Friday 2 March 2018

A Thought About Resurrection

A lot of gospel tracts nowadays focus on the question 'Are you going to heaven when you die'. But I get the impression reading the Bible that the Apostles' message emphasised more the hope of the resurrection.

Certainly 
to depart and be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord, to be with Christ, is far better; and all who die in the Lord are blessed, because it means they get to rest from their labours. But I feel that focusing rather on the resurrection at the last day, than only on going to heaven when one dies, is a good emphasis to include - because it reinforces the truth that death isn't an escape from a man's true status.
When God comes, He will come to visit the status that a man had in the flesh. Every man shall receive for the things done in the body, whether it be good or whether it be evil. In the judgment at the last day, God will judge all men for the status we had in the body.
So, our heart, mind, thoughts, deeds and relationships which we have now in this present world matter.
That's a challenge - but it's also good news - because the salvation which has been purchased for us to enjoy for eternity, can be experienced already right now in spirit, while we are present in the body.
Death isn't what saves and sanctifies us for eternity. That's a blessing which we must receive - and the good news is, which we can receive, freely - right now in the body in this present world.
We shouldn't, and needn't, wait for death to deliver us from ourselves: that's a bit like some ancient Greek philosophical ideas than Israel's hope of the resurrection. The theme of Scripture was that Messiah is coming here to save us.

The deliverance which we need to fit us for eternity, must and can be received now, while we're in the body. 
Death isn't really the deliverer - death is actually an enemy (the last enemy which shall be destroyed). 

But if the same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead dwells in us, the same Spirit shall raise to life our mortal bodies.

If now through the Spirit we put to death the deeds of the body, we shall live - but if we sow to the flesh, we'll reap corruption.


"The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy," Jesus said, "I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly" (John 10:10).