The Future of the Flesh
What do we believe will happen to our flesh in the future?
This is seen in the Old Testament -
Genesis 3:19 By the
sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since
from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.@
Ecclesiastes 12:7 The dust returns to
the ground it came from, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.
Job 19:25‑27 I
know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth.
And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God; I myself
will see him with my own eyesCI, and not another. How my heart yearns within me!
What examples are there in the Old Testament of a resurrection from the dead?
Luke 9:30‑31
Two men, Moses and Elijah, appeared in glorious splendor, talking with Jesus.
They spoke about his departure, which he was about to bring to fulfillment at
Jerusalem.
It is elaborated on in the New Testament -
Open up to John 11:17-44. How do vs. 25-26 clearly elaborate on the resurrection?
John 5:24‑29 AI tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him
who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over
from death to life. I tell you the truth, a time is coming and has now come
when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will
live. For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son to have
life in himself. And he has given him authority to judge because he is the Son
of Man. ADo not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who
are in their graves will hear his voice and come outCthose who have done good will rise to live, and those who
have done evil will rise to be condemned.
The cause and meaning of the resurrection is clear -
John 14:19 Before
long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live,
you also will live.
Romans 4:25 He was
delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.
Paul clarified even more on the subject in 1 Corinthians 15. Look at vs. 35-41. What does he compare the resurrected bodies to?
Does this mean that some bodies will be more glorious than others?
Luther: With
regard to person, no one will be more or have more than another, St. Peter no
more than you or I. Yet there must be a distinction on the basis of works. For
God did not effect through St. Paul what he effected through Isaiah, and vice
versa. Therefore all will bring their works with them by which they will shine
and praise God; and it will be said that St. Peter wrought more than I or
others did. This man or this woman lived in this way and accomplished so much.
In short, before God all will be alike in faith and grace and heavenly essence;
but there will be a difference in works and their glory. It is like fashioning
a hatchet, a nail, a key, or a lock from one and the same iron. All are the
identical essence, and yet they serve various uses and functions. Similarly,
various vessels are made from the same dough or clay. Luther's works, vol. 28
What is a key component to being able partaking in this resurrection?
Luther: Well,
what does a pious peasant or husbandman do and think when he scatters his seed
about like that? It looks like futile labor and loss, and he appears to be a
fool who wantonly squanders his grain. But ask him, and he will be quick to
tell you: AWhy, my dear man, I am not casting it away to lose it and to
let it spoil, but I am doing this that it may grow forth again most beautifully
and bear and yield far more in return for this handful. Indeed, now it seems
lost, scattered into the wind for birds and worms; but let summer come, and you
will see it grow forth. One handful will grow into ten, one bushel will yield
six others.@ Such are the peasant=s thoughts. They do not dwell on the kernels which fall into
the ground to rot. He does not think that they will remain in that condition;
no, he looks forward to and awaits the coming summer, which will compensate him
fully and in rich measure. . . . The cemetery or burial ground does not
indicate a heap of the dead, but a field full of kernels, known as God=s kernels, which will verdantly blossom forth again and grow
more beautifully than can be imagined.
Luther, M. Vol. 28:
Paul brings this concept out in Romans -
Romans 6:2‑14 We died to sin; how can we live in it any
longer? Or don=t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ
Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through
baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead
through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. If we have been
united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with
him in his resurrection. . . . Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we
will also live with him. For we know that since Christ was raised from the
dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. The death he
died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. In
the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.
Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil
desires. Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of
wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought
from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of
righteousness. For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law,
but under grace.
Romans 8:13 For if
you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you
put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live,
Colossians 3:5 Put to
death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality,
impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.
What are some key components to dying prior to the resurrection?
How does our baptism assure us of our resurrection?
This concept is probably what Paul had
in mind in line with the following verses -
1 Corinthians 15:29‑32 Now if there is no resurrection, what will those do who are
baptized for the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why are people
baptized for them? And as for us, why do we endanger ourselves every hour? I
die every dayCI mean that, brothersCjust as surely as I glory over you in Christ Jesus our Lord.
If I fought wild beasts in Ephesus for merely human reasons, what have I
gained? If the dead are not raised, ALet us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.@
What 3 differences are there between the natural body and
the spiritual body?
1.
2.
3.
Luther: We, however, know
that later and at the proper time the body, weak and devoid of all strength and
power though it may now be when it lies in the grave, will be so strong that
with one finger it will be able to carry this church, with one toe it will be
able to move a tower and play with a mountain as children play with a ball. And
in the twinkling of an eye it will be able to leap to the clouds or traverse a
hundred miles. For then the body will be sheer strength, as it is now sheer
feebleness and weakness. Nothing that it decides to do will be impossible for
it. It will be able to defeat the whole world alone. It will become so light
and nimble that it will soar both down here on earth and up above in the
heavens in a moment. Vol. 28: 187
Luther may have gotten these conjectures from looking at
Christ after the resurrection -
John 20:26‑27 A
week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them.
Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, APeace be with you!@ Then he said to Thomas, APut your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and
put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.@
Acts 1:9 After he
said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from
their sight.
What would be the difference between our resurrected bodies and that of Jesus?
According to vs. 51 and following, what will happen to the flesh of those still alive at the resurrection?
What was this future view of the flesh supposed to do for them according to vs. 58?
This same idea is reflected throughout the Scriptures -
Romans 8:18‑25 I
consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory
that will be revealed in us. The creation waits in eager expectation for the
sons of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not
by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that
the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought
into the glorious freedom of the children of God. We know that the whole
creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the
present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the
Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the
redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen
is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for what
we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.
What else looks forward to the resurrection?
Philippians 3:20‑21 But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a
Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to
bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that
they will be like his glorious body.
The resurrection will still retain a reflection of nations
and races -
Revelation 7:9‑10
After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could
count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the
throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding
palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice: ASalvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to
the Lamb.@
The resurrection will free us
from natural needs -
Revelation 7:14-17 I answered, ASir, you know.@ And he said, AThese are they who have come out of the great tribulation;
they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
Therefore, Athey are before the throne of God and serve him day and
night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will spread his tent over
them. Never again will they hunger; never again will they thirst. The sun will
not beat upon them, nor any scorching heat. For the Lamb at the center of the
throne will be their shepherd; he will lead them to springs of living water.
And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.@
Matthew 22:23‑32
That same day the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to him with
a question. ATeacher,@ they said, AMoses told us that if a man dies without having children,
his brother must marry the widow and have children for him. Now there were
seven brothers among us. The first one married and died, and since he had no
children, he left his wife to his brother. The same thing happened to the
second and third brother, right on down to the seventh. Finally, the woman
died. Now then, at the resurrection, whose wife will she be of the seven, since
all of them were married to her?@ Jesus replied, AYou are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or
the power of God. At the resurrection people will neither marry nor be given in
marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven. But about the resurrection of
the deadChave you not read what God said to you, >I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of
Jacob=? He is not the God of the dead but of the living.@
What won=t there be in heaven?
Everyone=s body will remain as it was created. But he will not eat,
drink, and do whatever results from this. Nor will he beget children, keep
house, govern, etc. For God distinguished between creature, or nature, and the
offices and estates on earth which were ordained and instituted after creation.
The body retains its nature, but the use of the body does not remain the same.
For a person=s position as manservant, maidservant, father, mother, lord,
prince, king is not something that was created, but that is a regulation
regarding the creature. Therefore only what was created in man, the different
members, will remain, but these will no longer be employed for the bodily needs
as they are now. It will no longer be necessary to eat, to drink, to digest, to
sweep, to live with husband or with wife, to beget children, to cultivate the
fields, to rule home or city. In short, all that pertains to the essence of
these temporal goods and is part of temporal life and works will cease to be.
That is what Christ, too, teaches in Matt. 22:30: Luther's works, vol. 28:171
What does Luther make an interesting distinction between?
Does that mean we won=t eat, sleep, etc.?
According to the following vs., what will the resurrection also give to us?
1 Corinthians 13:9‑12 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when
perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a
child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I
put childish ways behind me. Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror;
then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully,
even as I am fully known.
Therefore this will be a wholly
different, more beautiful, and perfect existence, devoid of all infirmities and
wants. Otherwise, what would God really have accomplished, if things would not
be different, if man would always have to bear his paunch and sack of stench
with him and eternally stuff himself and eliminate, discharge mucus, suppurate,
be lazy and be ill? And why should we proclaim this, believe, and suffer, if we
could hope for nothing better? But as it is, all of this must pass away with
this life, and yet the creature will remain, the body of each one, both as male
and female, all in the same estate and position.
Any questions?