Let's move through the points we have here. Casper Levianus, who was one of the principal authors of the Heidelberg Catechism, some of you are familiar with the Heidelberg Catechism, he wrote, the last two articles of the Creed, so that would be the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting, contain the consummation of the benefits of Christ, namely, that blessed life that in soul and body we will live in the kingdom of our heavenly father fully united with Christ our head and fully regenerated and transformed into his image and glory which I add there is the work of the Holy Spirit. And so we see that we're we're coming down to the end of of what's comprised in our salvation and particularly what is the particular work of the Holy Spirit and that is he is fully conforming us and transforming us into the image of Jesus Christ. The second point here, I say that indeed the resurrection of the body is arguably the most important practical doctrine of the Christian faith. That is, if the salvation that Christ procured for us did not include and provide for the resurrection of our bodies, as Paul says, let us eat and drink for tomorrow we die. Because, as Paul says, also in that same chapter, if in this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied. And so we're as we start dealing with the resurrection of the body, we realize that Christianity is not It is not just a moral code that guides our life in the here and now. This is a salvation that is eternal, that has ultimate fulfillment in eternity. The things that go on in the here and now are ultimately to break forth into the glory that we enjoy forever and ever. And, you know, too often at times Christianity has been looked at as something that's merely for the now. And Paul says, if that's your view, then you of all people need to be most pitied. We don't just hope in Christ for the here and now. We have an eternal hope in him. And so this becomes extremely important, if not one of the most important aspects of the Christian faith. is the resurrection of the body. The reason why the resurrection is so important is because death is the ultimate enemy of mankind. And because it is the ultimate enemy of mankind, much thought and religiosity has gone on and even work and effort Right now, man in the West puts all his effort into trying to somehow stop death. We try to somehow, if we can stop this and we can make it go away. This is the big issue. This is the big question for mankind. How do we get around death? And nobody has been able to stop it yet. And so the basic posture of mankind towards the whole issue of death, and then therefore the related subject of resurrection, is that when they hear about resurrection, that would be something that they would mock and ridicule because nobody's been able to stop it as far as the world putting out its best. And so, as should be expected, this is part way through that third point, as should be expected when we talk about the resurrection, the reaction has always been, as it was among those who Paul preached to almost 2,000 years ago, Ridicule, mocking, and disdain. Acts 17.32 Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked. Acts 26.24 Festus said with a loud voice, Paul, you are out of your mind. Your great learning is driving you out of your mind. You ever talk to anybody about the resurrection? A hardened unbeliever, the reactions have not changed very much. People think we are out of our minds when we speak of the resurrection of the dead. And therefore, we need to understand that the resurrection is not something that we can understand or come to embrace based upon human intellect and reason. But that it's a truth and it is a mysterious truth that we know from the word of God alone. This is this is not something that you're going to be able to prove in nature or something like that. Resurrection is something wholly outside of this world. It involves a power not found within the natural order and so Our intellect, our reason isn't going to get us here. It's a truth that we know from the word of God. In other words, it is only by a work of the Holy Spirit convicting us of and comforting us with this glorious promise that we come to believe it and look forward to it. Books such as Evidence That Demands a Verdict or The Case for the Resurrection They are excellent books, and I don't want you to hear that in any other way. They are excellent books for strengthening a believer's faith and for helping us give a reason for the hope that's within us that they will never convince an unbeliever to believe. Evidence for the resurrection is not what convinces people. The gospel is the power of God unto salvation. In fact, the resurrection is both the message of and argument for the Christian faith, and thus one must have faith in order to accept it. It is not an intellectual ascent. It is ultimately something that we believe by faith. And the way that the apostles preached the resurrection was that it itself was the proof of Christianity. In other words, they didn't preach proofs for the resurrection. They preached the resurrection as the proof of the faith. that Jesus rose from the dead is the proof that the gospel is true. That's the way they they argued. And so it became the message and the proof of the faith. And so it's ultimately something that we know and believe by faith. So it becomes a great challenge to our intellect. It becomes a great challenge to our own Reasoning because of what we think we know. All of our experience says this is not true. And yet the Bible comes along and says that God rose Jesus Christ from the dead and those who are in him he will raise also. But where's the experience of that? We don't see that so we believe it because God tells us in his word. Though related to the resurrection of Jesus Christ, we are here specifically dealing with the resurrection of everyone else. I'll put it that way. When we get here, at this point in the Apostles' Creed, we're talking about our resurrection. We're talking about the resurrection of all other human beings. We dealt with the resurrection of Christ up in that middle section, the third day he rose again from the dead. And so right here, we're specifically dealing with the resurrection of everyone else. And the Bible is clear that there will be what we call a general resurrection, a general resurrection, which all mankind will be raised in to stand in judgment for the deeds done in the body. And this is witness to from the Old Testament and the New Testament from Daniel to Paul and Jesus spoke of it as well. Daniel 12 to and many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake some to everlasting life and some to shame and everlasting contempt. Second Corinthians 510, for we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil. And Jesus. Particularly clear word on this from John 5, 28 and 29, do not marvel at this for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come out. Those who have done good to the resurrection of life and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment. So everybody participates in the resurrection, but not everybody is raised to life. Some are raised to judgment. And what a horrific resurrection that would be. They will wish that they could have remained somehow in the grave. The previous passages make it clear that when we talk about resurrection, we are talking about our same bodies being raised up, not being given another different body, though our present body will then be invested with new properties and characteristics. And let me say at this point as John says in 1 John 3 2 we don't know exactly what we will be. There is still a great fog in one sense over what exactly those resurrected bodies will be like. And so we can't be exactly precise here. But what we do know is that it will be that same body that is resurrected. It's not that we get a brand new body. or I should say a different one, but it's the same body that's resurrected. But yet we know that it's somehow invested with new properties and characteristics. We see this hinted at here from 1 Corinthians 15. So it is 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. And so when we talk about resurrection, we're talking about the same body that dies by God's power is raised up again. obviously undergoing specific changes, and those are spoken of here in this passage in 1 Corinthians 15. Let me take a breath. I'll pause for a minute. Are there any thoughts or questions thus far from what we've looked at? Again, we're talking about a very, in one sense, a hard subject, but a glorious one. I think I'm going to get to that in a second. So I plan to touch that in a moment. If I don't ask it again, OK, or if it doesn't get answered, because there's a specific issue of of God's justice involved in that. And we'll try to Open that up a little bit. Let's go ahead to the first point on the second page, the resurrection of the body is not a New Testament doctrine that was spoken of in the Old Testament. And also follows from the very character of God. In fact, sorry about the typos, but in fact, it is Jesus who turns our minds back to the Old Testament. to understand the resurrection when he says in Matthew here, as for the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was said to you by God? And he quotes here from Exodus. I am the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. He is not God of the dead, but of the living. Maybe I'll I'll pause and open it up. Why is this, in Jesus' mind, what is this proving? A quote like this, Jesus says, this in a sense shows the truth of the resurrection of the dead. Why? Why does this quote When he says this in Exodus, why does that prove the resurrection? Will? Right. Right. That they that he's contemplating them as as. Presently, he's presently the God of these ones who died so many thousands of years ago that that there is life that goes on here and that he's he is presently their God. So this is I am currently the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. Not I was the God of Abraham. I was the God of Isaac, but that I am. Job, in quite possibly the earliest book we have in the scriptures, says, For I know that my Redeemer lives. And at the last he shall stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been thus destroyed yet in my flesh, I shall see God whom I shall see for myself and my eyes shall behold and not another. My heart faints within me. That's a proper response, I think, to the doctrine of the resurrection is that our heart faints within us. Really? Is this really going to happen? But you hear here in Job's declaration, after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God whom I shall see for myself and my eyes shall behold and not another. This is Job basically claiming, I'm going to be resurrected. Somehow, this flesh, I'm going to see him. These eyes are going to see him. That's starting to answer something of what Robert was asking. In Isaiah 26, 19, we read, and it's often a little difficult in this passage to know who exactly is being spoken of, but nonetheless, we see resurrection here. Your dead shall live. Their bodies shall rise. You who dwell in the dust awake and sing for joy for your do is a do of light and the earth will give birth to the dead. And in the Psalms, we read David saying, and we sang that tonight, ultimately speaking of the resurrection of Christ. Therefore, my heart is glad and my whole being rejoices, my flesh and again, my flesh also dwells secure for you will not abandon my soul to shield or let your holy one see corruption. Psalm 16, verses nine and 10. Any other thoughts or does anyone else have any other passages in the Old Testament that you can think of that point to the resurrection? There are quite a few more, but I think these are enough to show us that it's not a New Testament doctrine. It's something that the saints of old expected and looked forward to and hoped in as well. I'm not going to go through each of these passages. There are simply too many New Testament proofs to reproduce here, but you can consult the following list given by Herman Vitsios. He lists out these as being a series of New Testament passages which speak very clearly about the resurrection of the dead. In fact, to show that this is a doctrine Neither of merely the Old Testament or New Testament, Witsius has argued for the resurrection of the body based upon the character and attributes of God, namely his power, wisdom, goodness and justice. And I found these to be interesting, and I've reproduced them, or at least a summary of them here for you to think about. The first one's the easiest to see. God's power is a proof for the resurrection of the body since he is both willing and able to raise the dead. So, so simply the power of God becomes a proof for the resurrection because he is willing and able to do it. In fact, this was Jesus' argument against the Sadducees in Matthew 22. You are wrong because you know neither the scriptures Those are the things we've been looking at, those Old Testament passages which speak of the resurrection and the clear statements. So Jesus says, you are wrong because you know neither the scriptures nor the power of God. These are the ones who doubted the resurrection. And he's telling them that they do not know the power of God, which is a proof for the resurrection. And Paul in like manner argues, in more than one place. But why is it thought incredible by any of you that God raises the dead? Why should that seem incredible? God has the power to do it. That's that's his point. So so from. You know, we don't have to be in just the New Testament or the Old Testament. The character of God is constant throughout and from his from his character alone, the proof of the resurrection comes. He has the power to do it. That is in and of itself an adequate proof. This next one's a little bit more difficult to navigate, but maybe we can talk about it a little bit. God's wisdom is a proof of the resurrection from the fact that This is Witsius' sort of argument here, but I think it's compelling. God's wisdom is a proof of the resurrection from the fact that in all his works, wherein his wisdom is shown, things either remain entire or they cease to exist. In other words, animals die and their whole being ceases to exist. Their bodies do not rise and their souls The immaterial side of the animal does not keep on living. How then could it be that mankind, whose soul continues on for eternity because of the purpose, promise and power of God, how could it be that mankind would go bodiless for eternity, separated from the body? Because man was created, body and soul He is not complete without either part. Thus, according to the pattern we see in God's works, man either continues on forever in both body and soul or both would cease to exist. Anybody have a question about this one? You understand what his point is and don't be afraid to say no. It took me a few times reading it to try to figure it out. Anyone have a comment about it? You don't understand? For a temporary period of time. We talk about the intermediate state, but the, which is not a good thing. There's an ultimate redemption of the body that we look forward to so that that body will be joined back with the soul. So heaven has never been presented to us as a state of being disembodied spirits, you know, floating around with harps or something like that, that kind of thing. But the way we were created, we were created in the image of God, body and soul. was the makeup of man, and it's body and soul that we are redeemed, in body and soul, and we dwell in that state forever. Go ahead, Keith, and then I'll come back. The other thing, to make a more serious comment, I'm not speculating on the absurd, is the Part of what I've understood about violence and death, even though we realize that death is shedding the last vestige of sin, and we kind of long for that, to be rid of it. At the same time, it's so much part of our being, that we are body and soul, that it does violence to our being to have our body separated from our soul for that ever-intermediate time. So it is a great concept coming back in the resurrection, but it partly explains why death is So terrible Yes, yes The Let me let me get Rachel's comment Which is part of the incredulousness of the unbeliever that says how can this happen? And that's where Paul says, if this God who spoke the world into existence, why is it incredible that he can raise the debt, that God can bring that back? Often we've talked about issues of, like the church has at times in its history argued against say cremation as a proper way of burial and cited the resurrection on that, which is a little, you know, That doesn't necessarily make sense because bodies naturally decay and go away in that sense. But God can bring all of that back together and the promise is not to be unclothed but to be further clothed is the hope of the believer. And ultimately, as Keith was saying, we don't tend to think of it in the same way as if there's been violence done to our basic constitution as human beings when the body is separated from the soul. That is not a good thing. That's where the martyrs cry out, how long, oh Lord, until you vindicate us. That gives us a sense of what we should be longing for in the resurrection. So, again, which is the saying that we see in, generally in life, things either remain as they are in their entirety or they cease to exist, that something doesn't have Things don't move on, in a sense, rent apart in a radical change in constitution between what they are altogether. Mankind is body and soul. And for man, for us to take part in resurrection, that means both soul and body have to come back together because that's who we are. That's the constitution of humanity. So, a little bit, like I said, a more difficult thing to think about, but in God's wisdom shown in his creation, this is generally the way things are. God's goodness and justice, Witsius goes on to say here, ultimately lead us to the same conclusion because virtue and vice belong to the whole man and not merely to one part of our nature. Virtue and vice belong to the whole man and not merely one part of our nature. In other words, it's not just that my body does something, but my soul has no part in that and vice versa. I was talking to Elke earlier and there was an account from very long ago between a Jewish rabbi and a a Greek philosopher on the issue of the resurrection and the Greek is approaching it as the body is the prison house of the soul. When the soul is in saying that both of these parts can either one of them could be blamed for the sin or the lack of virtue that we find in ourselves. When the soul departs from the body, the body doesn't do anything wrong anymore. It just lays there. and it doesn't commit any more sin. Therefore, the reasoning of the Greeks sometimes is, then was it the soul that was the sinning part? Because see, the body isn't doing anything else anymore. Or they turn it around and say that once it's free from the body, the soul is pure and no longer commits any kind of sins that we see going on in the flesh. The Jewish rabbi responded with a story that I will probably botch, but he said, it's more like, let me tell you a story. There was a great field and two men were near the field. One of them was blind and one of them was lame. The blind man could see the beautiful fruit growing in the field that he was not supposed to take or eat, but he couldn't What did I say? Sorry. The lame man, I should have told you. I was going to botch it. The lame man could see it. I wondered why everyone was like, what? The lame man could see the fruit, but he couldn't get to it. The blind man couldn't see it, but he could get to it. And so they decided together that the blind man would carry the lame man. and they would go in and they would steal the fruit. So, they go in and they steal the fruit and they get caught coming out, and they come before the judge, and both of their appeals are, well, yes, I could see it, but I couldn't do that. I'm lame. I couldn't get in there to steal the fruit, and the blind man said, I couldn't see it, so I couldn't have done it. And so, the judge put the the lame man on the blind man's shoulders and judged them together as a unit and said then I will judge both of you for the part that you played in it kind of a thing. And this is something that is being gotten at in the issue of God's goodness and justice. God's goodness and justice ultimately lead us to the same conclusion because virtue and vice belong to the whole man and not merely to one part of our nature. The point being, therefore, that either punishment or reward, those things which flow from the goodness and justice of God, must be meted out to the whole man, in both body and soul, and specifically to the same soul-body combination that did the deeds, either evil or good. So, justice demands that this person, the person who receives either weal or woe, is the same person that committed those crimes or did that good thing. The judgment or the reward is to the one that actually did it. And that's what is gotten after. If you go back to the first page for a minute here and look back at The second to the last bullet point, and many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake some everlasting life and some everlasting contempt. Especially this passage, Second Corinthians 510 for all must appear before the judgment seat of Christ so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil. And again, Jesus, do not marvel at this for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come out. Those who have done good to the resurrection of life and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment. Those are the reasons why we talk about or at least they begin to move us towards an answer to why does it need to be the same body? It's because a person is being rewarded or punished according to the deeds done in the body. And therefore, it needs to be that person in that body. And that's that's what's involved in the resurrection. Our bodies are who we are. Body and soul is raised to then stand before the judgment of God. Finally, since our resurrection is patterned after the likeness of the resurrection of Christ, we know that we will be raised again in the self same bodies just as he was. But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. How do we know that this is the same body that Jesus died in? That's right, Tammy Jo, or Will. What are you going to say, Will? Scarves. He still bears those scarves. What did he say to Thomas? So Christ was raised in his same body, although it obviously had some other characteristics to it. I mean, there were some interesting things. I mean, all of a sudden, he would, like, show up in a room with closed doors. And for some reason, people who knew him before, he could seem to shroud his identity, and they didn't recognize him. Those are very interesting things that I really have no comment on. I don't know what was happening there. He has that same body. You have the picture in Revelation that John looks and he sees a lamb as though it had been slain, standing. That's Christ still bearing the scars from his work of redemption for us. So he was raised in his same body. And therefore, again, in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. So he's the firstfruits. We're going to follow that. Romans six five, for if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall surely be united with him in a resurrection like his Philippians three, twenty one and twenty two. But our citizenship is in heaven and from it we await a savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself. There again is that aspect of the power of God which is involved in resurrection. So anything that we would think I don't understand how this can happen. How could he do this. The answer is because he has all power. He can do it. And that's what the Philippians passages is there. He will transform our lowly body to be like his glory glorious body by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself. Greg. I'm kind of concerned. You know, she cut her hand and it cut the tendon. She still has a scar. And she's concerned, you know, Zeus has his scars while she still have hers. And it's kind of a funny question, but it's also a serious question. What do we know theologically about what will our bodies be like in terms of those ailments, birth defects, those ailments that we have? I want my finger to look great. I'll answer it this way, then I'm going to defer to Keith. My answer is that I'm qualifying the use of the word perfect. First of all, I don't know, but what I know is that we'll be perfect. Because that's what we're promised. Perfection being, however God decides, we should go on in eternity with our self-same bodies. Whatever that's supposed to look like, that's perfect and we will love it. We will be absolutely, gloriously thankful for it. But but I think if you if you let me read and then I'll let Keith. Confuse it more or make it harder for me. First, John three to beloved, we are God's children now and what we will be has not yet appeared. But we know that when he appears, we will be like him because we shall see him as he is. And everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself as he is pure. I think the germane part of that passage is we don't yet know what we will be. We have general lines of it will be glorious, it will be perfect, it will be beyond, I think, even greater than anything we can expect. But we just don't know yet. I think we trust that it's going to be better than we can imagine. I would hope for that. I'm thinking sometimes we, I think Satan helps us to imagine heaven as being a very tediously long event. I help myself by thinking, you know, there's some movies that are four hours long and they are just so intense that the four hours seem like a minute. And so I can see the present as being so full, something so full like we've never seen before, that eternity isn't quite long enough for it to last. But I think there's got to be something like a resurrection of the body. In one sense, we think, well, Jesus had the scars, and so forth, which would suggest that he was resurrected to his last physical state, or something to that effect. You think of people who have been martyrs, who have had terrible things happen to them, just before they die. And somehow, it seems like they must be resurrected into a body before something's going to happen. But I think your final answer is, who knows, but it's going to be perfect. I would also say, I think our categories and opinions on aesthetics and beauty and things like that probably don't match up with what is beautiful ultimately in God's eyes and that there's going to be there's going to be things you know. I think of the martyrs and I you know the the. What the martyrs have gone through that you know something I mean I guess I can imagine if they went through eternity named that might be their crown you know forever that they they show that and that it's a glorious thing and Paul says, I glory in the things I've suffered for Christ's sake. Um, everything seemed, you know, could possibly be turned around. I think though, again, I, you know, we're, we tread on, on ground that the Lord hasn't given us yet, but we were called to trust and what he's called us to trust in and what we have a hope for is, uh, I think going to be glorious beyond any of our expectations. Yeah, Jerry. I think part of our difficulty for me at least is understanding what sameness could mean. Yeah. And I'm always reminded that Jesus used an illustration, John, about a kernel corn being planted and the plant that grows from that corn is the same. But it certainly doesn't look the same. Yeah. And I think Paul is touching on that. First Corinthians 15 as well. That's a good point. I think that there's a vast difference too, of some kind. Jerry's picking up on the biblical analogy between seed and plant. In one sense you can say this tree, this seed is that tree. That's the same seed that goes in the ground is the same tree that grows. But obviously radically different in certain ways and exceedingly beautiful and full and beyond in many ways. But nonetheless, that same thing that goes into the ground and comes back up. Well, indeed, it's only a final point here. These are interesting passages, I think, to think about throughout the Book of Psalms as we sing the Psalms together in worship. It's only because of the hope of the resurrection of the body that we can sing. These phrases are found throughout the Psalms. I will extol you, my God and King. And I will bless your name forever and ever. We're saying that we're going to be praising his name forever. If there's no resurrection, you can't sing that. Every day I will bless you and praise your name forever and ever. The Psalms themselves are this incredible argument in and of themselves for the resurrection. there must be one for them to be able to even be said and sung. So this is the hope of the resurrection that ultimately fuels our praise in this more full way. Any other thoughts or comments? We're right at time where we need a break. Bob? This is a very subjective comment, but I feel it's good for us. to, as just a part of our common Christian thinking, to look forward to seeing Jesus as He is. Now, there's a lot of results in that. He says, because you see me as I am, you'll be like me. Well, that's inhabited, you know, the whole thing. But we can imagine our rejoicing over someone going to see Let's go ahead and on that note, let's go ahead and take a break and then we'll gather back here in a few minutes for our time.