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I Believe in the Resurrection of the Body

From the desk of Rev Zheng 31 March 2024

    “When they heard that Jesus was alive and that she had seen him, they did not believe it.” (Mark 16: 11)

    People long to escape death and live forever. But death has become the natural destiny of every man since Adam sinned, for all have sinned and fall short of God’s glory. Resurrection is the gift God gives to the world, yet it is so hard to believe; even the disciples struggled to believe it when they first heard about their risen Lord.

    Liberal theologians do not believe in Jesus’ resurrection. They may believe in Jesus dying for their sins but they consider the risen Lord to be an illusion of his disciples. On the other hand, there are Christians who believe in the resurrection of Christ but reject the promise of the bodily resurrection of saints on the last day. Pitifully, this life becomes all they have. Let us look into the Bible on this promise.

    Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die;” (John 11: 25)

    “For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.” (1Cor 15: 22)

    “Because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you to himself.” (2Cor 4: 14)

    “For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him.” (1Th 4: 14)

    “We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed—in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.” (1Cor 15: 51,52)

    “If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith.” (1Cor 14: 13-14)

    Our bodily resurrection on the last day is the fruit of God’s redemption, with Jesus’ resurrection being the firstfruits. It will happen because it is by the power of God who raised Jesus from the dead. Only when we constantly meditate on the wondrous empty tomb of Christ and the bible’s promise of bodily resurrection can we indeed be confident that we have eternal life. Then we will not resonate with the dying world, “Let us eat and drink for tomorrow we die”.

    Instead, we will seize the days to store up treasures in heaven. Such is the power when we recite “I believe in the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting” in the Apostle’s Creed every month.