Series:  Inspiration in Isaiah, #8  

August 6, 2006

RESURRECTION

Isaiah 25:6-9; 26:19

          Do you know what progressive revelation is?  That’s what you do with your kids as you teach them about sex.  When your 4 year old asks where babies come from, you don’t give them the whole story; you only give them as much as they can handle at that age, as much as they need.  Later on, you fill them in on the details as they are able to grasp and handle this information. 

          That’s essentially what God has done with humanity through the course of history, and through the writing of His inspired Word, the Bible.  The teaching on the resurrection is a case in point.  

          In the Old Testament, there is not a lot of information about what happens to people after they die.  The general understanding reflected in the Scriptures was that of the larger culture of that day, namely, that when people died, whether good or bad, they went to a place called Sheol, which was simply the place of the dead.  It was not a place of punishment, necessarily, though it was never described in particularly positive terms.  The New Testament term for this place was Hades. 

          Resurrection was mentioned in the Old Testament, but not as often as in the New Testament .  Since Isaiah had so much to say about the Messiah, it is not surprising that God also revealed to him some things about the resurrection.  There are two main passages in Isaiah that deal with this, so let’s look at those first, then at some other Old Testament passages, and then we’ll see what other details the New Testament adds to the picture.

I.        Isaiah Predicts the Resurrection      

          A.          A feast   Is 25:6; Rev 19:7-9

                    “On this mountain the Lord Almighty will prepare

        a feast of rich food for all peoples,

    a banquet of aged wine--

        the best of meats and the finest of wines.”

           Reading this as we do through our New Testament lenses, we can’t help but think of the marriage feast of the Lamb in Revelation 19.  It says there that the bride of Christ—the  Church, all those who have been saved through faith in Jesus—has made herself ready.  She has gotten all dressed up in white linen, and is ready to receive her Husband, the Lord Jesus Christ. At that wedding, as at many of ours today, there will be a great feast, a wedding banquet, and this passage in Isaiah is a hint of that. 

          We know that’s what Isaiah is referring to because in the next verse he says,

          B.          Death is swallowed up   Is 25:7-9; 1 Cor. 15:54; Rev 21:4

                    [7] On this mountain he will destroy

        the shroud that enfolds all peoples,

    the sheet that covers all nations;

        [8] he will swallow up death forever.

    The Sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears from all faces; 

    he will remove the disgrace of his people from all the earth.

The Lord has spoken.

    [9] In that day they will say,

    "Surely this is our God;

        we trusted in him, and he saved us.

    This is the Lord, we trusted in him;

        let us rejoice and be glad in his salvation."

          The book of Isaiah is quoted more often in the New Testament than any other Old Testament book.  This passage here is mentioned twice.  Paul  referred to this passage in 1 Cor. 15:54, “When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.’”  Also, in this passage in Isaiah, we find hints of Revelation, where it says that God will wipe every tear from the eyes of those who are in heaven, and there will be no more death, or mourning, or crying or pain, because the old order of things will have passed away (Rev 21:4).   We are going to celebrate that victory and union with God with a great banquet. 

          C.          New birth  Is 26:19

                    The other passage in Isaiah that speaks of the resurrection is Isaiah 26:19,

    “But your dead will live;

        their bodies will rise.

    You who dwell in the dust,

        wake up and shout for joy.

    Your dew is like the dew of the morning;

        the earth will give birth to her dead.” 

          Resurrection is compared to waking up to discover that we are in circumstances that call for shouts of joy!  Then there is an interesting poetic image, that pictures resurrection as a birth from the dead.  The tomb is pictured as a womb, and it gives birth to a new creature, ready to live a new life on a new plane of existence.

          Isaiah is not the only Old Testament writer who mentioned the resurrection, though. Let’s just take a quick tour of some of these other passages. 

II.       Job Can’t Wait to See God   Job 19:25-27

Job 19:25-27, Job says,

    “I know that my Redeemer lives,

        and that in the end he will stand upon the earth.

    [26] And after my skin has been destroyed,

        yet in my flesh I will see God;

    [27] I myself will see him

        with my own eyes--I, and not another.

        How my heart yearns within me!”

          Isn’t that a positive, hopeful, encouraging passage?  My Redeemer, Jesus Christ, lives now, even though He was crucified, and at the end of history, He will stand on the earth as ruler and King.  Because of that, we have the hope of seeing Him even after we die.  That’s the great hope and blessing of heaven: we get to see God face to face.  How we long to see Him now, but there is a great gulf fixed between the spiritual and material realms, and we can’t see Him.  But one day, we will gaze into His eyes, drink in His love for us, and be overwhelmed with His beauty.  I love how Job says this: “I myself will see Him with my own eyes—I, and not another.  How my heart yearns within me.”  I can’t wait to see Jesus! 

III.      Hosea Taunts Death   Hosea 13:14

          Hosea, who was a prophet in the Northern Kingdom at the same time Isaiah ministered in the Southern Kingdom, practically taunted death. 

    "I will ransom them from the power of the grave;

        I will redeem them from death.

    Where, O death, are your plagues?

        Where, O grave, is your destruction?”

          This is God speaking.  Who else can say that to death?  We joke about the only two things that are certain in life are death and taxes, but actually, some people don’t pay income tax.  They find ways around it. But no one gets around death.  There are no “death attorneys”, like tax attorneys, who can help you find the legal loopholes to escape death. 

          And seriously, folks, not everyone acts as though they believe this.  Since I officiate at funeral services fairly regularly, I am constantly reminded of my, and our, mortality.  But some of you have not made the proper preparations for your own death, simply because you don’t want to think about it.  You need to make sure your affairs are in order, and if you need some help, contact the church office about getting one of these booklets that we have prepared to help you be prepared for that which is inevitable.

          But as Christians, we can face the prospect of our death with confidence and hope, because we know what’s on the other side.  God has promised to ransom us from the power of the grave, and redeem us from death.  So we can join Him in His taunt, “Where, O death, are your plagues? Where, O grave, is your destruction?”  We probably won’t enjoy dying, but we certainly don’t fear death. 

IV.          “Everybody Up!”   Daniel 12:2; John 5:28,29

          The Old Testament also indicated that everyone will experience resurrection, not just the righteous or the believers: 

          Daniel 12:2, “Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt.”

          Jesus said much the same thing in John 5:28-29, "…a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice [29] and come out--those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned.”

          So everyone will be resurrected, but the result will be very different, depending on your relationship with God.  Some will experience eternal life, blessing, the presence of God forever; others will be condemned, and experience everlasting shame, contempt, and suffering. 

          Which of these two experiences will be yours in the resurrection?  Do you know? Are you sure?  This is one of those decisions you don’t want to put off, or trivialize!  If you are not certain which resurrection experience you will have, talk to me after this service.  I want to make sure you will spend eternity with God.

          When we get to the New Testament, the resurrection of Jesus Christ dominates the scene.  Virtually every sermon the apostles preached that is recorded in Acts includes a reference to the resurrection of Christ.  His resurrection, and the implications of that for us, are the background for most of what is said in the New Testament. The most extensive passage on it is in 1 Cor. 15:35-58. 

V.      A Spiritual Body   1 Cor 15:35-50

          Paul begins this section by pointing out how different things have different kinds of bodies, such as the differences between people, animals, birds, and fish.  Even inanimate bodies are vastly different, as for example the sun, the moon, and the earth.  The point of that whole paragraph is just that there are different kinds of bodies, and the resurrection body will very different from the body we have now.  Then he goes on to explain that the difference between our present bodies and the ones we will get in the resurrection is analogous to the difference between a seed that is sown in the ground, and the plant that grows from it. 

    [42] So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; [43] it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power;   

          Our new bodies are going to be very different from the ones we have now.  Hallelujah!  But they are so different, Paul struggles to describe them very clearly.  Here’s what he tells us. 

          A.          Imperishable.

                    Our current bodies are perishable.  Within just a few hours of death, if nothing is done to treat or refrigerate our bodies, they will begin to decay.  Maggots will suddenly appear, as if from nowhere, and start to digest the flesh. 

          But our new bodies will be imperishable; they won’t be capable of decay, any more than a diamond or gold decomposes in a land fill. 

          B.          Glorious

                    Our bodies are sown in the ground in dishonor.  Either we died of some disease, which has sapped us of our strength and vitality, or from an accident or other violence that has disfigured us.  There’s nothing very glorious about a dead body, no matter how we died. 

          But our new bodies will be raised in glory.  It’s a word that suggests beauty, splendor, attractiveness, even majesty. 

          C.          Powerful

                    When we die, we are, by definition, weak.  Whether it is from disease or accident, or some violence done to us, we are too weak to sustain our own life.  But our new body will be powerful!  Strong, healthy, capable of living forever! 

          And then Paul gets to the most difficult part for us to understand, verse 44.

          D.          Spiritual

                    [44] “it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body.”  We tend to think that spiritual means non-material, not physical, not made of the atoms that make up everything else in the world, but Paul evidently means something other than that.  He goes on:  1 Cor 15:44, “If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. [45] So it is written: "The first man Adam became a living being" [with a natural body]; the last Adam [Jesus], a life-giving spirit. [46] The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual. [47] The first man was of the dust of the earth, the second man from heaven. [48] As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the man from heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. [49] And just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, so shall we bear the likeness of the man from heaven. [50] I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood [this natural body] cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.

          So what is he saying?  He contrasts the body Adam had with the body Christ had after His resurrection.  At present we have bodies like Adam’s, but the day will come when we will “bear the likeness of the man from heaven,” and have bodies like Jesus had after He rose again.  We know that His body was physical, in the sense that it could be felt—remember when He invited the disciples to touch Him, and pointed out that He had flesh and bones.  And He ate a fish in front of the disciples.  His body was in some respects like the one that died, because He showed Thomas the scars in His hands and side. 

          But some things were very different about Jesus’ new body.  For example, He seemed to be able to appear and disappear at will.  He could pass through the walls and locked doors where the disciples were hiding from the authorities.  The two disciples He met on the road to Emmaus didn’t recognize Him until He gave thanks for their meal.  And He ascended from the earth out of sight into heaven. 

          The promise is that we will one day get bodies like Jesus had.  He is the “first-fruits” of the resurrection, and we’re the rest of the harvest.  1 Cor. 15:49, “And just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, so shall we bear the likeness of the man from heaven.”  (see also Philip. 3:21; 1 John 3:2).  These new bodies will be physical, in the sense that they can be touched, but they are spiritual in the sense that they are suited to live forever.  As it says in Revelation, “the old order of things has passed away.” 

VI.          Cremation

          One of the implications of this wonderful promise of resurrection, is that it is OK to have our loved ones cremated after they die.  Sometimes Christians ask me, is that ok?  They don’t want to do anything that would somehow interfere with God’s plans for us in the future.  It seems pretty clear to me that God does not need the original material of our old, tired, worn-out bodies in order to build us the new ones in the resurrection.  Certainly, there have been many Christians who were eaten by lions in the Roman Coliseum, or burned at the stake, or whose bodies were lost at sea, or decomposed hundreds of years ago in their graves before embalming.  When God make us our new resurrection bodies, He doesn’t need the old ones to start with.  So if for whatever reason you want to have cremation done, that’s perfectly acceptable.[1] 

As we come to the Lord’s Table today, we can see that it not only looks back to the death of Christ, but it also looks forward to the time when He will return and we will be raised to new life. 

1 Cor. 11:23-26   For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, [24] and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, "This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me." [25] In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me." [26] For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.

          1 Thes. 4:16-17  sheds some light on what will happen when Jesus comes:  “For the Lord himself will descend  from heaven with a cry of command, with the archangel’s call,  and with the sound of the trumpet of God.  And the dead in Christ will rise first; [17] then we who are alive, who are left,  shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we shall always be with the Lord.”  (RSV)

          Isaiah said, 25:6-9, “On this mountain the Lord Almighty will prepare a feast of rich food for all peoples.” 

          Rev. 19:9, the angel said to John, "Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!” 

          Come.  Come to the preview of that great wedding feast. All who love Christ will be joined to Him forever, and our union will be celebrated at a banquet.  This communion meal is just a little sample of what we will experience there.  Come, and commune with the Lover of your souls.