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Thou [God] shal t call, and 1 will
answer thee .. ." (verses 14-1 5).
Job knew there would come a
time when God would call him
from the grave and give hi m eter–
na) life. "For 1 know that my
redeemer liveth," Job dec lared ,
"and that he shall stand at the
latter day upon the earth: and
t hough after my skin worms
des t roy t his body, yet [a part
from] my fles h shall 1 see God"
(Job 19:25-26).
Why was Job so confident ?
Read it again:
" For 1 know that
my redeemer liveth.
..
"!
Chrlst ' s Resurrectlon-a Type
We can know that there will be a
resurrection to immortality by
the very fact that , in one case, it
has already happened. And the
very one res urrected- J esus
Christ- wi ll be the means to our
resurrection.
Ch r is t ' s r esur rect ion after
three days and three nights in the
g rave was a type or forerunner of
the resur rection God promises to
all who obey him. The apostle
Paul was inspired to write:
" Bu t if the S pirit of him that
raised up Jesus from the dead
dwell in you, he that raised up
Christ from the dead shall also
quicken [enliven] your morta l
bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth
in you" (Romans 8:11) .
J esus C hri s t gu a rantees it!
No t ice what he says in J oh n
JI
:25:
" J
am the resurrection,
and the life: he that believeth on
me, though he were dead, yet
shall he live."
J esus was the " firstborn among
many brethren" (Romans 8:29),
the " fi rstborn from t he dead"
(Colossians 1:18), the " fi rstfrui ts
of them that slept" {1 Corinthians
15:20) . These verses obviously
imply that others are dest ined to
follow him.
Chrlst' s Resurrection–
Fact, Not Flctlon!
O ne fi nal, but supremely impor–
tant point remains.
Sorne disbelieving cri t ics have
alleged that J esus' resur rect ion is
mere fable and fabricat ion, with
March 1981
no basis in fact. This is a serious
allegation.
Notice in 1 Corinthians 15: 17-
18 that everything hinges on the
reali ty of J esus' resurrection:
" And if Christ be not raised , your
fai th is vain [meaningless or emp–
ty] ; ye are yet in your sins. Then
they also which are fallen asleep
in Christ are perished."
If
Jesus did not rise from the
dead , we are without hope! But
J esus d id rise from the grave! The
c rucifixion of J esus was not
behind closed doors. His death
was witnessed by hund reds. It is
~~
Few,
if
any, have
failed to ask themselves,
'What next?'
The answer to this
burning question
is that there
is
a future beyond
death- and what a
profound and awe-
inspiring future it is!
' '
mentioned not only in the scrip–
tura l accounts, but in secular
records as well.
Likewise, J esus' resurrection is
attested to by many hundreds of
eyewitnesses who saw him after
he was
r~sed.
Sorne even ate and
drai\k with him and conversed
with him at length!
T h e a post le P au l s tates:
' ' . .. God raised him from the
dead: and he was seen many days
of them which carne up with him
from Galilee to Jerusalem, who
are his
witnesses
unto the people"
(Acts 13:30-3 1) .
In 1 Corinthians 15:4-8, Paul
elaborates: "And that he was bur–
ied, and that he rose again the
third day accord ing to the scrip–
tures: and that he was seen of
Cepb as [Peter], then of the
twelve: After that , he was seen of
above five hundred brethren at
once; of whom the greater par t
remain unto th is present. .. .
After that, he was seen of J ames;
then of all the apost les. And last
of a ll h e was seen o f me
also... ."
As Lu ke summar izes in Acts
1:3: "To [the apostles] also he
shewed himself alive after his
passion by many infal lible proofs,
being seen of them forty days,
a nd s peakin g of th e things
perta in ing to t he kingdom of
God."
Men do not become martyrs to
what they k now to be f a/se!
The
be lief of t he early Chris ti a n
Church was absolute, based on
personal testimony or eyewitness
test imony.
J esus d id rise from the dead!
The fact of his resurrection is as
fi rmly established as the assassi–
nation of Julius Caesar! And he,
Chris t , !ikewise, "shall c hange
our vile body, that it may be fash–
ioned like unto his glorious
body .. ." (Phi1ippians 3:21).
Thi s is our destiny, if we
choose to accept it!
New
Horlzons
As resurrected, g lorified , immor–
ta lized saints- born into God's
Family as his d ivine children-we
will " inheri t all things" (Revela–
tion 21:7) and "shall reign [rule
or govern] for ever and ever"
(Reve1ation 22:5).
We shall inherit the vastness of
the entire universe! It will be ours
to work wi th through eternity.
The words of Hebrews 2:8 will at
last cometo pass: " Thou hast put
all things in subjection under his
[man's] feet. ..."
There will be new worlds to
build, new horizons to conquer,
an entire universe to mold and
shape! And to accomplish it we
will be g ranted undreamed-of
powers and abilities, unhampered
by the physical limitations of
time and space. Nothing will be
beyond our potential!
This is the fantastic future that
is offered us. What will you do
about it? o
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