WILL THE DEAD LIVE AGAIN?
Introduction:
One
of the things I appreciate as a pastor is the opportunity to speak with the
dying, comfort the bereaved, and preach at a funeral service. Those moments are
precious and painful, where one grips with the reality of life and death. Questions
are asked as to what truly matters in life. Some of the questions I was often
asked were, where did my loved ones go to heaven or hell? Will they come back
to life? Will I see them again?
"A group of Americans was surveyed
concerning life issues after death: Ten percent believe we return to earth in a
different form. Ten percent believe there is no life after death.
Twenty-four percent believe the soul
lives in a different place, determined by past actions. Forty-eight percent
believe we go to heaven or hell, depending on confession of sins and accepting
Jesus. The remaining 8 percent were undecided."[1]
If you ask Christians, they too have
a varied understanding of life matters after death. What do you believe
regarding life after death? Will the dead come back to life? What
does the Bible say about these matters? Before we look at what the Bible says
about life after death, I will share some various religions' misconceptions
about life after death.
I.
Misconceptions about life after death.
Only atheists believe that there is
no God, no life after death, and death is the end of an individual's existence.
On the contrary, many have a variety of views on end-of-life matters. Though
these are firmly held views, they may not stand up under thorough examination.
Hinduism:
"Hindus
do not believe in heaven or hell. Their life after death system of belief is
that of reincarnation. Hindus believe that they are born into a different body primarily determined by their previous life after death. They may come back
as a fly, an ant, a bird, a worm, etc.
Chinese Traditional Religion,
"Upon death, the god Ch'eng Huang determines whether someone's spirit is
virtuous enough to go and dwell with the immortals in Buddhist paradises, or to
a hell followed by an immediate rebirth into their next reincarnation."
Islam: Muslims believe in
a good place called paradise and a bad place called hell. Those bound for
paradise will experience peace before the resurrection, and those bound for
hell will suffer in their graves."[2] Judaism:
There's a
Jewish joke that says there's no Heaven or Hell: we all go to the same place
when we die, where Moses and Rabbi Akiva give constant and everlasting classes
on the Bible and the Talmud. For the righteous, this is eternal bliss, while
for the wicked, this is eternal suffering. What do Jews believe regarding life
after death?
At different times and in different
places, Jews had different ideas. These varying thoughts were never reconciled
or canonically decided. Thus, even today, Jews believe in various, often
irreconcilable, theories of life after death.
The Sadducees, the
prominent priestly class who ran the Temple, did not believe in an afterlife
nor the resurrection of the dead, Josephus writes. Meanwhile, their
counterparts and adversaries, the Pharisees, an elite of experts in Jewish law,
believed in both."[3] To understand what
Christians believe regarding life after death, we will turn to the persuasive
arguments of Jesus, and one of the most learned Jewish scholars turned into an
ardent follower of Christ.
II.
Convincing arguments regarding whether the dead will live again
During the ministry of Jesus and
Paul, a religious group named Sadducees contended the idea that there
was no resurrection of the dead. Both Jesus and Paul refuted their
misconceptions regarding life after death through their convincing arguments from
the scripture.
Jesus
puts the Sadducees in place: (Matthew 22:23-33)
One day some Sadducees who say there
is no resurrection from the dead posed a question to Jesus. I was about
marriage in the resurrection. Isn't it strange that they never believed in the
resurrection of the dead yet had a question regarding marriage in life after
death?
It was about a woman who died having
been married to seven brothers. The question was, whose wife will she be in the
resurrection. Jesus replied to them, pointing out their mistake lack of
knowledge of the scripture and the power of God. Then explains how God called
himself God of the living, not God of the dead, indicating that the dead will
come back to life one day.
Matthew 22:31-33 "But
now, as to whether there will be a resurrection of the dead—haven't
you ever read about this in the Scriptures? Long after Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob had died, God said, 'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the
God of Jacob.' So, he is the God of the living, not the dead. "When the
crowds heard him, they were astounded at his teaching. The next verse tells us
that the Sadducees were silenced with that answer.
III.
The Resurrection of the Dead
Following Jesus' example, the
Apostle Paul challenges the Sadducees (we assume) about their wrongly held
views on the resurrection of the dead. Vs. 12-13, "But tell me
this—since we preach that Christ rose from the dead, why are some of you saying
there will be no resurrection of the dead? For if there is no resurrection of
the dead, then Christ has not been raised either."
The Apostle Paul uses a logical
argument and ties the resurrection of the dead with the resurrection of Christ.
We must ask whether the resurrection of the dead was a concept of the New
Testament only or an Old Testament concept as well? Were there any incidents of
people returning to life after they were deceased? I want us to consider
the following incidents:
Job saw the first glimpses of the
resurrection of the Lord. Job 19:25-27, "But as for me, I know that my
Redeemer lives, and he will stand upon the earth at last. And after my body has
decayed, yet in my body, I will see God! I will see him for myself. Yes, I will
see him with my own eyes. I am overwhelmed at the thought!"
The prophet Daniel prophesied that
there would be two types of resurrections of the dead. Daniel 12:1-2, "But
at that time, every one of your people whose name is written in the book will
be rescued. Many of those whose bodies lie dead and buried will rise up, some
to everlasting life and some to shame and everlasting disgrace." Which
category will you belong to when you rise?
The Psalmist predicted how the
righteous dead one day would come back to life, and Jesus would be resurrected.
Psalm 16:10, "For you will not leave my soul among the dead or allow your
holy one to rot in the grave." Peter uses it in his sermon in the second
chapter of Acts.
There are three explicit examples in the Hebrew Bible of
people being resurrected from the dead: Elijah prays, and God raises the
widow's son at Zarephath from death (1Kings 17:17-24). Elisha raises the son of
the Woman of Shunem (2 Kings 4:32-37). A dead man's body thrown in Elisha's
tomb was resurrected when it touched Elisha's bones (2 Kings 13:20-21).
In
the NT, six incidents where dead people came back to life: The widow of Nain's
son (Lk 7:11-17), Jairus's daughter (Lk 8:49-56), Lazarus of Bethany (John 11),
Tabitha (Acts 9:36-43), Eutychus the young man who fell of the window and died
during Paul's long sermon, (Acts 20:7-12), and the dead saints came out of the
graves when Jesus was crucified (Matt 27:50-55).
What
is the difference between the resurrection of these people and Jesus's
resurrection? The
resurrected people lived again in fully human bodies and died again. In
contrast, Jesus was resurrected with a glorified body, never to die again.
Because Jesus rose from the dead and lives, all those who believe and hope in
him will live with Him forever in heaven.
John 5:28-29, "Don't be so
surprised! Indeed, the time is coming when all the dead in their graves will
hear the voice of God's Son, and they will rise again. Those who have done good
will rise to experience eternal life, and those who have continued in evil will
rise to experience judgment." Let's see how Paul built this theme of the hope
of resurrection.
IV.
The Hope of The Resurrection: (14-20)
Paul laid out his argument
thoroughly, beginning with Adam's sin until the death of the second Adam,
Christ, on the cross. As a result of Adam's sin, we will all die, but because
of Christ's death and resurrection, those who believe in Him will also die but
will rise again to be with Him in eternity. That is the hope of the
resurrection of Christ.
Let me summarize Paul's argument in
verses 14-20: Without the resurrection of Christ, all the preaching of the
apostles and the subsequent preachers is useless. The faith of those who
believed such teaching is also futile. If all those who believe that there is
no resurrection of the dead were right, those with a contrary belief are
considered liars and hopeless.
But thank God the earlier group has
gotten it wrong because of the ample scriptural evidence indicating that there
is indeed a resurrection of the dead. Moreover, Jesus' stands as the ultimate proof.
Paul strengthens his argument with these convincing words.
Vs. 17-20, "And if Christ has
not been raised, then your faith is useless, and you are still guilty of your
sins. In that case, all who have died believing in Christ are lost! And if our
hope in Christ is only for this life, we are more to be pitied than anyone in
the world. But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead. He is the first
of a great harvest of all who have died."
What does this mean for us today?
Because Jesus lives, we can live today, tomorrow, and when we die, we will rise
to be with Him in heaven. Because Jesus is alive, we are people of eternal hope
and encouragement. On Christ, the solid rock we stand secure forever.
Amen!
