Bible Literacy Test, Question 40, If We Go to Heaven Why a Resurrection?

Welcome to another Wednesday night Bible study. As you can see behind me, sometimes I record these things during the day and so there's there's daylight behind me through the windows there. Don't let that throw you off. It's just I I don't trust the live recording process anymore.

So I have decided to record all of these Bible studies and I hope you I hope you understand why now I do that. Now, we're continuing on with the Bible literacy test. We're on question number 40. And uh Okay, so this question identifies two passages in the New Testament that deal extensively with the resurrection. And now you'll find the first of those some of you may want to have the answer right away.

The first of those is 1 Corinthians 15. The second is 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. Those are the two uh chapters in the Bible that deal specifically with the resurrection of the dead. I want to approach this question just a little differently because I think there's something very important here that I think maybe a lot of Well, let's just call them mainstream Christians have never maybe thought carefully about.

Most people who've grown up in a mainstream Christian church have been taught that when a good Christian dies, they go to heaven. And that means that the physical body dies but he continues or she continues living uh you know in the presence of God you know, someplace up in heaven. I I've been to funerals, you probably have uh well.

I've been to mainstream Protestant funerals, my my my wife's grandfather in particular. Uh when he was uh when he passed away I would they they they grew up as um you know, as as mainstream Christians. And you know, at the time the pastor had him uh in heaven looking down upon all of the family with the with you know, apparently some kind of joy or whatever.

Or he was in the room with us. I remember that. Uh then he was he was in the grave at one point. And so it's I I thought it was very confusing how it was presented. And I and I know this is this is not an an an an um I guess let me say it this way. I understand that that mainstream Christians cling to these beliefs because they're comforting to them to the degree that they can be comforted with this information presented in this way.

Okay? But the scripture So that the question I'm asking myself is does scripture support that idea? And I and I haven't in any of the other Bible studies actually been able to go through and deal with this question of the immortal soul. And since we're now dealing with the question of where do I find the resurrection of the saints? The resurrection of the dead I should say.

Where do we find those chapters? And I just gave those to you as 1 Corinthians 15 and 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. The This is the time to ask the question and and deal I think more directly with the idea that well, if there's a resurrection, this is what's on my mind. If there's a resurrection, how do I reconcile that with this idea that mainstream Christianity teaches that no, when you die, your your body goes into the to returns to the dust, but you go to heaven.

And and this is a part of this immortal soul concept. And I really can't understand and connect that to the idea that there's also a resurrection. You'll see as we go through this why I uh I find that challenging to to try to process and I don't think the scripture supports that. And I want to show you why and I want to carefully walk through this.

I want to begin today or this evening or for me it's the afternoon. For you it'll be Wednesday evening. I want to begin by asking the question, what is the human soul and what happens when it dies? Okay? So I want to begin this study with this. Let's go back to Genesis chapter 2. Okay? Genesis chapter 2 and verse 7. It says, "And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and man became a living being.

" Now I'm reading that out of the the New King James just so that you know, if you're reading the King James version it's going to say uh he became a living soul, but it's the same word behind both terms. The word is nephesh. It's the Hebrew word n e p h e s h. So we see here that God takes material, the dust of the ground, and he forms a material body that he that he names Adam.

It's physical. Then he breathes life into this body, into this individual he named Adam. And Adam then becomes a living nephesh. He becomes a living being, a nephesh. Uh excuse me, I'm going to make sure I say that correctly. He becomes a nephesh. All right. That means that he became a mortal soul. Mortal soul.

I want to show you how how we know that that's true. Turn with me over to Genesis chapter 1 and verse 20 because it's very hard to ignore how God uses this term by inspiration. Okay? Uh so Genesis chapter 1 verse 20. Then God said, "Let the waters abound with an abundance of living creatures That word creatures is nephesh. And let birds fly above the earth across the face of the firmament of the heavens.

So here it says that living creatures, not man, creatures. Birds flying, animals walking around, they're all called nephesh. Verse 21. So God created great sea creatures. And every living thing living thing nephesh. Every living thing. So sea creatures are nephesh and every living thing that moves is nephesh. With which the waters abounded according to their kind and every winged bird according to its kind and God saw that it was good. One more, verse 24.

Verse 24. Then God said, "Let the earth bring forth bring forth the living creature nephesh according to its kind, cattle and creeping thing and beast of the earth each according to its kind and it was so." We cannot simply dismiss the idea that Adam is called nephesh. The animals are called nephesh. Nephesh cannot mean immortal soul if the animals, which we believe do not possess a soul, are called the same thing as Adam who we believe has a soul.

So we have to understand soul then means mortal person, mortal being. A mortal soul is what was given to Adam. He is not immortal. See, it doesn't say he's immortal. It says he's created corporally. He is physical. He exists. All right, now let's turn it over to Ezekiel 18 where God is correcting an idea that the Israelites had about the responsibility for sin.

Now, let's notice this here. So, let's go over to This is going to be Sorry. Ezekiel chapter 18. Okay, Ezekiel chapter 18 and I'm going to pick this up here. In verse 4, it says, "Behold, all nephesh are mine. All souls are mine. The soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is mine. The soul who sins shall die.

" Nephesh, nephesh, nephesh, nephesh, nephesh. The nephesh that sins shall die. The soul, the mortal soul of the one who sins will die. It's hard for me as a, you know, just a regular guy, I think, when I process that, it's hard for me to see in my head that that that means that the soul who sins will go to heaven. The soul who sins will go to some eternal torment.

I can't see those those connecting here. I see that if a that if a soul, if a mortal soul of one who sins dies. What does die mean? Well, let's notice again though, verse 18 Let's go down here to verse 20 of chapter 18 where God reiterates the same point. He says, "The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not bear the guilt of the father, nor the father bear the guilt of the son.

The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself." Okay. Again, once again, it's nephesh, nephesh, nephesh. Okay? So, it's a very clear statement then to say that the nephesh that sins will die. If a soul is inherently immortal, then we have a problem with that statement.

The word immortal means not subject to death. So, how can we say that the soul is subject to death, which is not subject to death? Plain statements like that have to be allowed to say what they say, and they have to be able to mean what they mean. We don't We shouldn't be taking something as plainly said as this and then saying, "No, no, it doesn't mean what it plainly says that it means.

" I think that's dishonest. I think we need to be very honest with what the scriptures truly say. Now, let's see what Jesus Christ had to say about this. Turn to Matthew chapter 10. Matthew chapter 10. Okay. Ah, here we go. Matthew chapter 10, verse 28. It says here This is Christ's teaching. I Let's actually pick this up in verse 27.

He says, "Whatever I tell you in the dark, speak in the light. And what you hear, preach on the housetops. And do not fear those who kill the body, but cannot kill the soul. But rather, fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell." So, Christ distinguishes between men who can't kill the body. Excuse me.

Christ distinguishes between men who can only kill the body and God who can kill both body and soul. Now, the Greek word for soul here is p s y c h e, psyche. It can refer to a person's life or the person himself, depending on the context. And so, Christ here, we see speaks of God being able to destroy both. So, whatever other questions we might have about the final judgment, the soul is plainly not beyond God's power to destroy.

Now, we can turn back here to Ecclesiastes chapter 9. Ecclesiastes chapter 9. I think I'm going to mark this. We might be back here. Let me see. You see Ecclesiastes chapter 9 verses 5 and 6. Now, this is this is Solomon who had been doing a lot of experimenting throughout his time on this earth is to investigate the condition of man.

Here we are in chapter 9 and verse 5 he says, "For the living know not that they will die." But the dead know nothing. I'm just misspeaking a lot tonight. I'm sorry about that. Let me reread that. For the living know that they will die. But the dead know nothing. And they have no more reward for the memory of them is forgotten.

Also, notice what else is what else they forget. It says, "Also their love, their hatred, and their envy have now perished." Never more will they have a share in anything done under the sun. Now, drop down to verse 10. Where where we have the very famous, very well-known passage of of Ecclesiastes.

"Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might. For there is no work or device or knowledge or wisdom in the grave where you are going." Notice what's not going to the grave? What's not going to be found in the grave where we are dead? No work, no device, or knowledge, or wisdom. And notice the connection isn't into heaven. The connection is into death.

That we do not retain these things in death. This is what Solomon is telling us. So, love, hatred, and envy perish. Work, planning, knowledge, wisdom, all perish. He's talking about things that are associated with consciousness, with thinking, and with emotion. So, think about that. If someone dies and immediately continues living consciously in heaven, they're learning, thinking, communicating.

How do we reconcile that with what Solomon is telling us? Now, some commentators explain that Solomon is only describing what the dead can do here on Earth. But, he specifically identifies the grave as a place without knowledge or wisdom. So, we need we need some kind of an explanation that reconciles these two things.

Let's let's go over also to Job. Let's notice Job chapter 14. Job chapter 14, we're going to pick this up, I think, in verse 10. Verse 10, he says, "But, man dies and is laid away. Indeed, he breathes his last, and where is he?" Well, this is specifically to the question, isn't it? Is he in heaven or not? Okay, let's keep reading.

"As water disappears from the sea and a river becomes parched and dries up, so man lies down and does not rise." He's not talking about the He's not distinguishing here between a body and a soul. He's saying the man, the person. "Till the heavens are no more, they will not awake nor be roused from their sleep.

" Job is very clear here that he understands the cycle of life, that God breathes into us life. And with that life, we become a mortal soul. And that at our death, that mortal soul dies, goes into the grave, and as it says here, till the heavens are no more, they will not awake nor be roused from their sleep. Verse 13, "Oh that you would hide me in the grave, that you would conceal me until your wrath is past, that you would appoint me a set time and remember me.

" "If a man dies, shall he live again?" Modern Christianity says, "Yeah, as soon as he dies, he goes to heaven." Well, isn't that what they mean then? He's alive again. But that's not what Job says. He says, "All the days of my hard service, I will wait till my change comes. You shall call and I will answer you.

You shall desire the work of your hands." Now, look at verse 21. Notice the condition until that happens. "His sons come to honor and he does not know it. They are brought low and he does not perceive it." The man in heaven, if we assume that's true, why can't he see what's happening to his children on this earth? If he is alive and engaged, has a brain, has vision, has everything that we say that he has, as modern Christians say that he has, then how come he doesn't know what's going on with his children? That's not

what I was told about my wife's grandfather. He was both in heaven and he was alive and in the room and enjoying the fact that so many of his friends and family were celebrating his life and mourning his passing. This isn't the same thing. If this is true, then he wasn't ever in the room. He was always in the grave.

Now, let's add something from the New Testament, John chapter 11, verse 11. >> Okay, John chapter 11. And I want to pick this up here in in verse 11. This is the story uh of Lazarus. Now, he was the brother of Mary and of course he had he had passed away just before Christ arrived. And uh there's a there's a mourning and grieving and and people are upset.

And then notice here in verse 11, I want to make sure I'm in the right chapter here. John 11:11. Yep, okay. So, verse 11 it says, "These things he said, and after he said to them, Our friend Lazarus sleeps. But I go that I may wake him up." Well, then his disciples said, "Lord, if he sleeps, he will get well.

" This is the human experience, isn't it? If we know that somebody's not well and they're sleeping, then we know they're sleeping because their body is recuperating. It's recuperating. It is trying to recover from whatever the illness is. And so, they think that he's just unwell. Verse 13 says, Christ said, "However, Jesus spoke of his death.

But they thought that he was speaking about taking rest in sleep. Then Jesus said to them plainly, "Lazarus is dead." Want you to see clearly, this is not a sick man. He is dead. The connection is sleep. Why Why do you think God uses sleep as a connection to death? And I think, well, we can relate to the idea because I know if I'm sleeping and I don't remember a dream, sometimes you can lay your head on the pillow and you wake up and it and you know, eight or nine hours has gone by and you don't even realize you maybe didn't even move.

I know if I've been that exhausted, I don't feel like I've even moved. I've just you kind of just wake up and you're like, "Wow, I was asleep this whole time?" Because there's not really much going on. If you don't remember your dreams, you don't know what you were doing that whole time.

You were just asleep and then you were awake. And so Christ helps wants us to understand that this is the way God sees death. You're just asleep. And that he can change your condition at any time that he wants to. So verse 14 again, he says, "Then Jesus said to them plainly, Lazarus is is dead." And so this is what they see of him. Now, that's obviously because God knows that he can awaken the person who has died.

Later, Christ calls Lazarus from the tomb and Lazarus comes out alive. The man who had died is now living again. Christ doesn't describe retrieving a conscious soul from heaven. He describes awakening someone who is dead. He didn't call forth Lazarus from heaven. He called him forth from the tomb he was buried in.

This is a really important connection for us to make. Okay, so now we've seen several passages that describe human beings as mortal, souls as capable of dying, and the dead as lacking knowledge and consciousness. But there's another biblical term we need to understand. It's called the spirit in man. Doesn't scripture say that the spirit returns to God when we die? Well, let's go back to Job again.

This time chapter 32. Okay, here we go. Job chapter 32. And I want to I want to pick this up here in verse eight. It says here in verse 8, "But there is a spirit in man, and the breath of the Almighty gives him understanding." This is Elihu speaking. He's talking about human understanding. Elihu understands this. And he connects it with the understanding that God gives human beings.

Now, we know that there's a difference between human beings and the other forms of nephesh God created, identified for us back in the book of Genesis. We know that there is an intellect in man that is not matched in any creature in the in the living existing animal world. Not whether that's animals, whether that's bird, whether that's fish, mammals, it doesn't matter.

Dinosaurs, no creature has ever had intellect like human beings. We stand alone and distinct among all of the creation in that regard. And And you notice how that's displayed for us because we don't see this replicated in the animal kingdom. We build homes, and somebody says, "Well, see, a beaver builds a dam.

" Yeah, but does a beaver plan out his life? Does he have a 401k? Does he think about how to provide for his dependents? Does he contemplate his relationship with God? No. They have instinct. We know that. It's very plain. And so, we see that there is definitely a difference between our brains and an animal's brain.

Something is added to ours, a spiritual component, that has been given to us. So, this is what we refer to as the spirit in man. Now, of course, scripture doesn't describe every detail of how human thought works. We are fumbling in the dark in many regards to understand exactly how the human brain works, but we know from what scripture does reveal that we have a created brain and that we have a spirit added to that brain.

And as we just read from Elihu, there is a spirit in man, right? And the breath of the Almighty gives him understanding. Now, let's go over to 1 Corinthians chapter 2. 1 Corinthians chapter 2. I want to read beginning here in verse 9. It says, "But as it is written, eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love him.

But God has revealed them to us through his spirit. Now, notice there's two different spirits here. For the spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. For what man knows the things of man except the spirit of the man which is in him. Even so, no one knows the things of God except the spirit of God.

That is not the same as the spirit of man. So, there is a spirit of man which is in us which gives us carnal knowledge, the ability to know human things. Even so, no one knows the things of God except the spirit of God. Now, we have received not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is from God that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.

When we are baptized, we repent, we see it, God calls us, we repent, we turn, change, we are baptized, we receive God's holy spirit. It is added to our spirit of man. We already have man's spirit in us. But that spirit isn't capable of understanding the things of God, and therefore God gives us through this baptism process, this repentance process, he gives us access to his spirit.

There's another statement over in Zechariah that helps establish where this spirit comes from. In Zechariah chapter 12 verse 1, this is Old Testament, of course. Zechariah verse chapter 12 verse 1. The burden of the word of the Lord against Israel. Burden is an accusation, uh uh trial that's coming. Thus says the Lord who stretches out the heavens, who lays the foundation of the earth, and forms the spirit of man within him.

The the the God who created everything, who created mankind included, who gave him his spirit, put that spirit in him deliberately. He does not say that God ever did that for the animals. They are also nephesh, but they do not have a spirit of man in them. That spirit is what gives us intellect, human rational thinking.

And here we see that God identifies himself as the one who forms that spirit within man. So, here's the question we need to answer. Does possessing a spirit mean there's another conscious person living inside our physical body body, or is it just us? Does that spirit continue thinking, remembering, and experiencing life after the physical body dies? Scripture identifies the spirit in man, but we shouldn't assign it abilities that scripture does not assign it.

Okay, Ecclesiastes again, chapter 12. Ecclesiastes chapter 12. I'm going to This is a bit of a longer read, but I think it's important that we do it. I'm going to begin in verse 1 of Ecclesiastes chapter 12. Where Solomon writes, "Remember now your creator in the days of your youth, before the difficult days come, and the years draw near when you say, "I have no pleasure in them.

" While the sun and the light, the moon and the stars are not darkened, and the clouds do not return after the rain. In the day when the keepers of the house tremble, and the strong men bow down, when the grinders cease because they are few, and those that look through the windows grow dim. When the doors are shut in the streets, and the sound of grinding is low, when one rises up at the sound of a bird, and all the daughters of the music are brought low.

Also, they are afraid of height and of terrors in the way. When the almond tree blossoms, the grasshopper is a burden, and desire fails. For man goes to his eternal home, and the mourners go about the streets. Remember, verse 6, remember your creator before the silver cord is loosed, or the golden bowl is broken, or the pitched or the pitcher shattered at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the well.

Then the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it. Solomon says the dust returns to the earth, and the spirit returns to God who gave it. Now, we can go all the way back to Genesis where we began reading about how God created man out of the dust of the ground, and then breathed into him and made him a nephesh, a mortal soul, and gave him put in him a spirit.

We call it the spirit of man. All of that happened at the very beginning when man was created. And man has received that same spirit in every birth that has ever taken place ever since. And so, we see here Solomon describing what happens at the end of life. The physical body goes back to the ground. It does not say that the spirit goes back to heaven to be with God forever in a knowledgeable, conscious state.

It simply says the spirit returns to God who gave it. That's what it says. We already read in Ecclesiastes 9 where Solomon says the dead know nothing. There's no knowledge in the grave. There's no love, no hate, no envy. There's no will, no no plans, no plotting, no wisdom. All of those are lacking when we die. It doesn't say that they're alive and well and as well we're in some place called heaven.

It just describes Paul or excuse me Solomon now here shows us that at that same death God takes that spirit he gave to us back. Now I want you to think about this. What makes you who you are? What makes you recognizable as the individual that you are? You have memories, experiences, you have your own personality, you have a lifetime of choices, decisions, and consequences that you've lived with.

You remember people you've known, the things you've learned, and everything that's happened to you. If God resurrects you, you're going to need to be you. You're not a caricature of you. You have to be you or you're not resurrected. I'm trying to imagine Lazarus coming out of the grave not being Lazarus. Is he really resurrected if he doesn't come back and he has he doesn't remember who his family is? Doesn't recognize his sister, doesn't recognize his friends, doesn't recognize Christ, has no memory of the life that he had

lived. Is that Lazarus then? No, it's not. Might look like him, it might be his body, but that is not Lazarus and that's why that is not what resurrection means. You come back. Somehow you must be who you are when you are resurrected. So we have to conclude that the spirit in man preserves what is necessary for God to restore our individual identity at the resurrection.

That whatever this spirit is that forms our intellect, that that makes us be able to comprehend, understand, plan, plot, devise strategies, have experiences and memories, that that spirit is what God uses to preserve who we really are. And that when he takes that spirit back, it is to preserve who we really are.

Now, let's go back here to Romans 8 chapter 14. I want to look at another passage before we go to the resurrection passages. Because Romans 8 connects our human spirit with the future God is preparing for his children. So, Romans chapter 8, verse beginning in verse 14. Romans 8:14 says, "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God.

For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the spirit of adoption, by which we cry out, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit. These are not the same spirit. The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God. And if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ.

If indeed we suffer with him that we may also be glorified together. That's our destiny to be with Christ, like Christ in our spirit form. Okay. So, that means that God has promised us something that we don't presently possess. We're being prepared to inherit the kingdom of God as his immortal children. You can't possess something you already have.

You can't take on something you will already have on. You can't put on something that you're already wearing. If we are already immortal, God doesn't and can't add more immortality to what is already immortal. This is something I want us to very carefully consider. So, let's consider what we've established.

God creates human beings as living souls. When we die, our conscious life ends. The body returns to the dust. The spirit returns to God. We are completely dependent upon God to restore us to life. Now, if that's what death means, how important is the resurrection of the dead? Without it, we're going to remain dead. Now, that brings us to the answer directly to question 40.

Let's go over to 1 Corinthians chapter 15. Let's notice we're going to spend the remaining time we have here in 1 Corinthians chapter 15 to some degree, and then we'll go we'll finish up we'll wrap up with 1 Corin- or with 1 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, if I can get the words out. All right.

So, in 1 Corinthians chapter 15, let's begin in verse 1. Paul says here, "Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand. By which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures, and that he was seen by Cephas, that is

the Apostle Peter. He was seen by Peter, then by the 12, that is the other apostles. After that, he was seen by over 500 brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but of course some have fallen asleep. After that, he was seen by James, then by all the apostles. Then last of all, he was seen by me also, as by one born out of due time.

So, Paul establishes that you know, who who Christ was, that he died, that he was buried, that he rose again on the third day. He appeared to all these innumerable witnesses, establishing that he was resurrected, that that his resurrection was a real event. Our converted life depends upon that event. Now, he identifies a problem at Corinth.

Some apparently believe that Christ either he had been raised, but questioned whether the dead would be resurrected. It's a little unclear. Let's notice this, verse 12. Paul says here, verse 12, "Now, if Christ is preached that he has been raised from the dead." Okay, so they do believe that. "How do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?" He Paul It comes through here as Paul's passionate you know, desire for them to see the fallacy in this thinking.

Okay, let's put it that way. Verse 13, "But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ isn't risen. You can't have one without the other." Apparently, they wanted to say, "No, well, we can see Christ being resurrected, but that's not going to happen for us." Paul's saying, "No, if there is no resurrection, then Christ isn't isn't risen either.

And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty, and your faith is also empty. Yes, and we are also found false witnesses of God because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ, whom if we believe that he wasn't raised, right? Whom if he did not raise him up, if in fact the dead do not rise. For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen.

Resurrection applies to Christ and human beings when God designs it that way, and that is what he designed. And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile. So, if if Christ isn't ridden risen, why are you living the way you live? You are still in your sins. You're not forgiven. If Christ didn't rise from the dead, you're still in your sins.

Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. Oh, can you imagine he what he's saying here? All of your brothers and sisters and fathers and mothers and uncles and aunts and friends who have died in the faith, died in vain if Christ is not risen. And thus, he says, verse 19, "If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most pitiable.

" Obviously, if Christ hasn't risen, our faith is empty. Our sins remain, and those who died in Christ are actually dead. Now, Paul says they perish. That word is not a euphemism for in heaven. It's not temporarily lost. Uh it's not They're not in purgatory or something like that. It means perished. There's dictionary says to perish, to be lost, ruined, destroyed.

It means permanently gone. Now, think about that in the context of the belief that the righteous already live in heaven after death. If those people are conscious, alive, and enjoying God's presence, in what sense have they perished? Now, traditional Christianity says, "Without Christ's resurrection, there would be no salvation at all.

Well, that's legitimate part of Paul's hypothetical argument, but notice how completely Paul connects the future of the dead with resurrection. Then he says something in verse 19 that deserves our attention. If our hope in Christ is only for this present life, we are of all men most pitiable. Why? Why are you enduring trials? If Christ isn't risen, it means nothing.

Why are you living this sanctified life where you're doing the best you can to live a moral life if death ends everything permanently? And if Christ has died, then death ends everything. Excuse me, if Christ is not risen, death ends everything permanently. Our hope, therefore, depends upon God restoring us to life.

Now, let's look at what Christ's resurrection means for us. We're still in 5th chapter 15, verse 20. But it says here, "But now Christ is risen from the dead and has become the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep." For since by man came death, by man also came the resurrection of the dead.

He goes on to make clear what he's talking about. "For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. But there's an order. Each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, afterward those who are Christ at his coming." So, Paul calls Christ the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. We know what first fruits are.

They're the beginning of a harvest with more to follow. So, Christ has been raised from the dead, and Paul identifies those who belong to him as the next part of that harvest. The first fruits today awaiting and those who have died in Christ. Verse 23 says that those who belong to Christ are raised at his coming. They're not already there in heaven with God and Christ enjoying their time together alive and conscious and thinking and knowing.

They're asleep in the grave. Paul doesn't describe each Christian receiving immortal life at the moment of death. He connects the resurrection with Christ's return. Okay, so let's ask another question. Are we already immortal? Or is immortality something God must give us? Let's go back to Romans chapter 6 verse 23.

Romans chapter 6 verse 23. I want you to think carefully as we read through this. For the wages of sin is death. But the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. So eternal life is a gift from God through Christ. Now it says for the wages of sin is death. And since God says that the gift is eternal life, therefore this is talking about eternal death.

The wages of sin is eternal death, not just physical death, eternal death. Then there's only one life that can pay the price, eternal death, and that is Jesus Christ, the creator of all life under the Father. Now we see that eternal life is something that God gives us. We don't already possess it. So if we're born with immortal souls, in what sense is eternal life a gift? See, that's the challenge with this theology, this doctrine.

It assumes that God gave us immortality at birth. We're born with it. So in what sense does he give it to us again? He can't give it to us a second time. So, scripture repeatedly identifies life as something God grants, and Paul is about to tell us when the the mortal becomes immortal. This is really important for us to understand.

We are mortal, we become immortal, and it happens at a specific time. We're still in 1 Corinthians chapter 15. Oh, well, we Sorry, we turned back to Romans. Let's go back. My apologies. Let's go back to 1 Corinthians chapter 15. Dropping down to verse 35. Now, Paul says, "But some will say, 'How are the dead raised up? And with what body do they come?'" Wait a second.

If we're already in This is why I get I get a little mentally glitchy on this. If we're already in heaven, if we've died, then what do we What is all this dead being raised up about? We're already in heaven, apparently, if that's the immortal soul theology. Here, Paul is is testing this. He says, "But some will say, 'How are the dead raised up? And with what body do they come?'" He says, "Foolish one, do you [clears throat] understand something? What you sow is not made alive unless it dies.

So, we have to die. And what you sow, you do not sow that body that shall be. If you plant grain in the ground, it it's a seed. It didn't look anything like what comes up out of the ground when it finally blossoms. That's what he's describing. But mere grain, perhaps wheat or some other grain.

But But God gives it a body as he pleases, and to each seed its own body. All flesh is not the same flesh, but there is one kind of flesh of men, that's my body right now, another flesh of animals, another of fish, another birds. There are also celestial bodies and terrestrial bodies. But the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another.

There is one glory of the sun, another glory of the moon, another glory of the stars, and one star differs from another star in glory. Even so, let's keep reading here. The verse 42. So also is the resurrection of the dead. The body 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. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. And so it is written, "The first man Adam became a living being, a nephesh, a mortal soul. The last Adam became a life-giving spirit." That is the being that we are to become, a life existing eternal life existing spirit being.

Think about the limitations of our present bodies. This is what he's talking about here. We age, we suffer illness, we experience pain. We get tired, fatigued, we wear out, we get sick, we get well. >> [sighs] >> We break bones, we get cuts and bruises. We get emotional, we cry, we laugh. In all ways though, from the time that I was a child until now, I've been decaying.

I've been getting old, and I got to be honest, I don't really like this physical body all that much anymore. I'm looking forward to something better than this. Paul says, he's talking about a better body, an immortal body, a spirit body, like the life Jesus Christ now possesses possesses. I want you to pay particular attention to Paul's next statement.

I think it probably gets to the heart of what we're trying to walk to to walk through tonight. Verse 50. Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet.

For the trumpet will sound, and then the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we who are alive and remain shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So, when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, "Death is swallowed up in victory.

" What a wonderful picture of the change that's coming for us, which isn't that we first go to heaven, and then somehow we're eternally brought back into some kind of a body, but which we didn't really need, cuz we were already in the presence of God with our conscious minds and thinking, but somehow we need a body still, and that we have to put those back together somehow.

Those are human reasonings. The scripture doesn't paint that picture at all. It simply describes us as dying. We go to the grave, or we are alive where our spirit is still within us. And yet, at the moment that Christ returns, and the dead are raised, and we who are alive are changed, both events happen simultaneously. The dead receive the spirit back into a new body.

That spirit that God put us put into us as man, now becomes a part of our spirit-born bodies. Our physical bodies change to a immortal body. I'm not immortal. I don't have an immortal soul. I have a mortal soul and a physical body. And I have a spirit in me called the spirit of man, and that spirit retains everything that I am, who is me. And that spirit gets put into a new body.

So, here's where I want to return to our opening question. Suppose a faithful Christian dies and his immortal soul immediately goes to heaven. He's conscious, he can think, he knows God, and he's enjoying eternal life in God's presence. Why would God need to resurrect him? The traditional answer is that God reunites his immortal soul with a glorified body.

But what does that accomplish? What was the soul unable to do while it was already conscious enjoying heaven? What essential blessing of eternal life is it missing? Now, traditional theologians teach that God created human beings for embodied existence and that the resurrection completes the person. But notice what Paul is actually describing.

He begins with the dead being raised and the mortal receiving immortality. He doesn't begin with an immortal soul already alive in heaven that needs to be reunited with a body. If we understand what scripture has already told us about the soul, the spirit, about death, then Paul's argument becomes very straightforward.

It's very easy to understand. A person died. God restores him to life and at the first resurrection God gives that person immortality. Now, we can understand why resurrection is necessary. Without it, the person remains dead, but with it, God gives the faithful the eternal life he promised. Now, let's turn back over here as we wrap up to 1 Thessalonians chapter 4.

We'll read verse 13 on, okay? Verse 13 says, "But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep. Now, we know because Christ told us what sleep is, that death is sleep. And so, Paul is talking about those who have died. Lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus Christ died and rose again, even so God will bring with him those who sleep in Jesus.

For this we say to you by the word of the Lord that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.

Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore, comfort one another with these words. So, see we see how Paul begins here. He doesn't want the brethren to be ignorant concerning those who have died.

He wants them to understand what they have hope for, even though they have loved ones that have died. And what does he say? He doesn't say, "Don't worry, they're up in heaven looking down. They're pleased to see that you're down here. You're still fighting the good fight." He doesn't talk at all about any of that.

He talks about them being dead and being resurrected and changed from corruptible to incorruptible, from mortal to immortal. And that the dead in Christ rise first. And that the converted saints still living at Christ's return will be changed. And we will meet them together in the air. That is where the clouds are. That is within That is where atmosphere is exists.

All right. Now, if we remember what we read in 1 Corinthians 15, Paul identifies the last trumpet as the time when the saints receive immortality. Not before. It is at that last and final trumpet, the seventh trumpet, when it sounds. Now, I want you to notice something else. This is not a new understanding.

Go back to John, chapter 11. I want you to see one more thing. John chapter 11. Christ is talking here with Martha. And he says to her in verse 23, "Jesus said to her, 'Your brother will rise again.'" And Martha said to him, now understand the depth of her understanding. She says to him, "I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.

" That is the final trumpet. She's talking about what Paul was talking about in 1 Corinthians 15, and what Paul was talking about in 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. She understands that he's going to rise in the resurrection at the last day. Christ resurrected Lazarus in their own time. But Lazarus died again. He is not immortal.

He's not in heaven waiting. Christ resurrected him to a temporary physical life, and now, once he lived out that life, he died. Mar- Martha is simply saying she understands that he will rise again, and that is the truth of the scripture on what our destiny is, to be resurrected into God's eternal spiritual family. The resurrection is essential because human beings are mortal, and when we die, our conscious life ends.

The body returns to dust, the spirit returns to God, and our future depends upon God's promise to restore us to eternal life. Paul tells us that Christ has already been raised, and that those who belong to him will be raised at his coming. The dead in Christ will rise first, and those still alive will be changed. Mortality will put on immortality.

Think about the people you've known who've died faithfully. God hasn't forgotten them. The same God who gave them life in the first place can restore them to life again, preserving who they are and giving them the future he promised to give. And that's why Paul told the Thessalonians to comfort one another with these words because they are truly comforting words in a world that does not understand God's ultimate plan for mankind.

The resurrection means death will not have the final word for those who belong to Jesus Christ. I hope you find this study here on the resurrections and a deeper dive on the mortality of the soul, not the immortality, is meaningful and helpful and maybe gives you hope to understand that God has a plan for every single human being who's ever been born.

The resurrection is our assurance of a place in his eternal spiritual family.