The Resurrection: God's Answer to Life after Death

"If a man dies, shall he live again?" (Job 14:14). This question has intrigued the minds of men from ancient times to our day.

In the Bible God inspired the patriarch Job not only to pose this important question but to give us the answer. Responding to God, Job said: "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" (Job 14:14-15).

Job affirmed that the dead will live again through a resurrection.

Other passages in the Old Testament also affirm the resurrection. Daniel 12:2, for example, prophesies of a time yet future when "many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake ..."

But the way to eternal life was not fully understood in those days. It remained for Christ to come and fully reveal the truth. Jesus said: "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live" (John 11:25).

It is through Christ that we can experience our own resurrection from the dead. "For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive" (1 Corinthians 15:22).

The teaching of the good news of the resurrection-that man can escape the power of the grave-set Christianity apart from other first-century religions and philosophies. Among Jewish sects the concept of a resurrection was a subject of controversy. Some dogmatically denied that the dead would rise, and others said that they would (Acts 23:8).

The world in which Jesus lived, besides being Jewish, was heavily influenced by the culture of the two empires-Greek and Roman-that had successively dominated the region for several centuries. The Greek and Roman religions held little hope for the dead.

"The old Greek belief, and its Roman counterpart, held that once the body was dead the disembodied soul lived in a miserable twilight existence ... Sadness, silence and hopelessness seemed to brood over the life after death ... Death was to men of those days the ultimate disaster" (J.B. Phillips, Ring of Truth: A Translator's Testimony, 1967, pp. 40-41).

The New Bible Dictionary affirms the dreary outlook of the day and tells us that the resurrection of Christ gave men more than a glimmer of hope. "The most startling characteristic of the first Christian preaching is its emphasis on the resurrection. The first preachers were sure that Christ had risen, and sure, in consequence, that believers would in due course rise also. This set them off from all the other teachers of the ancient world ... Nothing is more characteristic of even the best thought of the day than its hopelessness in the face of death. Clearly the resurrection is of the very first importance for the Christian faith" (New Bible Dictionary, 1996, p. 1010, "Resurrection").

A truth that launched the Church

It was the riveting truth of the resurrection of Jesus the Messiah that launched the New Testament Church. Preaching on the day of the Church's founding, as recorded in Acts 2, the apostle Peter thundered the good news:

"Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves also know-Him, being delivered by the determined counsel and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death; whom God raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that He should be held by it" (Acts 2:22-24).

The news of the resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth traveled like a shock wave through the land. Jesus' disciples were galvanized into action and began to preach with zeal. What had been regarded as a band of renegade Jews soon grew into the thriving Church.

In its early days the Church grew by thousands (Acts 2:41; 4:4). The young Church spread hope-hope of eternal life through the resurrection. The disciples taught under God's inspiration that all who accept Jesus as their personal Savior, repent, are baptized and receive the Holy Spirit will be resurrected (compare Acts 2:38 and Romans 8:11).

The resurrection that the disciples expected was not some sort of substandard half-life such as the Greeks and Romans believed lay beyond the grave. The disciples were called to "take hold of the life that is truly life" (1 Timothy 6:19, NIV).

Jesus had told them before He was crucified, "Because I live, you will live also" (John 14:19). Jesus had also shared with His disciples His intention for all of mankind: "I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly" (John 10:10). The abundant life of which Christ spoke reaches its full realization in the resurrection from the dead.

The resurrection gives meaning to life

The first-century world held numerous conflicting ideas about life after death. Pagan philosophies had clouded the understanding of most people.

Our situation is similar. In the Western world a significant number of people believe nothing lies beyond the grave. Atheism and agnosticism have left their marks. The world needs to hear and understand the original resurrection message of Christ and the apostles.

Many people, like those of the ancient world, are anxious about the matter of death. The truth of the resurrection proclaimed by God's Word can counter the anxiety and hopelessness inherent in any approach that excludes God.

Speaking of the return of Christ and the accompanying resurrection of the faithful, Paul encouraged believers to "comfort one another with these words" (1 Thessalonians 4:18). The truth of the resurrection provides comfort for our natural anxiety about death.

The resurrection: historical fact

Why should we believe in a resurrection from the dead? We should take heart because the resurrection is a biblically and historically confirmed fact.

After being executed and entombed, Jesus' body disappeared, and even His enemies who wanted to refute His resurrection could not explain away the empty tomb. Jesus' resurrection was confirmed by many witnesses-including on one occasion 500 people (1 Corinthians 15:6). Peter, speaking on behalf of all the apostles, proudly proclaimed, "... We are His witnesses to these things"-to the fact that "the God of our fathers raised up Jesus" (Acts 5:30-32).

Years later Paul similarly documented that "God raised Him from the dead [and] He was seen for many days by those who came up with Him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are witnesses to the people" (Acts 13:30-31). The apostles and other members of the early Church gave their lives as willing martyrs for this truth.

Every man in his own order

These facts are known and understood by many Bible readers. What is not so clear to many is that the Bible describes more than one resurrection. The writings of the apostles Paul and John both confirm this truth. In 1 Corinthians 15:22-23, Paul wrote: "For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. But each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ's at His coming."

The reference to firstfruits indicates that other fruits are to follow. Paul specified that God has set an order in His plan by which He will bring up everyone in a resurrection. Not everyone will be resurrected at the same time.

Those who believe that people go to heaven or hell at death have been troubled at the indications they see in Scripture that comparatively few will be saved. They frequently base this assumption on such passages as Matthew 7:13-14: "Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it."

In these verses Jesus explains what happens in "this present evil age" (Galatians 1:4), in which God is not calling everyone to be converted now. We read in Revelation 12:9 that Satan "deceives the whole world." John wrote, "We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one" (1 John 5:19).

Mankind as a whole is deceived-for the time being. Jesus said, "No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day" (John 6:44). Jesus plainly indicated here that only certain ones will be in that resurrection—those who are specifically called by God. The Bible teaches that in this particular age—the age preceding the return of Christ—God is calling only a small portion of mankind to enter and partake of His Kingdom.

The first resurrection

The resurrection of those who are called now-the ones Paul referred to as firstfruits-is further described in the 20th chapter of Revelation.

Let's notice how John describes that resurrection of the firstfruits: "I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony for Jesus and because of the word of God. They had not worshipped the beast or his image and had not received his mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. (The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended.) This is the first resurrection" (Revelation 20:4-5, NIV).

Notice that some are resurrected at the beginning of the 1,000-year reign of Christ-at "the first resurrection." The use of the term first shows that at least one more resurrection must follow.

Another resurrection

That same verse explains, "The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended." There is another resurrection after the first, and in this resurrection others will have the opportunity to receive salvation. They will be called to understand God's truth and His plan during a period sometimes referred to as the "great white throne" judgment (verse 11).

This time of judgment is further described in verse 12: "And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books."

Those resurrected in this group have never completely understood the truth of God. Consider that the majority of all people who have ever lived have never heard God's truth. Rather than such people being condemned to eternal suffering in a fiery hell, the truth of the Bible is much more comforting and encouraging. God will extend the opportunity for eternal life to everyone-to a relatively few in this age but to billions of people in the coming second resurrection.

Judgment is much more than a final decision to reward or condemn. Judgment is a process that takes place over time before a final decision is rendered. Those brought to a temporary, physical life again in this resurrection (see Ezekiel 37:1-14) will, for the first time, have their minds opened to the truth of God's plan. They will have the opportunity to decide whether they will accept and follow God's instruction or not. After coming to see the truth, they will be judged according to their response to their new understanding. Many will accept that truth, repent and receive God's gift of eternal life.

Past generations resurrected together

Jesus spoke of this time when He said even the sinners of the long-destroyed city of Sodom would have the opportunity to repent in a future judgment. As He sent His disciples out on a mission to preach the gospel (Matthew 10:9-14), He told them that some they would encounter would reject their message. Of these Jesus said, "Assuredly, I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city" (verse 15).

That there is room for tolerance in that day toward Sodom and Gomorrah shows they will have opportunity to repent and enter God's Kingdom. This is because, when they formerly lived, they either never had opportunity to know God or His way or never fully understood what they heard. The time for their calling and judgment is yet future. This is not a second chance for salvation. This will be their first chance-their first opportunity to act on a clear understanding of God's truth.

In a similar example, Jesus said the long-dead people of the ancient Assyrian city of Nineveh and the biblical "queen of the South" from Solomon's time would rise alongside those from Christ's generation. The people from those generations had lived and died many centuries earlier, never having understood the true God or His plan to offer eternal life through His Son Jesus the Messiah.

That God will offer salvation to all who lived and died in all ages without ever really knowing Him shows His great mercy toward all people. God does not show partiality (Romans 2:11). He calls all at the time that is appropriate for them, and all eventually will be given the same wonderful opportunity to receive His gift of salvation.

Evidence of a third resurrection

Other scriptures indicate that a third group will be resurrected just before the final destruction of the wicked in the lake of fire.

Jesus explained that some would deliberately and knowingly despise the spiritual revelations that God would open their minds to understand. These, He said, will not be forgiven "either in this age or in the age to come" (Matthew 12:31-32).

Yet "all who are in the graves will hear [Christ's] voice and come forth ..." (John 5:28). Even those who will not be forgiven are to be resurrected from the dead.

This group will include only those who have deliberately rejected God's way of life even after they have been "once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit" (Hebrews 6:4-6). These few are people who were once forgiven and converted but later chose to reject the Holy Spirit and priceless knowledge God gave to them.

Because they "trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace," for them "there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries" (Hebrews 10:26-29).

God has revealed that the ultimate fate of the incorrigibly wicked is to be burned up. "'For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, and all the proud, yes, all who do wickedly will be stubble. And the day which is coming shall burn them up,' says the LORD of hosts, 'That will leave them neither root nor branch'" (Malachi 4:1).

Therefore destruction in the lake of fire (Revelation 20:13-14) must include those few who stubbornly refused to repent of their own self-willed rebellion in spite of all the opportunities God made available to them.

When all this is finished we read: "Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death" (verse 14). The judgment of God is complete. Those who are saved will never again have to fear death.