The Resurrection of the Flesh
By Kurt
M. Simmons
Since physical bodies are no part of the first resurrection,
what basis is there to believe they will be part of the second resurrection of
the soul in heaven?
The resurrection of the
dead is a question fraught with difficulty for many. Preterists maintain that
the resurrection was and is nonphysical, consisting in the spirit, not the
body, of man. Others, including Postmillennialists, believe that the resurrection
is essentially fleshly; that there can be no resurrection apart from physical
bodies rising from their graves. In this article, we want to examine the
idea of the “resurrection of the flesh” to see if it accords with the
scriptures. We believe a candid study will demonstrate that the resurrection
subsists in the immaterial realm of the spirit, not the flesh.
Confusion in the Early Church
Understanding scripture and
eschatology can be a great challenge; the meaning often is often elusive,
cloaked in metaphors and poetic imagery. Other times it assumes the reader has
a familiarity with basic themes of redemption and sanctification, and God’s
established methods and manner of bringing his purpose to pass. Language that
speaks “everlastingly” may actually mean only “age-long.” Language that says
God causes a condition or event may really mean that he merely allowed it to
come about, etc. The difficulty in understanding scripture is alluded to
by Paul when he said that his preaching was not with words of “man’s wisdom”
and that he spoke “not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the
Holy Ghost teacheth.” (I Corinthians 2:4, 13)
“Howbeit we speak wisdom
among them that are perfect; yet not the wisdom of this world…But we speak the
wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before
the world unto our glory.” (I Corinthians 2: 6, 7)
The fact that Paul says the
message of the gospel was sometimes communicated “in a mystery” and in terms
that were “hidden,” eluding comprehension by those who were not “perfect” (viz.,
practiced or trained and hence accomplished and complete, cf. Heb.
The difficulty in understanding
scripture would have been especially true of believers from among the Gentiles
who were less familiar with the usus loquendi (manner of speech) of the
prophets. The language of the prophets evoking images of the heavens on “fire”
and earth “dissolving” under intense heat doubtless presented a great challenge
to Gentile believers. How was such language to be taken? Was the physical
creation really to be utterly destroyed? What about language that described
Christians being “caught up” to meet Christ in the air? Would Christians really
be changed and be borne away bodily to heaven at Christ’s return? What
interpretive principles were to guide their (and our) understanding?
Evidence of the difficulty
the early church had in gaining a command of prophetic writings may be seen in
the idea of the “rapture.” The idea of a bodily rapture, a notion strongly
connected with a bodily resurrection, gained currency in the early church. The
apostle John alludes to this when he reports that the fact he was to live until
Christ’s return gave rise to the belief he would be rapturously borne away and
never die: “Peter seeing him saith to Jesus, Lord, and what shall this man do?
Jesus saith unto him, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to
thee? Follow thou me. Then went this saying abroad among the brethren, that
that disciple should not die: yet Jesus said not unto him, He shall not die;
but, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee?” (John
21:21-23) Having reported the popular misconception among the early brethren,
John disallows entirely that his remaining alive until Jesus’ return meant he
would not suffer death. In another place, Jesus made the like announcement:
“For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and
then he shall reward every man according to his works. Verily I say unto you,
There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the
Son of man coming in his kingdom.” (Matt. 16:27, 28) Notice that Jesus did not
say death would cease at his coming. He merely said some would not taste death before
he came. Jesus would come before they tasted death and only then would
they die. Read together, it is clear that John was to be one of those people.
Thus, the idea that Jesus’ coming entailed an end of physical existence in which
the righteous would be borne away to heavenly portals was simply without basis
and was not the teaching of Christ or the apostles. There was to be no bodily
rapture.
Misunderstanding was not
limited to the rapture. Some wrestled with the resurrection itself, questioning
or denying its very possibility. Questions about the resurrection entailed the
sort of body men would receive. (I Corinthians 15:35) Questions of this sort
occurred also among the Jews. The Sadducees, although denying the resurrection,
clearly conceived that any putative resurrection would occur in the flesh.
Because of this conception, the Sadducees believed they had discovered an
indissoluble dilemma, refuting the notion of the resurrection, by the question
about the seven brothers who had one woman to wife, asking, “Whose wife would
she be in the resurrection, since each had her?” (Matt. 22:23-33) The basic
assumption is that the resurrection would be physical and therefore
entail marriage. It is unclear whether this was the popular conception of the
resurrection or merely the Sadducees’ idea of it. The better view probably is
that it reflected popular belief, for it would hardly make sense for the
Sadducees to propound a hypothetical about the fact and nature of the
resurrection that was peculiar merely to themselves, and not shared by the
community at large. In that case, the question would refute only their notion
of the resurrection, but not that of the general public; whose belief it was
their objective to dislodge. Hence, the necessary and reasonable inference is
that it reflected the general understanding of the Jews of Jesus’ day. But,
whether it be this or that, one thing is clear: Jesus disallowed the concept
entirely. First, by proof that the patriarchs had not ceased to exist, but
were participants in the first resurrection in Hades paradise (vv. 31,
32); second, by showing that in the general resurrection men would subsist in
the form of angels. (vv. 29, 30) The resurrection would not be physical;
hence there would be no marriage.
Jewish misunderstanding
about the nature of the resurrection had its counterpart in the church which
Paul labored to correct. He dispensed with the idea of a physical resurrection
by his statement “And that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that
shall be.” (I Corinthians 15:37) Could it be any clearer? The body that is sown
(buried) is not the body that is reaped. A physical body is
planted, but a spiritual body is raised up. “So also is the resurrection of the
dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption…It is sown a
natural body; it is raised a spiritual body.” (I Corinthians 15:42, 43) There
is simply no credible way to read physical bodies into the text and spiritual
bodies out. The mistake lies in the assumption that the resurrection would
occur upon earth and, hence, be earthly. However, a physical grave cannot
retain the spirits of the deceased. The grave had an immaterial counterpart
called hades where the spirits of the departed “slept” pending the
second resurrection.
(Luke 16:19-31; 24:43) Since
these souls were not bound to their earthly bodies, it would not be necessary
for them to be reunited to their bodies in order to inherit glory. Just the
opposite, “flesh and blood cannot inherit the
Creeds and Confessions Embody Error of Early Church
Notwithstanding the
apostle’s labors, error took root; belief in a bodily rapture and resurrection
of the dead at Christ’s return gained currency and took up permanent residence
in the early church. Both are evidenced by the creeds that grew up among
believing Gentiles. For example, the Interrogatory Creed of Hippolytus (c. 215
A.D.) thus asks, “Do you believe…in the resurrection of the body?” Similarly,
the Creed of Marcellus (340 A.D.) declares: “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 Apostles’ Creed proclaims
belief in the resurrection of the body, but the Nicene Creed states only a
belief in the resurrection of the “dead.” Other creeds and confessions holding
to the resurrection of the flesh include the Athanasian Creed, and the second
London Confession of 1689 (Baptist). Although the term “body” is ambiguous and
elastic enough to mean spiritual bodies, we may assume that physical bodies was
intended and understood. Thus, the creeds perpetuated the error of the Jews and
early church in a physical resurrection. The error reported by John that there
was to be a bodily rapture at the Lord’s return also survived and has continued
to this day.
The heirs to the creeds
were the articles and confessions of faith of later centuries. For example,
chapter XXXII of the Westminster Confession - Of the State of Men after Death,
and of the Resurrection of the Dead - states:
1. The bodies of men, after
death, return to dust, and see corruption: but their souls, which neither die
nor sleep, having an immortal subsistence, immediately return to God who gave
them: the souls of the righteous, being then made perfect in holiness, are
received into the highest heavens, where they behold the face of God, in light
and glory, waiting for the full redemption of their bodies. And the souls of
the wicked are cast into hell, where they remain in torments and utter
darkness, reserved to the judgment of the great day. Beside these two places,
for souls separated from their bodies, the Scripture acknowledgeth none.
2. 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 self-same bodies, and none other (although with different
qualities), which shall be united again to their souls for ever.
3. The bodies of the unjust
shall, by the power of Christ, be raised to dishonor: the bodies of the just,
by His Spirit, unto honor; and be made conformable to His own glorious body.
Notice the confused
eschatology here that has the souls of the dead by-passing Hades and going
immediately to heaven where they behold the face of God, there awaiting the
redemption of their bodies, to which they are subsequently forced to return. What
possible purpose could there be in reuniting the spirits of the saints with
their earthly bodies? Being in a state suited to behold the face of God in
perfect holiness, what is the need to clothe them again with houses of clay?
Having begun in the spirit are they made perfect by the flesh? Such is the
garbled teaching of the Westminster Confession. Another doctrinal statement
holding to the resurrection of the flesh is the Belgic Confession (Reformed
Church):
“Finally we believe,
according to God's Word, that when the time appointed by the Lord is come
(which is unknown to all creatures) and the number of the elect is complete,
our Lord Jesus Christ will come from heaven, bodily and visibly, as he
ascended, with great glory and majesty, to declare himself the judge of the
living and the dead. He will burn this old world, in fire and flame, in order
to cleanse it. Then all human creatures will appear in person before the great
judge-- men, women, and children, who have lived from the beginning until the end
of the world. They will be summoned there by the voice of the archangel and by
the sound of the divine trumpet. For all those who died before that time will
be raised from the earth, their spirits being joined and united with their own
bodies in which they lived. And as for those who are still alive, they will not
die like the others but will be changed ‘in the twinkling of an eye’ from
‘corruptible to incorruptible.’”
The notion that Christ
would return “bodily and visibly” is closely related to the idea of a bodily
rapture and a fleshly resurrection. Hence, the Belgic Confession weaves all
three of these concepts together. Bodies, by definition, are confined by time
and space. But Jesus is “ascended far above all heavens, that he might fill all
things.” (Eph. 4:10) Only spirit is unbound by time and space and can fill all
things. Hence, Jesus is no longer in bodily form, at least in any earthly
meaning and conception of that term. Rather, he is Spirit. (I Corinthians
15:45; II Corinthians 3:17) Colossians is not to the contrary. When Col. 2:9
states that in Christ “dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily,” the
apostle is not referring to Christ’s form or appearance. He is referring
to fullness of divine authority and God’s redemptive purpose that the Father
embodied in Christ. Under the Mosaic law man was incomplete; “for the law made
nothing perfect.” (Heb. 7:19) But “ye are complete in him, which is the head of
all principality and power.” (Col. 2:10) The law was wistful, “a shadow of
things to come; but the body is of Christ.” (Col. 2:17) The “body” here speaks
to the tangible nature of things come, the substance and reality
of the promises embodied in Christ of which the law was but a shadow and
type. Because Christ is not in bodily form he is invisible to human eye. After
his ascension, visions of Jesus required special revelation of the Spirit.
(Rev. 1:10 et seq; cf. Acts 9:7) The doctrine of Christ’s bodily and
visible return is erroneous. His coming would not be bodily, it would be providential;
it would not be visible, it would be historically discernable. In
Matt. 24:30, Jesus said there would “appear” the sign of the Son of man ruling
in heaven in the events marking the destruction of the city and temple.
Speaking to his coming in wrath and vengeance upon the nation of the Jews,
Jesus told the Sanhedrin, “I am: and ye shall see the Son of man sitting on the
right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.” (Mk. 14:62; cf.
Matt. 24:30) This is the same coming “in his kingdom” Jesus told the apostles would
transpire while some of them were still alive. (Matt. 16:27, 28; Mk. 8:38-9:1)
The idea that the
“self-same” physical bodies are to be raised up at the last day is every bit as
erroneous as the “visible, bodily” return of Christ. Not one verse of scripture
can be marshaled to establish such claim. Jesus’ statement that all who are in
the graves would hear his voice and come forth (John
Modern Apologists
Modern apologists are not
wanting for these ancient errors. One prominent member of this description is
Kenneth L. Gentry Jr. Gentry, who has done a good deal of valuable work in
other areas, is sorely wanting in this particular area of endeavor. He is a vociferous
defender of a resurrection of the flesh, denouncing as heterodox all who
venture to disagree. Taking cheap shots at Preterists from the safety of his
ivory tower, he refuses to do battle in public debate. Gentry assert that “If
Christ was physically raised from the dead, then so shall we, for He is the
"first-fruits" of our resurrection. The only way around our physical
resurrection is to deny Christ's physical resurrection.” This is poor
argumentation. Reduced to a syllogism, Gentry’s argument looks like this:
Major premise: Christ was
raised physically.
Minor premise: Christ was
the “first-fruits” of our resurrection; therefore
Conclusion: Our
resurrection will be physical like Christ’s.
It does not take a logician
to see that the conclusion does not follow from the premises. Furthermore,
Gentry’s conclusion is based upon an unproved premise: there is no evidence
that the term “first-fruits” applies to man’s body and much against it. Like
virtually every other bodily resurrection recorded in scripture, Jesus’
resurrection first and foremost was evidentiary; it was intended to
serve as a demonstration of God’s power and work among his people. Rom. 1:4
says Jesus was “declared to the Son of God with power, according to the spirit
of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead.” In the resurrection, God
declared Jesus to be his Son, vindicating Jesus’ claims during his life. But
this could not be accomplished without the resurrection of Jesus’ body. Had God
merely wafted Jesus’ spirit to heaven, there would have been no objective proof
of Christ’s Sonship. To the contrary, the continuing presence of the body in
the tomb would have shown Jesus a fraud and a liar. In fact, the very purpose
behind the open tomb was so that man could go in and see the Lord was risen
indeed, not so Jesus could come out. The bodily resurrection of the Lord
provided empirical evidence that Jesus was the Son of God, of which the
apostles were made witnesses. (Mk. Luke 24:48; Acts 1:8) The bodily
resurrection of Christ thus served a unique purpose that makes Jesus’
resurrection unlike our own. The Hebrew writer speaks to the resurrection of
Christ when he states that Jesus “in the days of his flesh, when he had offered
up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was
able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared.” (Heb. 5:7)
Notice that “the days of his flesh” are set over against Jesus’ present
form when he is ascended into heaven and set down at the right hand of God.
Jesus is no longer in fleshly form and it is unto this hope that
believers aspire, not the reunion of their spirits with their earthly bodies.
Another argument by Gentry
is that the “spiritual (pneumatikos) body” of I Corinthians
“But the natural
(psuchikos) man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God; for they are
foolishness to him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually
discerned. But he that is spiritual (pneumatikos) judgeth all things, yet he
himself is judged of no man.” (I Corinthians 2:14, 15)
The terms “natural” and
“spiritual” in this context speak to the “driving force” or controlling
principle in the individuals’ lives, not their material or immaterial state. Hence,
Gentry argues, the “spiritual body” of I Corinthians 15:44 speaks only to its controlling
principle, not its material or immaterial form. Therefore, although in the
resurrection the body will actually be physical, it will qualitatively
be “spiritual.” Or, so at least Gentry would have us believe. The better view,
however, is that the term “spiritual” in I Corinthians 15:44 is substantive,
not qualitative, and that the body of the resurrection will be intangible,
immaterial, and eternal. The spiritual man has a physical body only because he
has not yet put it off in death. Upon the death of the body, the inner man
lives on, clothed upon with a spiritual body of life. “But though our outward
man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.” (II Corinthians 4:16) “For
we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a
building of God, and house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens, made
without hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring
to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven.” (II Corinthians 5:1) The
“earthly house” is the fleshly body of this material realm. Upon death, it is
replaced by a spiritual and immaterial house from heaven. Since it is
from heaven, it clearly is not the “self same” earthly body put off in death.
In the resurrection we will be spirit beings with spiritual bodies. (Hebrews
12:23; I Corinthians 5:5) We will be as the angels (Matt.
Scriptures for the Resurrection of the Flesh
The reason Gentry argues
for the resurrection of the flesh, is that he believes the saints’ eternal
reward is in the material realm upon a new earth! “His elect people will
inherit the eternal estate in resurrected, physical bodies (John
What about the resurrection
of the flesh? Do advocates of this school have any verses plainly making this
claim? Here are the verses cited by Gentry, our comments follow.
Job
This is the only
verse in the Bible that makes reference to the flesh in apparent connection
with the resurrection. “Apparent,” I say, because the verse does not actually
mention the resurrection. It is entirely possible that Job looked to “see God”
in this life time, as in fact he did. “I have heard of thee by the hearing of
the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee.” (Job 42:5) However, even assuming that
the text posits a resurrection context, the Hebrew of this verse is so
ambiguous that scholars cannot decide how it is to be translated. Hence, the
marginal reading gives the rendering, “After I shall awake, though this body be
destroyed, yet out of my flesh...” etc. Thus, it is unclear what Job
actually stated or said. Furthermore, the book of Job is highly poetic;
it is very possible that his use of the term “flesh” was not intended to be
taken literally at all. 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; no doctrine of scripture can be built upon it.
Isaiah 26:19: “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.”
The historical context of
this verse spoke to the restoration of
John 5:28, 29: “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.”
As with Isaiah 26:19, no
physical bodies are mentioned. All Jesus says is that those in the graves will
come forth. Contrary to Gentry’s assumption, 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. Hence, the idea of “waking” from the dust is merely
accommodative; it points to a coming day of salvation when the death would be
vanquished and man go to his long home with God and Christ in heaven.
Rom.
“Quickening” our mortal
bodies does not refer to the resurrection of the 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.
Rom. 8:23: “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.”
“They” are the Gentiles,
“we ourselves” refers to the Jews; the Jews had the first fruits of the Spirit:
“Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind
of first fruits of his creatures.” (Jm. 1:18) The gospel message began at
Phil. 3:20, 21: “For our
conversation is in heaven; from whence we look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus
Christ: Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his
glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things
unto himself.”
The singular “our vile
body” refers to the collective body of Jews and Gentiles waiting for the
redemption and adoption of the church. (Cf.
I Thessalonians 4:16: “For
the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the
archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first.”
We need only note that
physical bodies are not mentioned. The very next verse says that those living
would be caught up with them in the air “and so shall we ever be with the
Lord.” (v. 17) Unless the Lord is going to remain on earth forever, this verse
cannot be reconciled with the idea of our eternal state being on a material new
earth. Clearly, the language is accommodative and not to be taken literally. It
is descriptive of the victory of the saints and their translation to heaven as
a matter of law at the consummation. (Col. 1:13, 3:1; Eph. 2:1, 6) Their
final translation to heaven as a matter of fact comes only upon the
death of the body. To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. (II
Corinthians 5: 6, 8)
Scriptures against the Resurrection of the Flesh
These above verses are
relied upon by advocates of a resurrection of the flesh. As we have seen, the
idea of a physical resurrection is completely away from virtually every
scripture cited; the notion has no more basis than the fanciful notion of man’s
eternal state subsisting in a “material New Created order.” Let us now look at
a few verses pointing to the resurrection of the spirit and the inheritance of
the saints in the immaterial realm of heaven. Although dozens of verses might
be marshaled, space does not allow us to consider more than a few.
Luke 23:43: “Verily I say
unto thee, This day shalt thou be with me in paradise.
These words, spoken by the
Lord in the immediate reaches of death, bore the promise of the first resurrection
of the spirit in Hades paradise. Since physical bodies are no part of the first
resurrection, what basis is there to believe they will be part of the second
resurrection of the soul in heaven? To the contrary, “flesh and blood cannot
inherit the
John 3:5-7: “Verily, verily
I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit he cannot
enter the
This verse shows that there
are two natures: one belonging to the kingdom of heaven, one belonging
to the earth. The earthly nature and body do not enter the
Jon.
This verse is disparities
of the idea that physical bodies have any part of the heavenly kingdom. In Lk. 24:38, Jesus said “Behold my hands and my feet, that it
is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye
see me have.” Since God is a Spirit, and spirits do not have flesh and bones,
it is axiomatic that God does not have flesh and bone. Christ is now a Spirit.
(I Cor. 15:45; II Cor.
3:17) In the resurrection, Christians are to be made like unto Christ and God.
(Ps.
Jno. 6:63: “It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth
nothing.”
The flesh profits nothing
in terms of man’s redemption, sanctification, and salvation. It is suitable
only for dwelling upon earth where life is bounded by time and space and
consigned to corruption. It is the spirit that is quickened and receives
eternal life, not the flesh.
Rom.
The body is the source of
sin and temptation. “The flesh lusteth against the
Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the
other.” (Gal. 5:17) If the flesh is contrary to the Spirit, it is hardly
possible that it will be saved. If men are to be restored to the original state
of the creation before the fall as Postmillennialists assert, like Adam they will
be susceptible to sin and temptation arising in the flesh. Unless we are
prepared to believe the whole race is to be exposed to the risk of a second
fall, we must reject this fanciful scheme.
I Cor.
5:5: “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.”
“Destruction” of the flesh
here is best understood in terms of its mortification by denying its affections
and lusts. By excommunicating those overtaken in sin, they are brought to shame
and repentance, leading to the denial and destruction of the flesh. By thus
“crucifying the flesh” (Gal.
I Cor.
15:44, 49, 50: “It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There
is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body…As we have borne the image of
the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. Now this I say,
brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the
Here are several plain
statements that set the earthly and fleshly body over against the spiritual and
heavenly body. The image of the earthy consists in a natural, fleshly body and
carnal mind. The image of the heavenly consists in a regenerated mind and an
immaterial body. The natural and material body of earth is corruptible; the
heavenly and immaterial body of the spirit is incorruptible. The promise of the
resurrection is of an immaterial body, like unto Christ and the angels of God
in heaven. (Matt. 22:25)
II Cor.
4:16-18: “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 see: for the things
which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.”
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.
II Cor.
5:1: “For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved,
we have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the
heavens.”
Our “earthly house” refers
to our mortal bodies of flesh; “this tabernacle” refers to this temporal realm,
the tabernacle of the material heavens and earth. 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.
II Cor.
5:2, 3: “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.”
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.
II Cor.
5:6-8: “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.”
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
again be at home in the body and absent from the Lord. Clearly, that is no part
of the Christian’s hope.
Gal. 3:3: “Are ye so
foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?”
Those who hold that the
“spirits of just men made perfect” (Heb.
Heb. 11:13, 17: “These all
died in faith, not having receive d the promises, but having seen them afar
off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, anc
confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on earth…But now they desire a
better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called
their God: for he hath prepared for them a city.”
Note that the patriarchs
and great men of faith were strangers upon earth and looked for an heavenly city and country. The notion that man’s eternal
state is in a material new earth is irresponsible and boarders on heretical. It
is an express denial of the scripture.
Heb. 12:23: “To the general
assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God
the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect.”
The spirits of the
righteous who died before Christ did not want bodies, but atonement.
With the “blood of sprinkling” (v. 22) they were made wholly perfect and
the way into heaven opened to them. What need have they of fleshly bodies
seeing they are already perfect? Moreover, the general assembly of the
firstborn (the church) is written in heaven, not a new earth. Our
conversation is in heaven (Phil.
I Pet. 4:6: “For for this cause was the gospel preached also unto them that
are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live
according to God in the spirit.”
This verse likely speaks to
the saints of prior ages who had the gospel preached to them in the types and similitude’s of the Old Law. Although condemned by the law
according to men in the flesh, they were justified by the atoning blood of
Christ that they might live according to God in the spirit. To be
reunited with bodies of clay is no part of the divine purpose.
Rev. 20:12, 13: “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 hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged
every man according to their works.”
Here is imagery portraying
judgment day. We note that physical bodies are conspicuously absent. The dead
stand before God. That they are “dead,” signifies they are on the other side
of eternity in the realm of the spirit, not upon earth. The “sea” is symbolic
of tartarus, the place of the lost dead; “hell” (Hades)
speaks to paradise, the place of the saints and martyrs. The dead come forth
from hades tartarus and
paradise to receive their respective rewards. The whole transaction is
portrayed as occurring in the realm of the spirit, not the flesh, in the
immaterial realm of eternity, and not time.
Conclusion
The error of the Jews and
early church has been kept alive by those today who
look for a fleshly resurrection upon earth. The earthly resurrection of
the believer is related to the error of the bodily, visible return of Christ
and the bodily rapture of the saints. By very definition, the spiritual realm
is eternal and immaterial. Flesh and blood bodies are bounded by time and space
and therefore cannot inherit incorruption. Let us hold fast to our hope for we
will reap in due time.