unending existence

An indestructible life

Jesus knew beforehand what was going to happen to him after he was crucified and his dead body was placed inside a tomb to rot. The Jews didn’t believe that Jesus was their Messiah and wanted him to prove to them that God had sent him as he claimed. They asked Jesus, “What sign do you show us for doing these things?” (John 2:18). A sign is something that designates or distinguishes someone, and in Jesus case is, “a sign by which the divine power in majesty is made known, a supernatural event or act, a token, wonder, or miracle by which the power and presence of God is manifested, either directly or through the agency of those whom He sends” (G4592). John 2:19-22 tells us that, “Jesus answered them, ‘Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. The Jews then said, ‘It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?’ But he was speaking about the temple of his body. When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.”

The Scripture that the disciples believed was Psalm 16:10, which states, “For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your holy one see corruption.” The latter part of this verse was quoted by Paul when he was preaching the gospel at Antioch. Paul said:

“Brothers, sons of the family of Abraham, and those among you who fear God, to us has been sent the message of this salvation. For those who live in Jerusalem and their rulers, because they did not recognize him nor understand the utterances of the prophets, which are read every Sabbath, fulfilled them by condemning him. And though they found in him no guilt worthy of death, they asked Pilate to have him executed. And when they had carried out all that was written of him, they took him down from the tree and laid him in a tomb. But God raised him from the dead, and for many days he appeared to those who had come up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are now his witnesses to the people. And we bring you the good news that what God promised to the fathers, this he has fulfilled to us their children by raising Jesus, as also it is written in the second Psalm,

‘You are my Son,
    today I have begotten you.’

And as for the fact that he raised him from the dead, no more to return to corruption, he has spoken in this way,

‘I will give you the holy and sure blessings of David.’

Therefore he says also in another psalm,

‘You will not let your Holy One see corruption.’

For David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep and was laid with his fathers and saw corruption, but he whom God raised up did not see corruption. Let it be known to you therefore, brothers, that through this man forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, and by him everyone who believes is freed from everything from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses. Beware, therefore, lest what is said in the Prophets should come about:

‘Look, you scoffers,
    be astounded and perish;
for I am doing a work in your days,
    a work that you will not believe, even if one tells it to you.’”

As they went out, the people begged that these things might be told them the next Sabbath. And after the meeting of the synagogue broke up, many Jews and devout converts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas, who, as they spoke with them, urged them to continue in the grace of God. (Acts 13:26-43)

Paul identified an important distinction between Jesus and King David. Paul made it clear that after David died he “was laid with his fathers and saw corruption, but he whom God raised up did not see corruption” (Acts 13:36-37). The Greek word that is translated corruption, diaphthora (dee-af-thor-ahˊ) simply means decay (G1312). The fact that Jesus died and because of his resurrection, his body never had a chance to decay, was something that Paul wanted his listeners to understand.

Paul indicated that everyone who believes in Jesus is freed from everything from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses and then pointed his Jewish listeners to a prophecy in the book of Habakkuk that God used to answer Habbakuk’s complaint about the Jews’ corrupt lifestyle. God said, “Look among the nations and see; wonder and be astounded. For I am doing a work in your days that you would not believe if told” (Habakkuk 1:5). Paul didn’t quote this Scripture verbatim. Instead, Paul adapted it to his audience, emphasizing the applicability of it to their situation. A scoffer is someone who is opposed to seeing things from God’s perspective, a person who spurns the truth of God’s word. Paul said the scoffer would be astounded and yet would perish, meaning the scoffer would understand the implications of Jesus’ resurrection and would choose to reject him and go to hell.

The unbelievable thing that God did in Habakkuk’s day was to have his people taken into captivity in Babylon. After that prophecy was fulfilled, Jeremiah wrote a letter to the exiles and told them, “For thus says the LORD: When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place. For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for your welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope” (Jeremiah 29:10-11). God brought the Jews back to their land and fulfilled his promise to give them a Messiah. Jesus’ resurrection three days after his crucifixion was evidence that God’s plan of salvation had accomplished what he intended it to. Hebrews 7:16-17 tells us that after his resurrection, Jesus became a priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek, by the power of an indestructible life.

Paul described Jesus’ indestructible life as immortality. Paul said flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable (1 Corinthians 15:50), meaning that an indestructible life involves an unending existence and therefore it is not subject to decay (G861/862). Paul went on to say, “For this perishable body must put on the imperishable and this mortal body must put on immortality” (1 Corinthians 15:53), and then, he concluded, “When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: ‘Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? Oh death, where is your sting’” (1 Corinthians 15:54-55). Jesus’ miraculous victory over sin and death resulted not only in an indestructible life for him, but also for everyone who accepts him as their Savior. Paul concluded, “The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 15:56-57).

The resurrection of the dead

The Apostle Paul’s ministry ended when he was martyred for his faith in Rome. The book of Acts tells us that Paul was first arrested in the temple in Jerusalem (Acts 21:27-36). When he was given the opportunity to address the chief priests and all the council, Paul indicated, “It is with respect to the hope and the resurrection of the dead that I am on trial” (Acts 23:6). Later, when Paul appeared before the governor, Felix, he stated, “But this I confess to you, that according to the Way, which they call a sect, I worship the God of our fathers, believing everything laid down by the Law and written in the Prophets, having a hope in God, which these men themselves accept, that there will be a resurrection of both the just and the unjust” (Acts 24:14-15). In his defense before King Agrippa, Paul talked about his conversion (Acts 26:12-18) and, then argued on his own behalf:

“Therefore, O King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, but declared first to those in Damascus, then in Jerusalem and throughout all the region of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds in keeping with their repentance. For this reason the Jews seized me in the temple and tried to kill me. To this day I have had the help that comes from God, and so I stand here testifying both to small and great, saying nothing but what the prophets and Moses said would come to pass: that the Christ must suffer and that, by being the first to rise from the dead, he would proclaim light both to our people and to the Gentiles.” (Acts 26:19-23)

Festus, the leader of the Roman Tribunal, reacted to Paul’s personal testimony by stating, “Paul, you are out of your mind; your great learning is driving you out of your mind” (Acts 26:24).

Paul’s assertion that he was saying nothing but what the prophets and Moses said would come to pass was corroborated by Peter’s message to Cornelius, “a centurion of what was known as the Italian Cohort, a devout man who feared God with all his household” (Acts 10:1, 39-43). In his first letter to the Thessalonians, Paul clearly stated what he meant by resurrection of the dead. Paul said:

For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. 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. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. (1 Thessalonians 4:14-17)

Paul indicated that his revelation about the resurrection of the dead came directly from the Lord (1 Thessalonians 4:15). Paul told the Thessalonians that Jesus himself will descend from heaven, “And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air” (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17). The event that Paul described has come to be known as “the rapture of the church” (note on 1 Thessalonians 5:2). Zechariah 14:1-4 explains that the events pertaining to Christ’s Second Advent are included in the day of the Lord, “that extended period of time when God will deal with Israel after the rapture of the church. It will continue through the second advent and the millennial age, which precedes the creation of the new heaven and new earth.”

Jesus mentioned the resurrection of the dead in his conversation with Martha about her brother, Lazarus’ death. “Jesus said to her, ‘Your brother will rise again” (John 11:23). The Greek word that is translated rise again, anistemi (an-isˊ- tay-mee) means “to stand up (literal or figurative; transitive or intransitive” (G450). Jesus went on to tell Martha, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die” and then, asked Martha, “Do you believe this?” (John 11:25-26). In this statement, Jesus used the word anastasis (an-asˊ-tas-is), which means, “a standing up again, i.e. (literal) a resurrection from death…Spoken of the future and general resurrection at the end of all things (John 11:24; Acts 17:32; 24:15, 21; 26:23; 1 Corinthians 15:12, 13, 21, 42; Hebrews 6:2)” (G386). Jesus referred to himself as the resurrection, the author of resurrection. What Jesus meant by that was that he would establish the resurrection as a known fact, a real thing that people could understand and believe. In his first letter to the Corinthians, Paul referred to the fact that Christ’s resurrection was established by eye witness accounts of more than 500 people. Paul said:

For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. (1 Corinthians 15:3-8)

Paul began by stating that what he was about to say was of first importance, meaning that it was the primary fact upon which everything else depended in his message that followed. Paul indicated that Jesus was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures (1 Corinthians 15:4). One of the scriptures that Paul was referring to was most likely Hosea 6:2, which states, “After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will raise us up, that we may live before him.” The Hebrew word, chayah (khaw-yawˊ), is translated as both revive and live in this verse, suggesting that the restoration of life and the resurrection of the dead do not occur at the same time. The Hebrew word that is translated raise us up, quwm (koom) has the same meaning as the Greek word anistemi, “to stand up” (H6965).The Greek word that is translated raised in 1 Corinthians 15:4, egeiro (eg-iˊ-ro) is “probably akin to the base of 58 (through the idea of collecting one’s faculties); to waken (transitive and intransitive), i.e. rouse (literal from sleep, from sitting or lying, from disease, from death; or figurative from obscurity, inactivity, ruins, nonexistence)” (G1453).

Paul went on to explain that it was necessary for Christ to be raised, to waken from death, in order for there to be a resurrection of the dead. Otherwise, there would be no such thing as a resurrection of the dead (1 Corinthians 15:12-19). Paul concluded his argument by stating, “But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death” (1 Corinthians 15:20-26).

Paul’s discussion of the resurrection of the dead was likely prompted by questions about his teaching on this topic. The book of Acts indicates there was a division among the Jews about the resurrection of the dead (Acts 23:6-8), and it seems likely that the division carried over into the church. Paul explained to the Corinthians:

But someone will ask, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?” You foolish person! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. And what you sow is not the body that is to be, but a bare kernel, perhaps of wheat or of some other grain. But God gives it a body as he has chosen, and to each kind of seed its own body. For not all flesh is the same, but there is one kind for humans, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish. There are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is of one kind, and the glory of the earthly is of another. There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for star differs from star in glory.

So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. (1 Corinthians 15:35-44)

Paul compared the transformation that will occur at the resurrection of the dead to a kernel becoming a stalk of wheat and then, provided the details of what he knew about our bodies’ future state. Paul said that our spiritual body will be imperishable or will have unending existence (G861). In addition to that, Paul said our new bodies will be raised in glory and in power. In other words, our spiritual bodies will display the attributes of God that have been at work within us, which God will develop to the point that they become visible to everyone around us, as with the grain of wheat that sprouts up out of the ground.

Paul concluded his discussion of the resurrection of the dead by making note of the mystery surrounding the rapture of the church. Paul exclaimed, “Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed” (1 Corinthians 15:51-52). The Greek word allassō (al-lasˊ-so), in this instance, has to do with a change for the better, and Paul’s next statement suggests that the change will be connected to our immortality. Paul stated:

For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:

“Death is swallowed up in victory.”
“O death, where is your victory?
    O death, where is your sting?”

The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:53-57)

Paul described the resurrection of the dead as a victory, a conquest or triumph over death (G3534), and said that God gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. In his letter to the Romans, Paul elaborated on the conquest that believers will one day achieve. Paul said:

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:37-39)

Paul’s image of the believer’s conquest over death had to do with nothing being able to separate us from the love of God. In Paul’s mind, death was not about the absence of life, but about being separated from our Creator. From that standpoint, the resurrection of the dead means that our physical connection with God is what needs to and will be restored when Jesus returns.