With What Body Do They Come?
A Look at the Resurrection
Kurt Simmons
Preterists
believe the general Resurrection occurred in AD 70, in
connection with Christ’s kingdom coming in power against the
Romans and Jews to put His enemies beneath His feet (Dan 12:2;
Matt 16:27, 28; John 5:28m 29; Heb 10:13). This corresponded
with the destruction of Hadean death, which was the
last enemy (1 Cor
15:26, 55; Isa 25:8). Although all Preterists agree the
eschatological resurrection occurred in AD 70, there is
disagreement about the
type of body received in the resurrection. Three views
exist: 1) individual,
physical bodies; 2) individual,
spiritual (immaterial)
bodies; and 3) a collective, mystical,
covenantal body.
In this article, we will argue that the individual, spiritual body view is the only scripturally defensible view.
The Intermediate State of the Dead
No
discussion of the Resurrection would be complete without
touching upon the intermediate place and state of the dead.
Indeed, raising the dead from the realm of the deceased unto
their respective eternal rewards and punishments is the very
essence of the eschatological Resurrection.
Scripture
teaches that the “wages of sin is death” (Rom 6:23). God warned
our first ancestors that death would ensue the day they ate of
the forbidden fruit.
“But of the tree of the knowledge
of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that
thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.”
(Gen 2:17)
However, God
was merciful to the couple and instituted a law of substitutes,
which allowed the blood of another to take their place and atone
for their sin. An animal was sacrificed instead, and the couple
clothed with its skin (Gen 3:21). But the blood of bulls and
goats cannot take away sins (Heb 10:4). Animal sacrifice was
therefore merely provisional, standing as a prophetic type
pointing to the sacrifice of Christ. Since the blood of animals
could not take away sins, the saints could not enter heaven
until the death of Jesus and the general resurrection. Hence,
the spirits of the departed dead were “gathered unto their
people” in Sheol
(Hebrew) or Hades
(Greek) (Gen 25:8, 17; 35:29; 49:29, 33).
The picture
of Sheol in the Old Testament is somewhat murky, but the dead
are portrayed as living and conscious (Isa 14:9, 10; cf. 1 Sam
28:15-20). The picture is more complete in the New Testament,
where the term Hades
is used instead. Hades had two divisions: a place of torment for
the lost, and a place of comfort for the saved. The place of the
lost was called Tartarus
(2 Pet 2:4); the place of the saved was called
Abraham’s bosom, or, more commonly,
Paradise (Luke 24:43; 2Cor 12:4). A picture of the state of the dead
pending the general resurrection occurs in the parable of the
rich man and Lazarus as well as several passages in Revelation
(Luke 16:19-31; cf. Rev 6:9-11; 14:13; 20:4). On the last day of
the pre-messianic age, Christ, seated upon the throne of His
glory, began the judgment of the quick and the dead (Matt
25:31-46; 2 Tim 4:1). Death surrendered up its dead: the just
inherited eternal life in heaven; the unjust suffered eternal
destruction in Gehenna.
Gehenna
(ge-enna) is Greek for the Valley of Hinnom outside of Jerusalem
(also called Tophet, Isa 30:33). The Valley of Hinnom is where
185,000 Assyrians smitten by the angel of the Lord
were buried and cremated (Isa 30:31-33; 37:36). During periods
of idolatry, it was also used by the children of Israel to
sacrifice their children to Molech (2 Chron 28:3; 33:6; Jer
7:31); Josiah later defiled the place so that it might never
again be used for that purpose (2 Kings 23:10). In the time of
Christ, the Valley of Hinnom served as the city dump for
Jerusalem. It is there that the bodies of over 600,000 Jews who
starved to death in the Roman siege of Jerusalem were cast. The
phrase “where their worm
dieth not and the fire is not quenched” takes its source
from here (Isa 66:24; Mark 9:44, 46, 48), and refers to the
maggots and endless fires that fed upon the dead. The imagery is
applied by extension to the eternal fate of the lost in the next
world (Matt 5:22; 18:8, 9; James 3:6). In Revelation, Christ’s
enemies—the beast, the kings of the earth, the false prophet,
and the dragon—are cast directly into Gehenna upon their defeat
(there called the lake of
fire), indicating that the judgment of the quick and the
dead was then underway (Rev 19:20; 20:10; 2 Tim 4:1). This
should be compared to the Old Testament, where upon defeat God’s
enemies were cast into the “pit,” or Sheol (Ezek 31:14-17). John
portrays the judgment and eschatological Resurrection:
“And I saw a great white throne,
and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven
fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the
dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were
opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life:
and the dead were judged out of those things which were written
in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the
dead which were in it; and death and hades delivered up the dead
which were in them: and they were judged every man according to
their works. And death and hades were cast into the lake of
fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found
written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.”
(Rev 20:11-15)
The “sea” in
Revelation is associated with the Gentiles (the four Gentile
world powers in Daniel’s seventh chapter rise from the Great
Sea; the Roman “beast,” whose number is 666, also rises from the
sea). The sea, or deep, is also associated with Hades (Luke 8:31; Rom 10:7).
Therefore, the sea in this passage probably refers to Tartarus
and those outside of covenant relationship with God. However,
questions of this sort aside, we see that the very essence of
the eschatological Resurrection involved Hades and raising the
dead unto their respective rewards. Paul summed it all up in his
chapter on the Resurrection when he said
“O death, where is thy sting? O Hades, where is thy victory?” (1 Cor
15:55). With the destruction of Hades (that is, Hadean death),
the saints now go directly to heaven upon physical death (cf. Rev 14:13), the unsaved go to Gehenna.
With this overview of Hades and the Resurrection behind us, we are prepared to discuss the type of body received.
The Corporate Body View
We find traces of the Corporate Body View (CBV) doctrine expressed as early as 1845, when Robert Townley wrote his book The Second Advent of the Lord Jesus Christ a Past Event (London, 1845).[1] A modern proponent of this view is Max King, who made it popular during the 1970-80s. At one time, the majority of Preterists likely embraced the CBV, but numbers have dramatically declined in recent years. Both Townley and King were led into Universalism by this view, which has brought it under increased scrutiny and criticism, causing many to seek alternatives.
Briefly
stated, the CBV interprets the Resurrection mystically. Where
the rest of Christendom teaches that the “natural body” refers
to man’s physical body and the “spiritual body” refers to the
incorruptible body received in the Resurrection, the CBV holds
that the natural and spiritual bodies refer instead to Judaism
and Christianity, respectively. According to King:
“Resurrection has reference many
times to the change from the Jewish system to the Christian
system, where the material body of Judaism is put off in death
and the spiritual body of Christianity is resurrected in life.[2]
“The natural body that was sown . . . answers to the fleshly or
carnal system of Judaism . . . out of the decay of Judaism arose
the spiritual body of Christianity . . . this is the primary
meaning of Paul’s statement, “it is sown a natural body; it is
raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body. There is a
spiritual body.”[3]
The CBV
holds that the Old Testament law was valid and held Christians
in bondage to sin until AD 70. Justification from sin (the
Christian’s “resurrection”) would come only with the destruction
of Jerusalem. According to King:
“Judaism was the metaphorical
grave of the spiritual dead out of which the resurrection took
place.”[4]
“One must look to the Jewish
system as the state and power of death to be destroyed by the
reign of Christ.”[5]
“Paul wanted to attain unto the
resurrection of the dead . . . as represented in the Jewish
system”.[6]
“The last enemy to be destroyed
was death (1 Cor 15:26), and Israel was that ministration of
death (2 Cor 3:7)”.[7]
“Paul said it was then that
“death was swallowed up in victory” . . . But how was death
swallowed up in victory? The answer is obvious. Where was death
resident? Did it not reign in the mortal or natural body of
Judaism . . . But when that body died, and from it arose a
spiritual body clothed with incorruption and immortality, death
was defeated”.[8]
Reduced to
its essential elements, the CBV rests upon three pillars, each
of which we believe to be objectively false. These are:
1)
The Old Testament law was valid, binding, and obligatory until
AD 70;
2)
Atonement was incomplete and the saints remained under the debt
of sin until AD 70; and
3)
Grace and justification from sin arrived only in AD 70 at the
fall of Jerusalem.
These are
logical corollaries of each other. If one is shown to be wrong,
the others will be wrong as well. For example, if it is shown
that the Old Testament legally terminated at the cross, then
grace and justification will have arrived at the cross, and so
forth. So, what does Scripture say? When did the old law end and
the gospel of grace begin? Here there can be no doubt: The Old
Testament ended at Calvary.
Just before
His crucifixion, Jesus instituted the Lord’s Supper, saying, “This
is my blood of the New Testament which is shed for many the
remission of sins” (Matt 26:28). Jesus’ blood
inaugurated the New
Testament (cf. Heb
9:20). It is a fundamental maxim of law that there can be only
one will or testament in force at a time. The last or latest
will revokes all earlier ones. The epistle to the Hebrews says
“a testament is of force after men are dead” (Heb 9:17;
cf. Heb 10:9). Therefore, the New Testament came into effect upon
Jesus’ death. Since there cannot be two Testaments in force at
one time, the Old Testament necessarily ended at the cross.
At Jesus’
death, the veil of the temple, representing our separation from
God, was “rent in twain,” showing that the way into God’s
presence was now open through the death of Christ (Matt 27:51).
The temple service and blood sacrifices were a prophetic
foreshadow of good things to come (Col 2:17; Heb 10:1). A shadow
ends where the body begins. Paul says the body (substance) of
our faith is the cross of Christ (Col 2:17; 1 Cor 2:2; Gal
6:14). Therefore, the shadow of the law ended at the cross. Paul
states that Christ “abolished in his flesh . . . the law of commandments contained in
ordinances” (Eph 2:15). The verb here is in the perfect
tense, showing completed action in the past: Christ abolished
the law in His flesh (viz., at the cross).
“And you, being dead in your sins
and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together
with him, having forgiven you all trespasses; blotting out the
handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was
contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his
cross.(Col 2:13, 14)
Again, the
perfect tense (“having forgiven”) is used. If the apostle wanted
to say that the Mosaic Law was abolished and Christians had
forgiveness of sins, what words could he use to make it clearer
than those recorded here? Notice also that Paul says the saints
were already “quickened” and had experienced spiritual
resurrection at conversion (faith, repentance, and baptism) (cf.
Eph 2:1, 6; Rom. 6:3-6). Thus, the CBV’s insistence that the
saints were dead in sin until AD 70 is wide of the mark.
Two entire
epistles (Galatians and Hebrews) are devoted to the proposition
that the law was no longer valid and need not be kept. A special
counsel held in Jerusalem by the apostles concluded there was no
need to keep the ceremonial law (Acts 15:24-29). We thus read
that the dietary laws and law against Jews keeping table
fellowship with Gentiles were revoked (Acts 10; Gal 2:11, 12; 1
Tim 4:4); the law segregating Gentiles from Jews in the temple
was revoked (Eph 2:14, 15); the feast days and Sabbath days were
revoked (Gal 4:10; Col 2:16); and circumcision, the very epitome
of the Old Testament law, was revoked (Gal 2:2-5; 6:15). If all
these are revoked, what part of the law does the CBV argue was
still valid after the crucifixion of Jesus, keeping the saints
under the debt of sin?
The epistle
to the Romans states, “Sin
shall not have dominion over you; for ye are not under the law,
but under grace” (Rom 6:14;
cf Gal 5:2). Not under
the law. How can proponents of the CBV deny simple and direct
statements like these and maintain credibility? At His ascension
Christ became our high priest (Heb 9:11, 24). The epistle to the
Hebrews says “for the
priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change
also of the law” (Heb 7:12). A change of the law! Christ’s
sacrifice and priesthood revoked the Aaronic priesthood and
temple sacrifices. As for atonement being already complete, we
have Paul’s testimony, saying,
“We have now received the atonement” (Rom 5:11). As well, the author
of Hebrews declares, “For
by one offering he hath perfected forever them that are
sanctified” (Heb 10:14; perfect tense, showing completed
action in the past).
Thus, all three essential tenants of the CBV are directly contradicted by numerous passages of Scripture: The law was revoked at the cross, atonement was complete, grace had entered, and men were justified in spiritual resurrection—all before AD 70. Arguments that there was a collective body resurrection of the saints out of the grave of Judaism in AD 70 must therefore be dismissed.
The Individual, Physical Body View
The idea
that the Resurrection involves physical bodies has a long
tradition in the church. The Nicene Creed (AD 325) speaks merely
of the “resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to
come,” but many later creeds speak of the resurrection of “the
body,” and several creeds and confessions speak expressly of the
resurrection of “the flesh.”[9]
This seems to have come about in opposition to Origenism.
Origen (184 – 254) was the greatest of the early Christian writers.
Jerome says that he wrote more than any individual could
read. Epiphanius related that his works amounted to 6,000
writings. His magnum opus was the Hexapala, a critical edition
of the Greek and Hebrew scriptures set in six columns, including
versions of the 1) Hebrew, 2) Hebrew transliterated into Greek,
3) Aquila of Sinope, 4) Symmachus the Ebionite, 5) a recension
of the Septuagint, 6) Theodotion. Eusebius devoted almost the
entire sixth book of his "Ecclesiastical History" to Origen and,
in collaboration with the martyr Pamphilius, composed the
"Apology for Origen." His works published in the Ante-Nicene
Fathers include De
Principiis, A Letter
to Africanus about the History of Susanna, A
Letter to Gregory, and
Contra Celsus.
Origen, who was also a Preterist, believed that in the resurrection the
body would be changed from one that is animal, made of earth and
soil, into one that is spiritual and ethereal: “”What at first
was flesh (formed) out of earthly soil, and was afterwards
dissolved by death, and again reduced to dust and ashes
will…advance to the glory of a spiritual body…” “With respect to
the state of the body, we are to hold that his very body which
now, on account of its service to the soul, is styled an animal
body, will...attain to a spiritual condition and quality.”[10]
After Origen’s death, opposition grew against his doctrine of the
resurrection, first by Methodius (circa 300 A.D.), then
Epiphanius (375 A.D.), then Jerome in his anti-Origenist quarrel
with Rufinus (c. 393–402). In the sixth century, Justinian
issued an edict denouncing Origen (543 A.D.), and, finally, the
fifth ecumenical counsel at Constantinople anathematized him
(553 A.D.). The doctrine of the resurrection of physical bodies
has been firmly planted in the church ever since, with almost no
scriptural warrant whatever.
>Jesus’ Teaching about the Resurrection
The
resurrection of individual, physical bodies was the view of the
Pharisees in Jesus’ day. We learn this from the hypothetical
scenario propounded by the Sadducees to Jesus, asking whose wife
the widow of seven husbands would be in the Resurrection. The
Sadducees did not believe in the Resurrection (Matt 22:23; Acts
23:8), whereas the Pharisees did. Thus, it is clear that the
Sadducees’ question was based upon the Pharisees’ conception of
the Resurrection, and was put to Jesus as an indissoluble
problem refuting the Resurrection. Jesus’ response affirmed the
fact of the Resurrection, but denied that it was physical in
nature.
“Ye do err, not knowing the
scriptures, nor the power of God. For in the resurrection they
neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels
of God in heaven. But as touching the resurrection of the dead,
have ye not read that which was spoken unto you by God, saying,
I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of
Jacob? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.”
(Matt 29-32)
Three points
emerge from this:
1)
The resurrection is in heaven, not on earth (cf.
Matt 5:10, 12; Heb 11:13-16). The body received, therefore, must
be suited to the spiritual realm above, not the material realm
here below.
2)
Angels by definition are spirits—immaterial, intangible, and
invisible. Since in the Resurrection we will be like the angels,
it follows that we, too, will be spirits whose bodies are
immaterial, intangible, and invisible.
3)
Abraham and the patriarchs had in some form or manner already
experienced a resurrection (viz.,
the first resurrection of the soul or spirit in Hades, Rev
6:9-11; 14:13; 20:4). But if the first resurrection involved the
spirit of man, what basis is there to assume the Hadean
resurrection would involve physical bodies? So far as we can
tell, there is none.
Paul’s Analogy of the Seed
We may add
to Jesus’ instruction about the Resurrection the words of Paul:
“That which thou sowest, thou
sowest not the body that shall be, but bare grain, it may chance
of wheat, or of some other grain: But God giveth it a body as it
hath pleased him, and to every seed his own body . . . . So also
is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is
raised in incorruption. It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in
glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. It is sown
a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. And so it is
written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last
Adam was made a quickening spirit. . . . flesh and blood cannot
inherit the kingdom of God.”(1
Cor 15:37-50)
It is commonly supposed that the “seed” in Paul’s analogy is the dead body buried in the earth, but this is mistaken. That which is sown is the human soul, encased in the “seed hull” of earthly form. This is what Paul means when he says “It is sown a natural body . . . . And so it was written, The first man Adam was made a living soul.” These parallels make clear that our souls are first “sown” in flesh via human birth. But that which is sown is not quickened (resurrected) unless it die (1 Cor 15:36). That is, we must put off these mortal bodies in physical death, if we are to be raised to heavenly life (absent from the body is present with the Lord; cf. 2 Cor 5:6-8). The seed of our human nature bears the germ (the spirit) that comes forth at death clothed upon with a body suited to heavenly life. Hence, Jesus’ physical resurrection is not the pattern of our own. Rather, Jesus’ glorified body in heaven is the pattern of our resurrection. This is clear from Paul’s statement “the last Adam was made a quickening spirit . . . And as we have borne the image of the earthly, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly” (1 Cor 15:45, 49). God is a spirit (John 4:24). Our destiny is to become spirits with bodies suited for glory like Christ’s (Rom 8:29. 30).
Verses Relied Upon by the PBV
Let us
survey briefly the verses relied upon by adherents of the PBV.
“For I know that my redeemer
liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the
earth: And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in
my flesh shall I see God.”(Job 19:25, 26)
This is the
only verse in the Bible that makes reference to the flesh in
apparent connection with the Resurrection. However, the Hebrew
of this verse is so obscure and ambiguous that scholars cannot
decide how it is to be translated. The marginal reading gives
the rendering, “After I
shall awake, though this body be destroyed, yet out of my flesh
. . .” etc. In other words, two renderings, exactly opposite
in meaning, can be sustained by the original tongue. Thus, it
cannot be determined with certainty what Job actually meant.
Given that this is the only place in Scripture referring to the
flesh in the context of the Resurrection, we would be well
advised to opt for the alternate rendering. At the very least,
standing as it does alone, and more especially in view of the
poetic nature of the book, no essential doctrine of Scripture
ought to be built upon it.
Thy dead men shall live, together
with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that
dwell in dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth
shall cast out the dead.
(Isa 26:19)
This passage
does not teach a general physical resurrection of believers.
Jesus’ “dead body” is the only body expressly mentioned in the
passage. Those that “dwell in dust” refer to the spirits of the
dead in Sheol/Hades, which was conceived as a cavernous realm
beneath earth’s surface. The earth casting out its dead
therefore does not speak to the bodies of the dead, but rather
their spirits in Hades. Assuming, however, that physical bodies
are intended, the better view is that the reference is to
certain physical resurrections, recorded by Matthew (27:52-53),
in which actual bodies rose in association with Jesus’
resurrection, and not to the general Resurrection of the last
day predicted to occur some forty years later.
“Marvel not at this: for the hour
is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear
his voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto
the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the
resurrection of damnation.”(John
5:28-29)
As with
Isaiah 26:19, no physical bodies are mentioned in this text. All
Jesus says is that those in the graves will come forth. Jesus
did not say they would come forth on this side of eternity.
Daniel made the like statement, saying, “many
of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to
everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt”
(Dan 12:2). This language is obviously poetic: The dead do not
“sleep” in the earth; their spirits go to Hades (Luke 24:43; cf.
16:19-31). Hence, the idea of “waking” from the dust is merely
accommodative; it points to a coming day of salvation when death
would be vanquished and man goes to his long-awaited home with
God and Christ in heaven.
But if the Spirit of him that
raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up
Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by
his Spirit that dwelleth in you.
(Rom 8:11)
“Quickening”
our mortal bodies does not refer to the resurrection of the
physical body, but the regenerative effects of God’s Spirit in
man by the mortification of the flesh. “For
if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the
Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live” (Rom
8:13; cf. Gal 5:24). This is all the more apparent from the
verse immediately preceding, where Paul writes, “the body is dead because of sin” (Rom 8:10). The saints at Rome were
not dead and neither were their bodies; the apostle is merely
using a figure of speech. As the source of fleshly lusts, the
body is spiritually “dead.” But by being brought into subjection
to the Spirit, the body is figuratively quickened and made an
instrument of righteousness.
“And not only they, but ourselves
also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we
ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to
wit, the redemption of our body.”
(Rom 8:23)
This passage
may be likened to Jeremiah’s purchase (redemption) of his
uncle’s field just before the nation went into captivity. The
ownership of the land was witnessed and sealed unto Jeremiah,
but its possession and enjoyment were postponed until the nation
returned out of captivity (Jer 32:10-44). In the same way, our
inheritance has been purchased for us by Christ, and we have the
earnest of the Spirit in our hearts, whereby we cry “Abba, Father,” showing that we are putative heirs of eternal life
(Rom 8:15-17). The “redemption of our body” is the point at
which we come into possession of eternal life and receive our
immortal bodies. There is no mention of physical bodies in the
passage.
The Individual, Spiritual Body View
The phrase
Individual Body View (IBV) was coined to distinguish it from the
CBV, rather than as a stand-alone name to describe the
eschatological Resurrection. It is suitable for the one-by-one
resurrection experienced as men die today, but it is not really
suitable for the eschatological Resurrection. The essence of the
eschatological Resurrection was Hades surrendering up the
spirits of the dead, beginning with Abel until the last day of
the pre-messianic age. Therefore, I prefer the phrases
Hadean Resurrection or
the resurrection from
Hades as more descript. Since we have already surveyed the
Hadean Resurrection, let us look at a few verses demonstrating
the nature of the resurrection body itself.
“Deliver such an one unto Satan
for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved
in the day of the Lord Jesus.”
(1 Cor 5:5)
“Destruction” of the flesh here is best understood in terms of
its mortification by denying its affections and lusts. By
excommunicating unrepentant members overtaken in sin, they may
be brought to shame and repentance, leading to the denial and
destruction of the flesh. By thus “crucifying the flesh” (Gal
5:24), the spirit is restored to purity, suitable unto
salvation. The flesh is expressly excluded from the spirit’s
salvation.
“For which cause we faint not;
but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed
day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment,
worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory;
while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the
things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are
temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.”
(2 Cor 4:16-18)
The material
is visible and temporal; the immaterial is invisible and
eternal. Although the outward and material man perishes, the
inward, immaterial man is renewed day by day. The body will
perish, but the spirit will inherit eternal life.
“For we know that if our earthly
house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of
God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.”
(2 Cor 5:1)
Our “earthly
house” refers to our mortal bodies of flesh; “this tabernacle”
also refers to our physical bodies (2 Pet 1:14). Dissolution of
our earthly house speaks to putting off the body in death. The “building of God, not made with hands, eternal in the heavens” speaks
to our immortal, immaterial, and spiritual bodies. These are
received and enjoyed in heaven.
“For in this we groan, earnestly
desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven.
If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked”.
(2 Cor 5:2, 3)
In the
Resurrection, we are clothed with our immaterial and immortal
house from heaven, not our fleshly, mortal bodies of earth.
“Naked” speaks to putting off the body of flesh in death;
“clothed” speaks to putting on the spiritual body in the
resurrection of life.
“Therefore we are always
confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we
are absent from the Lord: (For we walk by faith not by sight:)
We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent
from the body, and to be present with the Lord.”
(2 Cor 5:6-8)
Could the
apostle have made it plainer? We would be absent from the body
of flesh that we might be at home with the Lord. If, in the
Resurrection we are reunited with the body, we will be at home
in the body and absent from the Lord! Clearly, that is no part
of the Christian’s hope.
“For we must all appear before
the judgment seat of Christ; that everyone may receive the
things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether
it be good or bad.” (2
Cor 5:10)
This verse, following hard upon the heels of those going before, which so clearly proclaim that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord, makes clear that in the Judgment men will not be clothed with houses of clay. That they are to receive the things done while in the body clearly implies that at the Judgment they would be in the physical body no more. They have passed from this life and put off their bodies of clay and gone to be judged for the things done while still in the flesh.
Conclusion
The
eschatological Resurrection of the last day consisted in the
spirits in Hades receiving individual, spiritual, immaterial,
immortal, and invisible bodies suited to the ethereal realm
above. Other views are unsound, and should be rejected.
[1]
"The mystical body of Christ, say we, was a natural
body, at that time, as far as its ordinances, its
officers, its gifts, prophesying, tongues, healing,
helps, and governments were concerned.
All these were, if the expression may be allowed,
borrowed from the Jewish body of worship…That body was
to give way to a spiritual body…the old covenant
administration of death, which in Paul’s day was shaken
and ready to vanish, should entirely disappear – then
should be brought to pass the saying that was written,
“Death is swallowed up in victory.”
Robert Townley,
The Second Advent of the Lord Jesus Christ a Past Event (London, 1845), 120
[2]
Max R. King, The
Spirit of Prophecy (1971, Warren, OH), 191
[3]
Ibid, 200
[4]
Ibid, 220
[5]
Ibid, 144
[6]
Ibid, 194
[7]
Ibid, 173
[8]
Ibid, 202
[9]
The Interrogatory Creed of Hippolytus (c. 215 A.D.)
asks, “Do you believe…in the resurrection of the body?”
Similarly, the Creed of Marcellus (340 A.D.) as well as
the Apostles’ Creed (390 A.D.) and the Athanasian Creed
(450-670 A.D.) declare “I believe in…the resurrection of
the body,” The Creed of Rufinus (c. 404 A.D.) is more
explicit and declares “I believe in the resurrection of
the flesh.” The Westminster Confession
(1646) (Reformed) and the second London Confession
(1689) (Baptist), declare: “At the last day, such as are
found alive shall not die, but be changed: and all the
dead shall be raised up, with the selfsame bodies, and
none other (although with different qualities), which
shall be united again to their souls forever.”
[10]
Origen, De Pincipiis, 3.6.5,6, Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. 4, p. 346, 347
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