The doctrine of the resurrection is a central message of all the Bible. Without the resurrection, there is no Savior, no hope and no God. If there were no resurrection, then the atheist would be right. If there were no resurrection, then even more people would resort to believing evolution could be more than just a theory. However, prove the resurrection, and you prove the skeptics wrong.
In order to prove the resurrection, we must first prove the reliability of the source of our evidence–God. “The fool has said in his heart, ‘There is no God…’” (Psalm 14:1 NKJV). However, as we review human history, mankind has always worshipped. We have always believed in a supreme being (a higher power).
The teleological argument for the existence of God is probably the best for proving God exists. It states that where there is a design, there is of necessity a designer. Man and the universe are complex elements that show intricate design. Something greater brought us into being. That something is God. Whatever a particular culture chooses to call Him, He is God.
The Holy Bible claims to be the Word of God. It is complete, it is accurate and it is the standard by which all mankind will be judged (2 Timothy 3:16-17; Revelation 22:18–19; John 12:48; 8:32). If one views the Bible as anything less than God’s message to us, then he might as well say that God cannot reveal His will to man.
It is important to distinguish between two ideas: the immortality of the soul and the resurrection of the body. Both are ancient and widely held concepts. Many of the Greeks believed in the immortality of the soul. According to this view, the soul exists before its habitation in the body and survives after being freed from the body when the body dies. In some systems the soul is considered to be the essential self, the body being the prison or tomb from which the soul is freed at death. Thus, death is considered to be the friend of the soul.
All this is foreign to the New Testament. It is a doctrine of men, seen in his wholeness, calls for that of resurrection, not immortality of the soul. Man is soul; he does not just have one. Body and soul both describe the total man, each from its own perspective (Wilbur Smith, Therefore Stand).
In the first century, some denied the resurrection of Jesus. Paul challenged those at Corinth to rest their faith in the resurrection or else their faith was void and vain (1 Corinthians 15:12–19).
If Jesus of Nazareth actually rose from the dead in His own body on the third day, as He predicted, all the other doctrinal affirmations of the Christian faith hold together, including those that pertain to our own ultimate destiny; if such an event did not occur, Paul declares, our faith is vain, our preaching is vain, and we are yet in our sins…The theme of the resurrection of the body, including the bodily resurrection of Christ, is given more space in the New Testament than any other one basic Christian truth, with the possible exception of the death of the Lord Jesus. Remove the truth of the resurrection from the New Testament, and its whole doctrinal structure collapses, and hope vanishes (Frank Stagg, New Testament Theology).
The resurrection not only occurred, but it was planned, prophesied, executed and fulfilled in the person of Jesus the Christ, the Son of God.
Planned
“In the beginning God created” (Genesis 1:1), but before God created, Jesus was (John 1:1–4, 14). God knew before the foundation of the world, before the creation of man, that He would send His Son to redeem mankind (Ephesians 1:14; 1 Peter 1:18–21). In so doing, God would allow man to make reconciliation to Himself (2 Timothy 1:9-10; 2 Corinthians 5:18–19; Romans 5:8–11).
Without God’s mercy, exhibited by the power of the resurrection, man could not have returned to God. The bodily (physical, actual) resurrection of Jesus was necessary to provide evidence to the world that all that God had said was true. It was, however, necessary to first show man that he was separated from God by his iniquities (sins) (Isaiah 59:1–2; 1 John 3:4). This was done by contrasting the earthly body with a heavenly body.
Although it is not known what the resurrected body will be like (1 Corinthians 15:35, 38), we do know that it will be changed in a moment and that it will happen during the resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:51–54).
Prophesied
Throughout the Scriptures, faithful children of God looked for a better day. Some believed in a resurrection, while others merely hoped for the Messiah. The very first Scripture that alluded to a coming redeemer happened at the point of the first sin and God’s judgment on Adam, Eve and Satan’s transgressions (Genesis 3:15). As God’s people progressed through time, they anticipated the Redeemer (Job 19:25–27; Psalm 49:15; Isaiah 26:19; Daniel 12:1–3; Acts 2:22–36).
Executed
Jesus even went as far as to predict His own resurrection (John 2:19–22; Mark 8:31; 9:9–10, 31–32; 10:32–34; John 10:17–18). During Jesus’ ministry, and that of His apostles, there were several examples of those raised from the dead. These miracles were performed to teach a lesson or to remind the hearers of the power of God (John 11:43–44; Acts 9:36–41).
However, only one was resurrected from the dead never to die again. He is the firstfruits of those righteous to come. He is the hope for eternity. Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life (John 14:6; Revelation 1:17–18; 1 Corinthians 15:20–23; Colossians 1:18).
When the time is “full,” Jesus will return to resurrect all mankind to be judged according to the things done in the body (1 Thessalonians 4:13–17; 2 Corinthians 5:10). All of mankind must be resurrected, at which time the good and the evil will be judged.
Fulfilled
The resurrection would have meant nothing if Jesus had not first died and been buried. Great emphasis is placed on the death, burial and resurrection throughout the New Testament. The Lord’s Supper is a continual memorial to this fact (Luke 22:19). Jesus further assured His disciples by promising that He would again drink this memorial with them in the kingdom (Matthew 26:29). The resurrection is affirmed by direct eyewitness testimony (1 Corinthians 15:3–8).
Today’s Application
Paul, in writing to the Corinthians, summarized the most successful exposition on the resurrection in the entire Bible. Some have said this chapter of text (1 Corinthians 15) is the most critical to the Christian’s faith, for without the resurrection, there is no hope. Our hope as Christians rests in a better day. That was the message to the seven churches of Asia (Revelation 1:16–18; 3:19–22).
Conclusion
The New Testament assumed the Old Testament concept of the body-soul unity and the late Old Testament and intertestamental concept of a resurrection. Unlike Greek philosophers who downplayed the significance of death by emphasizing the immortality of the soul, the biblical writers affirmed that death is real. Since the Bible also affirms the value of life as a gift from God, death is sometimes depicted as threatening and never entirely desirable. The doctrine of the resurrection is an affirmation that even the realm of the dead belongs to God and that death is overcome only at His gracious command. Our victory over death is only in Jesus (1 Corinthians 15:55–58).
