The Resurrected Body – Part 2

Like the Messiah’s Body
Saul notes that at the Resurrection we will obtain a body resembling the one Messiah had. More specifically, we are to acquire a body like the fleshly body Yahushua had while he was a man on the earth, before his resurrection from the dead, i.e., a ruach-type incorruptible fleshly body, one that was still mortal. Saul writes regarding the resurrected body:

It is sown a psuchikon (= nephesh-type) body; it stands up a pneumatikon (= ruach-type) body. There is a nephesh-type body and there is a ruach-type body. So also it has been written, the first man, Adam, created into a living nephesh; the last Adam into a living ruach. (1 Cor. 15:44-45)

Yet the first (Adam) was not the ruach-type, but was the nephesh-type. Afterward came the ruach-type. The first man was from out of the earth, made of earth; the second man, the sovereign, from out of the heavens.

As is the earthy, such also are those made of earth; and such as the heavenly one, such also the heavenly ones. AND ACCORDING AS WE BORE THE IMAGE OF THE ONE MADE OF EARTH, WE WILL ALSO BEAR THE IMAGE OF THE HEAVENLY ONE. (1 Cor. 15:47-49)

Notice that the body we will obtain after the Resurrection is like the one that the Messiah had when he came “from out of” the heavens, i.e., when he was transformed into a human, not like the quickened ruach-type body he had when he returned to the heavens. Continue reading “The Resurrected Body – Part 2” →

The Resurrected Body – Part 1

Scriptures reveal two Great Resurrections from the dead, referred to as the First Resurrection and the Second Resurrection. This raises several important questions.

How is the divine aspect of our nephesh (the self or person) resurrected back to life?
What kind of body will we have when we return to life during either of these two Great Resurrections?
Will our body be flesh or spirit, mortal or immortal?
Does our new body get old and suffer from disease or does it remain forever young and vibrant?

Saul begins to address these questions in his first letter to the assembly at Corinth. He points out that some will ask the questions, “How are the dead raised? And with what body do they come?”¹

Saul responds by dividing the process into two categories: Continue reading “The Resurrected Body – Part 1” →

The Resurrections in Scriptures

We should be aware that Yahweh has predetermined much more for mankind than a simple existence as mortal, flesh-and-blood creatures.

However, few are mindful that Yahweh’s plan for mankind’s afterlife is predicated upon a resurrection from the dead. Indeed, in the book of Hebrews, the “resurrection of the dead” is declared to be one of the fundamental doctrines of Scriptures,¹ one which is strongly proclaimed throughout both the Old and New Testaments.

Basic Doctrine
As previously stated, the doctrine of the resurrection of mankind from the dead is one of the fundamental themes found in Scriptures. To begin with, we are the work of Yahweh’s hands. Isaiah remarks:

And now Yahweh, you are our father; we are the clay and you are the maker, and we are the work of your hands. (Isaiah 64:7-8)

Yahweh’s intent for the work of his hands extends far beyond sheol (the state of death), even though the deceased person resting in sheol has reached a state of temporary nonexistence. Continue reading “The Resurrections in Scriptures” →