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Watch me! You watch me and this Mr. Cessna man here, I'll be the first preacher to buy a brand new, spankin' new, brand new jet that will fire all over this world. Get that sucker out of that glass hanger!...You can say all you want, Jack. I'll fly by your house and tip the wing. I'm gonna get something for Jesus. I'm gonna do something for God.
-- Jesse Duplantis Show, Trinity Broadcasting Network, October 8, 1997
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Resurrection Reality or Deadly Denial
Posted on Tuesday, August 15 @ 05:10:54 PDT by Chris Charles |
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paul submitted: "Brief Comments on First Corinthians 15: 35-58
Christians commonly confess that the death of our natural earthly bodies does not end existence at all. We especially confess that every person who is spiritually alive to God through faith in His Son Jesus Christ suddenly inherits something at death which is too absolutely marvellous for any Christian living in the realm of the limitations of our natural earthly bodies to fully appreciate, comprehend, nor explain!
Since one of the most significant foundations of our New Covenant Christian Faith is our confidence in the eternal joy of the resurrection reality, we do well to make First Corinthians 15: 35-58 as wellknown among all who love the Lord as John 3:16 presently is!
This section of Scripture deserves a more central place in the minds of Christians, alongside the Lord's Prayer, the Beatitudes, and Psalm 23, precisely because it will heal the breach among lovers of Biblical truth regarding the nature of the resurrection, which is actually a bigger barrier than futurism vs. preterism! For this reason, it is my conviction that Christians of every stripe do well, in the cause of increasing Christian unity, to make this section a regular part of our reading, discussion, and meditation.
Deadly denial of the reasonableness of the common Christian truth that physical death has been overcome for all who obey the Gospel and trust in Christ from the heart is a spiritual malignancy which started early in the 1st Century infancy, and is the main reason for this section of Scripture, which the Holy Spirit used Paul the Apostle to write to the followers of God through Christ living in Corinth. Verse 35 opens with the question "How are the dead raised?". From the context, the question seems likely to have been raised with skepticism, perhaps even sarcasm, since it provoked an immediate reply of "You fool!" From there, the remainder of the discussion recorded in what we call "Chapter 15" soundly answers the spiritual impudence of a skeptical Corinthian environment which chronically celebrated carnal diaper status.
Christians produce deadly denials of the resurrection reality, not because of any deliberate or malicious hatred for the Word of God. Rather, the deadly denials derive from a severe addiction to a Mormon-like lustful craving for a "flesh and blood" eternity! This craving so absolutely overwhelms millions of Christians that it ceases to matter that the Holy Spirit plainly stated to the Christians at Corinth that "flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God". (See 1st Cor. 15:50).
Deadly denials also originate from the suspicion of many Christians that the idea of "spiritual body" is kind of spooky, more appropriate for Halloween than for the manner of the resurrection reality. Many Christians find it nearly impossible to buy into the idea of a spiritual body eternally replacing the physique that we shed. They would rather see dead skeletons emerge in a public scene with flesh and blood, regardless of what God the Holy Spirit has taught us, because spiritual bodies which cannot be visualized by those of us living still in our natural bodies just seems too weird to them.
Our Christian resurrection reality deserves to be regularly read about, openly discussed in our homes and the more informal teaching opportunities in all of our churches, and proclaimed more often than Easter in our weekly worship gatherings. Frequent family reading of this section of Scripture should be followed up by mutual encouragement to renounce the false religious cravings which lead to deadly denials, and help each other rejoice in the wonderful words of the absolute superiority of the eternal spiritual body for all who die in the Lord! Amen!
Paul Richard Strange, Sr.
dadprs@hotmail.com
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Average Score: 5
Votes: 1
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Re: Resurrection Reality or Deadly Denial (Score: 1)
 by Islamaphobe on Tuesday, August 15 @ 13:01:23 PDT
(User Info | Send a Message) | Thanks, Paul, for a thoughtful piece that seems very commonsensical to me. This is one that I shall save.
John S. Evans |
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- by paul on Tuesday, August 15 @ 13:45:57 PDT
Re: Resurrection Reality or Deadly Denial (Score: 1)
 by Ransom on Tuesday, August 15 @ 17:28:38 PDT
(User Info | Send a Message) | Hear! hear!
Insightful comments from Paul R. Strange, Sr. as always. I intend to dwell on this reality and stress this point more often among my sphere of influence. Thanks a lot! |
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- by paul on Wednesday, August 16 @ 08:01:41 PDT
Re: The Kingdom Of God Does Not Come By Having Lots Of Children (Score: 1)
 by chrisliv on Tuesday, August 15 @ 22:27:29 PDT
(User Info | Send a Message) | Yeah,
I think your sentence in the 6th paragraph, "Rather, the deadly denials derive from a severe addiction to a Mormon-like lustful craving for a "flesh and blood" eternity!", is a good one.
I'm sure that most anyone, after a little thought, will see that the human body is uniquely suited for planet earth and probably no place else. I mean, if an immortalized human body could exist in Outer Space somewhere or in other dimensions, what would be the use for our bowels? Or, would there be toilets in Heaven?
Stupid and silly questions?
It does sound like Apostle Paul did field some questions like that.
But, the very next sentence in your 6th paragraph, "This craving so absolutely overwhelms millions of Christians that it ceases to matter that the Holy Spirit plainly stated to the Christians at Corinth that "flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God". (See 1st Cor. 15:50).", presupposes, as Paul seems to at Corinthians 15, that the "Kingdom of God" is equated to Heaven, and is excluded from the earthly existence of every believer, i.e., it suggests that Christianity is mostly pie-in-the-sky, after-you-die.
John the Baptist, Christ Himself, and the other Apostles didn't use the phrase "Kingdom of God" or "Kingdom of Heaven" like Paul does to at Cor. 15, or not much. Rather, most of the New Testament teaches that The Kingdom of God is an earthly dimension, which is established as a jusisdiction on this planet when Christ's/God's will is done, e.g., "...thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on Earth..."
Not Heaven!
Don't misunderstand. I agree with the thrust of your article. Human bodies are for planet earth, and having one for all eternity isn't my idea of bliss. And, I'm not advocating for annihilation of the soul after the death of the body, either.
I'm just saying that it's also easy to make the mistake that the Kingdom of God resides only in Heaven, after death.
I mean, "flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God" can also imply that having lots of children does nothing to enlarge God's Kingdom, contrary to the thinking of most Mormons and a lot of Christian groups, too.
Most religious people do think that having lots of children is somehow doing God a favor or makes them more giving. But, we do know that Apostle Paul also advised that every believer stay single, if possible, and that Christ and all the Apostles were bachelors, except Peter.
Peace be with you,
C. Livingstone |
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- by paul on Wednesday, August 16 @ 08:06:15 PDT
Resurrection from Hades (spiritual death) (Score: 1)
 by Kyle Peterson (peterson.kyle@gmail.com) on Wednesday, August 16 @ 09:46:20 PDT
(User Info | Send a Message) | When it comes to resurrection people can't help but think of Christ's physical body being removed from the burial tomb. This narrow vision of resurrection has led millions to believe that our resurrection is all about obtaining an immortal (glorified, anyone?) body.
As Dr. Mick pointed out during my lesson this past Sunday; if this were the case then Jesus wasn't anything special. Both Lazarus and the little girl were both physically resurrected from the dead (and did so before Christ was risen).
The story of resurrection is spiritual, not physical. It was the escape from Hades (spiritual (death) separation from God) that heralded the First Fruit being resurrected.
Being a Preterist I see the First Fruits, First and Second resurrections (Rev 20) as having past fulfillment. I suppose we can still argue over whether our "conversion" experience is a resurrection of sorts, but then this always seems to turn into a Universalism conversation.
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- by paul on Wednesday, August 16 @ 10:33:21 PDT
- by Chris on Wednesday, August 16 @ 12:19:07 PDT
- by paul on Wednesday, August 16 @ 13:12:31 PDT
- by davo on Wednesday, August 16 @ 17:09:00 PDT
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