Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Evangelical
Christ’s Resurrection Is the Amen of His Promises

Christ’s Resurrection Is the Amen of His Promises

Last updated on: April 29, 2024 at 8:30 am by Randy Alcorn

0 Comments

Christ’s Resurrection Is the Amen of His Promises 2024-04-05T10:19:41-08:00 Randy Alcorn

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

The physical resurrection of Jesus is the cornerstone of redemption. Without it and what it means—an eternal future for fully restored humans dwelling on a fully restored Earth—there’s no Christianity.

If this event is historically true, it makes all other religions false, because Jesus claimed to be the only way to God. To prove this, He predicted He would rise three days after His death. And He did. John Boys (1571–1625), the Dean of Canterbury, put it beautifully: “The resurrection of Christ is the Amen of all His promises.”

The major Christian creeds not only affirm the past resurrection of Jesus, but the consequent future resurrection of His people. They state, “I believe in the resurrection of the body.” But I have found in many conversations that Christians tend to spiritualize the resurrection of the dead, effectively denying it.

Ironically, there are believers who would die rather than deny the resurrection, yet they don’t understand or believe what the doctrine of the resurrection actually means! Despite the centrality of the resurrection in Scripture and church history, many of them have never been clearly taught its meaning, so they imagine they’ll live forever in a disembodied state made for angels.

But this viewpoint is self-contradictory. A nonphysical resurrection is like a sunless sunrise. There’s no such thing. Resurrection means we will have bodies! If we didn’t have bodies, we wouldn’t be resurrected.

Christ’s resurrection body demonstrated what our own will be like: “See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me, and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have” (Luke 24:39).

John S. Whale wrote, “Belief in the resurrection is not an appendage to the Christian faith; it is the Christian faith.” The Apostle Paul considered the resurrection essential to the Christian faith. It’s no coincidence that Paul’s detailed defense of the physical resurrection was written to the church at Corinth. Corinthian believers were immersed in the Greek philosophies of Platonism and dualism, which perceived a dichotomy between the spiritual and physical realms.

Paul said if Christ didn’t rise from the dead, we’re still in our sins—meaning we’re bound for Hell, not Heaven: “If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied” (1 Corinthians 15:17-19).

Our ministry sometimes hears from readers who are surprised by the implications of what the resurrection means, or who say, “I never understood this before!” Not long ago, a commenter on my Facebook page wrote, “Only God knows what form we will take. Just having the faith and belief that we are going to a better place is consoling. Hallelujah if we are given opportunities for reunions!”

Another person responded, “It’s explained scripturally that we will have resurrected physical bodies. We aren’t spirits in [the eternal] Heaven.”

The first commenter said, “Where does it say that? I have been really struggling believing that my spouse won’t know me or my sister or parents, etc. Praying for some remembrance of our earthly life!”

Our EPM staff followed up by sharing several articles, including:

The Spiritual Body: A Real Body

Meet the Resurrected You

Will We Recognize Each Other in Heaven?

Where in Scripture Are We Reassured That We Will Have the Comfort of Making up Lost Time with Loved Ones in Eternity?

If we don’t get the doctrine of the resurrection of the body right, we’ll get nothing else right concerning our eternal future. (And our grief over the deaths of our believing friends and family will be far more difficult if we can’t anticipate embodied reunion with them on the physical New Earth!)

It’s therefore critical that we not merely affirm the resurrection of the dead as a point of doctrine but that we understand the meaning and eternal implications of the resurrection we affirm. This includes the fact that the resurrection has implications for not only humans, but also animals and forests and lakes and rivers—for all God created. As Anthony Hoekema explains, “The kingdom of God…does not mean merely the salvation of certain individuals…it means nothing less than the complete renewal of the entire cosmos.”

“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 to sonship, the redemption of our bodies” (Romans 8:22-23, NIV).

“Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus, whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago.” (Acts 3:19-21)

Photo: Unsplash

Previous Post

April 25, 2024

Why Good Friday Isn’t Called Terrible Friday

Next Post

May 2, 2024 How Does Understanding God’s Happiness Change Lives?

Recent Comments

0 | Leave a Comment

"The biblical references and examples make the message easy to follow, while the focus on ..."

harry085drop

Being with God Is the Heart ..."

"As we do good works (no matter how small), and struggle to live holy lives ..."

Tom Hering

How Can We Be Ready to ..."

"Katy Faust's "articles" are junk science at best."

Roger J.

Every Child Is Known and Loved ..."

"People can feed their thoughts or a few notes into AI and be delighted with ..."

rrhersh

AI, Ghostwriting, and the Ethics of ..."

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category About Me Animals Books Books and Resources Christ Christian Life Christians Past and Present Church Creation Culture and Worldview Doctrine and Theology Eternal Perspective Ministries Fun Grace and Truth Grief Happiness Heaven Marriage and Family Missions Money and Giving Persecuted Church Politics Prayer Prolife Salvation Sexual Purity Sovereignty and Free Will Suffering and Evil Uncategorized Writing

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz