Part 5 - Eternal Life & Resurrection

Eternal Life:

Everyone dies. Since Adam, death is the great enemy of the human race. Most people do not wish to contemplate death. We all cling to life. This is because God created man to live in an eternal relationship with Him. Sin destroyed this relationship. It resulted in spiritual death and later physical death. Sin created a barrier between us and God. But, when we put our trust in Christ, God imputes His own life to us. This life is the one and only eternal life. One of the great themes of the Apostle John is life. Characteristic of John is that he sets forth powerful, profound truths with simple language. He recorded these words of our Savior in his gospel,

¹⁴ As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; ¹⁵ so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life. ¹⁶ “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish [be destroyed], but have [Christ’s] eternal life (John 3.14-16).

John affirmed Jesus’ statement in his epistle in 1 John 5.11-13,

¹¹ And the testimony is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. ¹² He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life. ¹³ These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.

Most people believe eternal life is something that is obtained or begins at death. But the Bible declares that eternal life begins the moment we believe. John wrote, “we have the life” not “will have the life”. Eternal life begins the moment one puts his trust in Christ. And how long does eternal life last? Forever, it’s eternal.

Indwelling by the Holy Spirit:

When we put our trust in Christ, we are baptized or set “by One [Holy] Spirit” into “the body of Christ” (not into water). Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 12.13,

“For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body [of Christ], whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.”

This baptism is a waterless spiritual baptism. Thereby God identifies us with Christ, that we are “in Christ.” Thus, we are part of “His body,” the Church. This blessing is unique to this day’s grace-age believers beginning with Paul’s ministry. Nothing in the Old Testament indicated such a relationship.

Paul also wrote, “And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba! Father!” (Galatians 4.6).

And in Ephesians, Paul wrote,

¹³ In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, You Were Sealed In Him With The Holy Spirit Of Promise, ¹⁴ who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory (Ephesians 1.13-14).

The Holy Spirit given to the believer in Christ is God’s “pledge” or “down payment” of His full inheritance (2 Corinthians 1.22, 5.5). The Holy Spirit is God’s “earnest money” for our future blessing as “joint-heirs of Christ” (Romans 8.17).

Resurrection:

The Scriptures declare that we have the hope, i.e., the expectation of resurrection of our bodies. The resurrection is central to Christianity and to the Gospel (1 Corinthians 15.1-4). Without the resurrection Christianity does not exist. Without the resurrection we have no hope. We look forward to the day of Christ’s return for us at the Rapture and it is at that time that we will receive new, immortal bodies (cf. Phili. 3:20-21). These bodies will be fit for eternity. Our mortal bodies exist only briefly. They are corrupted by sin and eventually experience death. Above we saw the consequence of Adam’s disobedience of God’s command about eating from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. All of us have all been infected with Adam’s sin and suffer the consequence: death.

The resurrection is the “proof” of the power of Christianity. The resurrection of Christ was the event that changed the disciples of Christ. At his crucifixion they fled. But, when he appeared to them raised from the dead, they became new men. They became bold as lions and proclaimed that Jesus was the long-awaited Messiah. The resurrected Christ also appeared to the apostle Paul. He had been a furious enemy of the Way (as it was known then)–of those who believed in Christ. But when Christ appeared to him, alive, on the road to Damascus, God changed Paul’s life forever. As violent an enemy of Christ as he had been, he became his devoted follower and obedient servant. Listen to Paul’s powerful words regarding resurrection:

¹² Now if Christ is preached, that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? ¹³ But if there is no resurrection of the dead, not even Christ has been raised; ¹⁴ and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain.¹⁵ Moreover we are even found to be false witnesses of God, because we testified against God that He raised Christ, whom He did not raise, if in fact the dead are not raised. ¹⁶ For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised; ¹⁷ and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins. ¹⁸ Then those also who have fallen asleep [died] in Christ have perished.¹⁹ If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied. ²⁰ But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep [dead]. ²¹ For since by a man [Adam] came death, by a man [Jesus Christ]also came the resurrection of the dead. ²² For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. ²³ But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christ’s at His coming, ²⁴ then comes the end, when He hands over the kingdom to the God and Father, when He has abolished all rule and all authority and power. ²⁵ For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet. ²⁶ The last enemy that will be abolished is death. ²⁷ For He has put all things in subjection under His feet. But when He says, “All things are put in subjection,” it is evident that He is excepted who put all things in subjection to Him. ²⁸ When all things are subjected to Him, then the Son Himself also will be subjected to the One who subjected all things to Him, so that God may be all in all (1 Corinthians 15.12-28).

Paul described the nature and mechanics of resurrection in the following,

³⁵ But someone will say, “How are the dead raised? And with what kind of body do they come?” ³⁶ You fool! That which you sow does not come to life unless it dies; ³⁷ and that which you sow, you do not sow the body which is to be, but a bare grain, perhaps of wheat or of something else. ³⁸ But God gives it a body just as He wished, and to each of the seeds a body of its own. ³⁹ All flesh is not the same flesh, but there is one flesh of men, and another flesh of beasts, and another flesh of birds, and another of fish. ⁴⁰ There are also heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is one, and the glory of the earthly is another. ⁴¹ 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. ⁴² So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown [buried] a perishable body, it is raised an imperishable body; ⁴³ it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; ⁴⁴ it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. ⁴⁵ So also it is written, “The first man, Adam, became a living soul.” The last Adam [Christ] became a life-giving spirit. ⁴⁶ However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural; then the spiritual. ⁴⁷ The first man is from the earth, earthy; the second man is from heaven. ⁴⁸ As is the earthy, so also are those who are earthy; and as is the heavenly, so also are those who are heavenly. ⁴⁹ Just as we have borne the image of the earthy, we will also bear the image of the heavenly. ⁵⁰ Now I say this, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. ⁵¹ Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, ⁵² 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 [the living believers] will be changed. ⁵³ For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality. ⁵⁴ But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, “Death is swallowed up in victory. ⁵⁵ O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” (1 Corinthians 15.35-55).

See also Resurrection.

Truly, God has, as Paul wrote, blessed us with every spiritual blessing. All that we are meant to be has been provided for by God through the work of the Son. Thanks be to God!

Adapted from - ©1999 Don Samdahl. Anyone is free to reproduce this material and distribute it, but it may not be sold. Updated, February 3, 2008