Page 89 - what a christianbelieveslatest.pub
P. 89

Resurrection of the dead

                with  the  issues  of  life  and  life  after  death;  and  wrote  about
                them  in  the  BOOK  OF  ECCLESIASTES  in  the  Old
                Testament.
                In  Ecclesiastes  3  v11  'He  (God)  has  made  everything
                beautiful in its time.  He has also set eternity in the hearts
                of men, yet they cannot fathom what God has done from
                the  beginning  to  the  end.'  So  men  do  not  naturally
                understand what God has done but they have been made to
                be eternal.

                But  all  men  and  women  die  when  they  come  to  the  end  of
                their  physical  lives.  Solomon  explains  that  there  is  a
                separation of the body and the spirit at death.  Ecclesiastes
                12  v7  'And  the  dust  (the  body)  returns  to  the  ground  it
                came from, and the spirit returns to God who made it.'

                The  returning  of  the  spirit  of  a  person  to  God  is  made
                possible  because  the  power  of  death  and  the  hold  that  the
                devil had on it was broken, when Christ died and rose again.
                Revelation  1  v18  'I  am  the  Living  One,  I  was  dead  and
                behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys
                of death and Hades (hell).'

                When Paul was speaking to the Corinthian christians, he had
                to deal with the matter of, first Jesus Christ  and then men
                and  women  being  resurrected,  because  there  were  some
                other  teachers  who  were  causing  confusion.    1Corinthians
                15  v12  'Now  if  it  is  Christ  that  is  preached  that  He  has
                been raised from the dead, how is it that there are some
                among you that say there is no resurrection of the dead?'
                He explains the consequences of such a belief in v17 'And if
                Christ is not risen your faith is futile, you are still in your
                sins.'

                Paul  continues  by  showing  that  such  ideas  are  wrong,  v20
                'But now Christ is risen from the dead and has become

                                          89
   84   85   86   87   88   89   90   91   92   93   94