Exalting His Resurrection
The central event in the history of mankind is the resurrection of Jesus. Without it, death is the victorious enemy of all mortals. Without it, death comes, and all our dreams, aspirations and future plans come to a screeching halt. It all ends. When Job faced this problem, his heart was full of questions.
Yes, there is something more.
Job looked at his life and said, “Man that is born of woman is of few days and full of trouble. He comes forth like a flower and fades away; he flees like a shadow and does not continue” (Job 14:1,2). His despair is sent in many of the verses which follow. “But man dies and is laid away; indeed he breathes his last and where is he? … So man lies down and does not rise. The heavens are no more, they will not awake nor be roused from their sleep.” He then asks the ultimate question. “If a man dies, will he live again” (Job 14:14)? Without a revelation from heaven, death wins!
Hear the words of Paul when he affirmed that the appearing of the Savior “…abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel” (2 Tim. 1:10). There are glimpses of the resurrection in the shadows of the Old Testament, but the gospel brought by Jesus brings this truth out of that shadow. We now understand so clearly that the time will come when all that are in the grave will hear His voice and come forth (John 5:28-29). But there is more. God has given us assurance of this truth by raising His own Son. He entered into Hades (Acts 2:31) and returned from that realm having “the keys to Hades and death” (Rev. 1:18). His resurrection answers Job’s question and forever removes the bondage of the fear of death from the hearts of the saints (Heb. 2:14-15). In Paul’s letter to the church at Corinth, he tied the fact of our resurrection to the fact of Jesus’ resurrection (1 Cor. 15).
How will this happen? When those who are in the grave hear His voice, they will come forth in an incorruptible, spiritual body. Because flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, even the bodies of those who are alive will also be changed. “In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised…” (1 Cor. 15:52). How quickly will this happen? In the twinkling of an eye. How long will it take? Just as long as it takes you to bat your eyes!
Jesus has been raised, and by this we know that we shall be raised. His resurrection is the foundation of Biblical truths. We live in bodies that are mortal—subject to death. We live in bodies that are corruptible—they are aging and decaying. “When this corruptible has put on incorruption and this mortal has put on immortality, then death is swallowed up in victory” (1 Cor. 15:54). God hasten that day!