Christ by faith, dwelling within us as a seal and pledge of our eternal inheritance of glorious resurrected life, we can be confident that we will rise as Jesus rose.

So you need ask yourself today: are you in Christ? Is He in you? Have you repented of your sins and turned to follow him? If yes, your hope is secure. Your perishable body will be raised imperishable. You will have corruption exchanged for incorruptibility. Pain for pleasure. What a great hope! A hope secured by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and the reality of Christ’s resurrection.

Therefore, we walk without fear, knowing that death cannot ultimately hurt us for it will not have the victory over us. Christ accomplished the victory when he rose from the dead and his victory now becomes our victory. We now cross that stormy river into the open gates of paradise.

I can think of no better way to wrap up this littler two part series on the resurrection than by reading you the text of the greatest resurrection hymn every written:

1 Christ the Lord is risen today, Alleluia! Earth and heaven in chorus say, Alleluia! Raise your joys and triumphs high, Alleluia! Sing, ye heavens, and earth reply, Alleluia!

2 Love's redeeming work is done, Alleluia! Fought the fight, the battle won, Alleluia! Death in vain forbids him rise, Alleluia! Christ has opened paradise, Alleluia!

3 Lives again our glorious King, Alleluia! Where, O death, is now thy sting? Alleluia! Once he died our souls to save, Alleluia! Where's thy victory, boasting grave? Alleluia!

4 Soar we now where Christ has led, Alleluia! Following our exalted Head, Alleluia! Made like him, like him we rise, Alleluia! Ours the cross, the grave, the skies, Alleluia!

5 Hail the Lord of earth and heaven, Alleluia! Praise to thee by both be given, Alleluia! Thee we greet triumphant now, Alleluia! Hail the Resurrection, thou, Alleluia!

Praise God for the hope of resurrection.

But for Paul, the hope of the resurrection demands action now. As we look forward to that day we have a responsibility to walk right now according to the Spirit by putting to death the deeds of the body. And it is to that great truth that we will turn our attention next week.