For the last month, we have been examining what the author of Hebrews called, "the elementary teaching about the Christ" (Heb 6:1). The "milk" of Christianity, "the elementary principles of the oracles of God" (Heb. 5:12).
These were six basic subjects: repentance from dead works, faith toward God, instruction about washings, laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. Having looked last week at the five aspects of laying on of hands, we move now to our fifth subject: the resurrection of the dead.
I thought I'd give you another Greek lesson regarding the words we're looking at today. Not that it'll give you any new insights into this subject, but I'm always interested to see how words from ancient Greek continue on in our language today.
The word "resurrection" here is "An-AS-tas-is." This word carries into our language today in the form of the name "Anastasia." It is interesting to me that the name means "resurrection," since you may be familiar with the history of the Russian Revolution. In 1918, the family of the last Russian Czar, Nicholas II, was killed by the Bolsheviks after the revolution, including his daughter, Anastasia. But later, several women arose to claim that they were in fact Anastasia. The woman whose name meant "resurrection" seemed to arise from the dead numerous times!
Now the word for "dead" is "nek-ROS," which gives us derivative words such as "necropolis," for "a large and elaborate cemetery" (literally meaning "city of the dead"), and "necromancer," which means "one who speaks to the dead." The medical terms "necrobiosis" (death of cells or tissue through natural aging) and "necrosis" (death of cells or tissue through injury or disease) also stem from the Greek word "nek-ROS."
Okay, so that's more than you ever wanted to know about death, right? Well, the good news is that the Bible speaks of the resurrection of the dead - raising up from the dead.
There have been a lot of naysayers who claim that the ancient Jews did not believe in the resurrection of the dead. They claim that it is a New Testament, Christian idea. Nothing could be further from the truth.
The oldest written book of the Bible, the book of Job, has Job claiming,
Job 19:25-26 "...as for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last He will take His stand on the earth. Even after my skin is destroyed, yet from my flesh I shall see God"
Job certainly believed in the resurrection of the body. And Hannah, the prophet Samuel's mother, prayed,
1Sam. 2:6 "The LORD kills and makes alive; He brings down to Sheol and raises up."
Again, she believed in a God of resurrection. The prophet Isaiah also spoke of this, saying,
Isa. 26:19 Your dead will live; Their corpses will rise. You who lie in the dust, awake and shout for joy, for your dew is as the dew of the dawn, And the earth will give birth to the departed spirits.
So we see that the critics' claim that the Old Testament doesn't teach a resurrection is ludicrous.
The critics of today aren't the only ones who have disbelieved the resurrection of the dead. You may recall that the liberal theologians in Jesus' day were the Sadducees. They did not believe in angels, or resurrection, or anything supernatural. They came to Jesus, wanting to demonstrate how really dumb the idea of resurrection was, and they concocted a ridiculous story to prove their point. They said, "Jesus, there was a family with seven brothers. After the first one got married, he died. Now, according to the Law, the next brother married her to carry on the family name. But then he died. This happened to the third, the fourth... all seven brothers married her and died, leaving no children."
Luke 20:32-33 "Finally the woman died also. In the resurrection therefore, which one's wife will she be? For all seven had her as wife."
Well, they thought they had Jesus stumped pretty good. They figured that they'd come up with the best question since, "If God can do anything, can He make a rock so big that He can't lift it?" But you can't stump Jesus. When you try, He just makes you look foolish.
Luke 20:34-38 And Jesus said to them, "The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage, but those who are considered worthy to attain to that age and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry, nor are given in marriage; for neither can they die anymore, for they are like angels, and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection. But that the dead are raised, even Moses showed, in the {passage about the burning} bush, where he calls the Lord THE GOD OF ABRAHAM, AND THE GOD OF ISAAC, AND THE GOD OF JACOB. Now He is not the God of the dead, but of the living; for all live to Him."
Although Jesus had proved His point, the Sadducees weren't about to change their doctrine. By the time a few decades had passed, and the apostle Paul was on the scene, they had become even more dogmatic about it.
This actually worked out to Paul's advantage on one occasion. In Acts 22, Paul's presence at the temple had caused a riot. He was arrested and brought before the council. As chapter 23 begins, we see Paul in some pretty hot water. There was no way he was going to talk his way out of this one.
Acts 23:6-10 But perceiving that one part were Sadducees and the other Pharisees, Paul {began} crying out in the Council, "Brethren, I am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees; I am on trial for the hope and resurrection of the dead!" And as he said this, there arose a dissension between the Pharisees and Sadducees; and the assembly was divided. For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, nor an angel, nor a spirit; but the Pharisees acknowledge them all. And there arose a great uproar; and some of the scribes of the Pharisaic party stood up and {began} to argue heatedly, saying, "We find nothing wrong with this man; suppose a spirit or an angel has spoken to him?" And as a great dissension was developing, the commander was afraid Paul would be torn to pieces by them and ordered the troops to go down and take him away from them by force, and bring him into the barracks.
The resurrection was a hot enough topic to get the Council's attention off of Paul and onto violent debate amongst themselves.
Of course, we understand that the Bible clearly teaches that the dead are raised. But what many do not understand is that it is not just those who go to heaven that are raised.
Many people are more comfortable with the idea that good people go to heaven, and bad people cease to exist. But the Scripture says that resurrection after death is for all human beings. Jesus said,
John 5:28-29 "Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs shall hear His voice, and shall come forth; those who did the good {deeds} to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil {deeds} to a resurrection of judgment.
Next week, we will talk about that judgment in our sixth and last study of these foundational truths. But the important thing to understand in our study today is that we are all eternal beings. We will all be resurrected. The question is, how will we spend that eternity? Paul lived with that always in the forefront of his mind:
Acts 24:15-16 "...there shall certainly be a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked. In view of this, I also do my best to maintain always a blameless conscience {both} before God and before men."
The fact that there is a resurrection of everyone caused Paul to examine the way he lived his life.
Of course, our desire is that we would be resurrected to eternal life. This is the resurrection that is preached. The apostles...
Acts 4:2 ...were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead.
How can we be sure that we are going to be resurrected to life, not judgment? The key is Jesus Christ. Jesus is the resurrection. He said,
John 11:25-26 ,..."I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me shall live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me shall never die..."
Remember, Jesus Christ was killed on a cross. He was dead and buried for three days and three nights. But He raised up from the dead. Now, when you believe in the resurrection of Christ from the dead, then you receive resurrection to eternal life.
Rom. 10:9 ...if you confess with your mouth Jesus {as} Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved;
Paul wrote,
Phil. 3:10-11 that I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.
The key to the right resurrection is being identified with Jesus' resurrection.
Rom. 6:5 For if we have become united with {Him} in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall be also {in the likeness} of His resurrection
The Bible clearly teaches that all human beings are eternal. When these physical bodies die, we will continue on in another form. But where will we spend that eternity? In the same situation that we've desired here on earth. If we chose to live this life with Christ, that is where we will be resurrected to eternal life. But if we chose to life apart from God, that is how we will be resurrected. Why would anyone make that choice?