https://youtu.be/urUS6VUCUgQ
Today is Resurrection Sunday when we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ after His body had been in the tomb for exactly 3 days and 3 nights according to the prophesies that are recorded in the TNACH.
This day corresponds to the wave sheaf offering in Lev 23:11; that was celebrated on the first day of the week during the feast of the Passover and the days of unleavened bread.
We have seen in our studies over the years that the women went to the tomb early on the first day of the week and Jesus' body was not there because He had been resurrected according to the prophesy. Mark 16:1-6;
The details of the resurrections that started with Jesus' resurrection are part of the mystery doctrine of the Church Age that was not disclosed in the TNACH. 1Cor 15:50-57;
Resurrection means a person returns from physical death in a body of incorruption and never dies again. It means to rise from the dead in a glorified human body that does not need a biosphere and never die.
Resurrection is the beginning of life in the eternal state for the believer in Jesus Christ. It is one of the basic doctrines all believers must understand to have the confidence necessary for spiritual growth, Heb 6:1-2.
Anyone who dies during the Church Age has an interim body in heaven until the resurrection of the Church at the Exit Resurrection that is the next event in prophesy. 2Cor 5:8; 2Thes 2:3; 1Thes 4:17-18;
When the exit resurrection occurs every Church Age believer will have a resurrection body like Jesus Christ's, but not all resurrection bodies will look exactly alike because there are different types of resurrection bodies depending on the believer's success or failure in the post salvation Christian life during their life in time in the sin infused body of death in the devil's world depending on your attitude towards God's Word of Absolute Truth after salvation. 1John 3:2-3;
Resurrection is a New Testament doctrine. While it is mentioned in the Old Testament, it did not occur historically until the Christocentric dispensations that start with the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union and ends with the great power experiment of the Church Age.
The great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union terminated with the resurrection, ascension, and session of the humanity of Jesus Christ. The great power experiment of the Church Age will terminate in the exit resurrection of every believer who lives during the Church Age.
The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the pattern for the first resurrection. The first resurrection is described as a series of battalions passing in review that is divided into four echelons, 1Cor 15:20-24.
Alpha Company is the resurrection of Christ at the end of the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union, for He is "the first fruits of those who slept." Matt 28; Mark 16; Luke 24; John 20-21; Acts 2:31-34.
Bravo Company is the resurrection of God's royal family, the church, at the end of the great power experiment of the Church Age, John 14:1-3; Phil 3:20-21; 1Cor 15:51-57; 1Thes 4:13-18; 1John 3:1-2.
Charlie Company is the resurrection of the Old Testament believers and tribulational martyrs at the end of the Tribulation at Jesus' Second Advent, Dan 12:13; Isa 26:19-20; Matt 24:31; Rev 20:4.
Delta Company is the resurrection of the millennial saints at the end of the Millennium.
Jesus' resurrection at the end of the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union is the predicate for all subsequent resurrections in all of human history. Each one of the Christocentric dispensations terminates with resurrection, giving special significance to them.
Physical death is the prerequisite for resurrection with the exceptions for the exit resurrection generation of the Church Age and the resurrection of the millennial believers who are alive at the end of time and human history that involves an immediate exchange. 1Cor 15:51-52
For everyone else physical death is a prerequisite for resurrection, 1Cor 15:50-52."Now this I affirm, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does corruption inherit incorruption."
In this verse Paul uses the phrase "the kingdom of God" in the sense of the eternal state of the Church. He says we cannot live in eternity in the body we now possess. It is body of flesh and blood that requires a biosphere.
The physical body is not capable of living off of planet earth out in the universe without a biosphere, as angels can.
Corruption refers to the human body that is subject to physical death. Incorruption refers to the resurrection body that is a durable, permanent body that can never die that can survive in the eternal state where there is no death.
1Cor 15:26, "The last enemy that will be abolished is death." Eternal life can only exist in the eternal resurrection body.
1Cor 15:51; "Behold, I teach you a mystery: we shall not all sleep but we shall be changed,"
The mystery refers to the mystery doctrine of the Church Age, the dispensation in which there is no prophecy and about which there is no prophecy, Rom 16:25-26; Eph 3:1-6; Col 1:25-27.
In Paul's analogy, sleep applies only to the physical body it does not apply to the soul. The body "sleeps" because the soul and spirit are absent from that body in an interim body waiting for the exit resurrection.
"Changed" should be "exchanged" because it means we receive a new resurrection body in exchange for our former physical body. Paul tells us that not everyone will die physically because the last generation will receive their resurrection body by exchange apart from physical death.
It simply means that the physical body is swapped out for a resurrection body.
v52 "in a moment, in the winking of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we (Church Age believers who are alive at the exit resurrection) will be changed."
Resurrections occur instantaneously. When God does something with regard to life, it is done instantly. Adam was created instantly. The universe was created instantly. God imputes soul life to the emerging physical body at physical birth instantly with the first inhale.
God provides resurrection bodies in a moment of time that is faster than a blink of an eye.
This is a reference to the trumpet of 1Thes 4:16; that is not the same trumpet as that in Rev 11:15 In this case, the troops consist of God's royal family so the trumpet in this context refers to the exit resurrection of the Church not the second advent.
The trumpet is used only for those who are living in heaven under ideal conditions of great happiness. So those who have already died physically will receive their resurrection bodies first. Then those who are alive on the earth at the exit resurrection will receive their resurrection bodies.
So the two categories of resurrection are mentioned here. The first category receive their resurrection bodies after physical death just like Jesus did and the second category that is alive on the earth at the exit resurrection receives their resurrection body instantaneously by exchange.
Jesus resurrection is His Victory over the devil, his cosmos, and the death he has created. In John 11:25; Jesus said to Martha, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me shall live even if He dies."
Just as the death of the believer is the Lord's victory, so the resurrection of the believer is also the Lord's victory. The resurrection of the believer is the wise and sovereign decision of God. This means that the believer's volition, cognition, and individual merit are not factors in the exit resurrection.
The resurrection is strictly the Lord's victory. For just as we have no control over the manner or time of our death, so we have no control over the manner or time of our resurrection. It is all completely a matter of the omniscient wisdom and sovereignty of God.
Winners and losers alike receive a resurrection body equally. No distinction is made between winners and losers at the exit resurrection.
Resurrection is far greater than we can imagine. For in resurrection, God makes no distinction between those who completely fail to execute the Christian way of life and those who succeed in executing the Christian way of life.
The resurrection has nothing to do with our winning the tactical victory in the angelic conflict or failing to do so. It has everything to do with who and what the Lord Jesus Christ is.
The resurrection must be understood to be completely separate from any principle of spiritual merit just like salvation is.
The time, place, and manner of the resurrection of the Church is God's perfect decision based on the completion of the body of Christ that is also called God's royal family that is comprised of all church age believers.
This victory illustrates the principle of grace because resurrection is totally the work of God provided for all believers, whether they are winners or losers. Resurrection is divorced from any form of human ability or human achievement. It is strictly a matter of grace.
Under God's grace policy God provides everything the believer needs for time, so under His grace policy God has also provided everything the believer needs for dying, death, heaven, resurrection, and the eternal state. Resurrection is God's decision, God's grace, and God's victory.
The exit resurrection is imminent because there is no prophecy that must be fulfilled first. That means it can happen at any time but its time is God's decision alone. In the meantime, we as members of God's royal family of God live every day as unto the Lord, not every day as unto the exit resurrection of the Church.
The believer's victory comes from the execution of God's protocol plan in time. God's victory is the physical death and resurrection of the believer.
1Thes 4:13-18; "We do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as the rest who have no hope."
When the unbeliever is dying, it is a time of hopelessness, a time of death and separation and the end of everything. But when the believer with God's viewpoint from metabolized doctrine approaches the death, he recognizes that this is only the beginning, and that the short time the he is on this earth is nothing compared to what his life will be like in the eternal state.
Believers in Jesus Christ who understand the doctrine don't grieve as those who have no hope because the time, manner, and place of believer's death is God's sovereign decision and therefore God's victory.
1Thes 4:14, "For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again [and we do], even so, God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus." This is analogous to body sleep, and then awakening in resurrection.
This is not soul sleep. The soul never dies. You are alive when you fall asleep and alive when you wake up. The soul is still alive even if you die in your sleep. The soul simply leaves the body and goes into an interim body face-to-face with the Lord. 2Cor 5:8;
All of the English translations I have seen mistranslate this verse. They exclude and do not translate the Greek word "pros" that means "face to face or toward." You can't be facing toward the Lord in heaven if you don't have a body in heaven.
1 Thes 4:15-16, "For this doctrine we communicate to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord shall not precede those who are asleep.
v16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, with the trumpet of God; in fact, the dead in Christ shall rise first."
The voice command of the archangel who is in command of the angelic college of heralds) assembles those who are alive on the earth. The omnipotence of God the Holy Spirit exchanges their bodies.
Believers go instantly from the indwelling of God the Holy Spirit to the resurrection body. God the Holy Spirit provides resurrection bodies for every living believer,
1Pet 3:18; "For Christ died once for all as a substitute for our sins, the Righteous a substitute for the unrighteous, that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Holy Spirit;" Rom 8:11.
This fulfills the phrase of 1Cor 15:54; "this mortal will have put on immortality." The Holy Spirit, who indwells the believer's body, will exchange the believer's mortal body with a resurrection body without that believer going through death.
If God the Holy Spirit did not do this, then those who are alive at the exit resurrection would have to die instantly to get a resurrection body from God the Father. But they do not have to die to get a resurrection body.
At the trumpet sound God the Father also provides resurrection bodies for the believers in interim body who are face-to-face with Him in heaven.
The trumpet command is for the assembly of the dead in Christ. The omnipotence of the Father provides their resurrection bodies. These believers are the dead in Christ who are in heaven, and they receive their resurrection bodies from their Father in heaven.
1Thes 4:17-18, "Then we who are living and remain on the earth shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we always be with the Lord. Therefore, comfort each other with these doctrines."
Resurrection is a doctrine of comfort and blessing, but only to those who have personally believed in Jesus Christ. The comfort is grace, and the fact that resurrection is the Lord's victory.
But for those who reject Christ as Savior, there is eternal judgment that begins with the second resurrection, Heb 9:27;
1Cor 15:53, "For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality." Putting on incorruption is a reference to the resurrection body given to those who have died physically, a body never again subject to death.
For those who are alive at the exit resurrection, they will receive an immortal body that is not subject to death and is compatible with eternity.
1Cor 15:54; "Now when this corruptible will have put on incorruption (resurrection body through death), and this mortal (resurrection body while alive) will have put on immortality, then the doctrine that stands written (Isa 25:8;) will occur (come to pass): `Death has been swallowed up because of the victory.'"
The ultimate victory for God's royal family is the resurrection because it includes all believers, positive winners and negative losers because the predicate for resurrection is God's imputed righteousness that comes from believing in Jesus Christ.
Just because certain believers fail to execute God's protocol plan they are not excluded from the resurrection because of God's grace. The resurrection makes no distinction between winners and losers in the Christian way of life.
The physical death of losers does not deprive the Lord of His victory! Resurrection is the Lord's victory. This is obvious for the mature believer, having already had an experiential victory of becoming an invisible hero. But this is the Lord's victory of grace, since resurrection applies to every believer because no distinction is made between winners and losers.
1Cor 15:55;"Death has been swallowed up because of victory," is very important. Man has absolutely nothing to do with receiving a resurrection body. The passive voice explains that every believer receives a resurrection body. No merit, no distinction is involved.
While the believer through positive volition and renovation of their thinking after salvation can have control over his life while living, the believer has no control over the manner or time of his death, and no control over the manner or time of his resurrection.
Resurrection is a grace function from the sovereignty and wisdom of God. Our resurrection body is an eternal memorial to God's grace. Resurrection is completely God's victory. We can take no credit for it, for we have no part in it.
Death has been swallowed up and destroyed because of the Lord's victory. There will be no death in the eternal state. Death is abolished with the possession of the resurrection body. So this quote is reference to the strategic victory of our Lord Jesus Christ in the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union.
The sign of our Lord's strategic victory was His resurrection, ascension, and session at the right hand of the Father.
Resurrection is the Lord's victory, 1Cor 15:55-56. Verse 55 is (quoted from Hosea 13:14), "O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?" The only victory is God's victory of resurrection. Death has no victory.
v56, "The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the Law; "Sin" here, refers to the imputation of Adam's sin at physical birth that has two results, real spiritual death and subsequent physical death.
This is in compliance with Gen 2:17, when God warned Adam, "The day you eat from this tree, dying you will die." So the sting of death is the old sin nature because the word "sin" in the singular.
The fact that you sin after salvation does not prevent you from dying and going to heaven and receiving a resurrection body. It's like being alive but unhealthy or ill. So you don't feel well when you sin, but you're still born-again and going to heaven.
The power of sin is defined in the Mosaic Law that reveals and defines the power of the sin nature to cause personal sin: 1Tim 1:8-10.
1Cor 15:57; explains that there can be no greater monument to God's grace than resurrection.
Verse 57 literally says, "but grace belongs to God." This is an idiom that is translated "but thanks to God who gives to us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."
Notice that this is a victory that God gives to us. It's not a victory we earn! You can earn a victory by becoming a mature believer by executing God's protocol plan.
But there's one victory you cannot have because it's a gift: the resurrection body. The resurrection body is a monument to God's victory.
There are two victories here. The first victory is the victory over death for everyone who believes in Jesus Christ. (John 3:16) The second victory is the victory of resurrection.
Have a happy resurrection day.