Title: HOW DO YOU SPELL “COMFORT”?

Focus: The resurrection of the body and the gift of eternal life

comfort us especially today.

Function: To move the people to draw strength and comfort from

the Scripture’s teaching of the resurrection of the body and

the gift of eternal life.

Text: I Corinthians 15:35-58

Heidelberg Catechism: Lord’s Day 22

 

Introduction:

          Recently, I heard the testimony of a Jewish woman who is a survivor of the Holocaust. A few years ago, she revisited the concentration camp to which she, her sister, and the rest of her family were sent. Thousands of Jewish people perished in that camp. A tour guide led her to a wooded area of the concentration camp. Beautiful, tall, lush, green trees decorated the landscape of that dismal place. “The trees,” said the tour guide, “are exceptionally tall and extremely healthy and vigorous in growth. That is because these trees are growing on top of mass graves; their roots are drawing from the dust and ashes of thousands of men, women and children.”

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          As I listened to the woman’s story, and as I tried to absorb the magnitude of death and horror in that camp so many years ago, sorrow and anguish flooded my soul. What do you say in the face of death? What comfort is there—if any at all? Each one of us must face that question from time to time. We, too, know the insides of funeral homes. And we, too, are familiar with cemeteries. The Christian church has something unique to say: In light of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, we may say today: “I believe in the resurrection of the body, and in the life everlasting.” And we may draw comfort from this awesome teaching of Scripture.

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THE CATECHISM: Lord’s Day 22

          The questions raised by the Heidelberg Catechism are just as important as the answers drawn from the Scriptures. Today the Catechism leads us to focus on the Bible’s teaching of “the resurrection of the body” and the “life everlasting.” Referring to the teachings of the Bible as summarized in the Apostles’ Creed, the Catechism asks: “How does the ‘resurrection of the body’ (and how does the article concerning ‘life everlasting’) comfort you?” I want us to pay special attention to the verb “comfort.”

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By using this verb “comfort” the Catechism places us in the middle of life and in the midst of the cemeteries of the world. Life is filled with joy but also laced with misery and sorrow. Why would you want to live eternally—how can that be a comfort—while sorrow and tears are a given in human life? I’ve met many elderly people who are tired of living—they have known much sorrow; and physically they are worn-out. The Catechism is keenly aware of this reality in life. And the Catechism knows what it means to bury a loved one, to stand by a graveside, and to face your own mortality. It means sadness, sorrow, and tears. That’s why the Catechism speaks of COMFORT in Lord’s Day 22. “How does ‘the resurrection of the body’ and how does the article concerning ‘life everlasting’ comfort you.”

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a.      With Christ:

The answer is three-fold. The first part of the answer emphasizes that our

souls “will be taken immediately after this life to Christ, their head.” This means that:

·        At the time of our death, a separation takes place: the soul separates from the body. The soul continues to live; the body turns to dust. The soul continues to live outside of the body, apart from the body.

·        From Scripture we learn that the soul is carried to Christ, its head. When we go through the valley of the shadow of death, Christ sends his angels and makes sure that his very own people will continue to live in his presence, to be with him. Let there be no doubt. Anyone who belongs to the Lord Jesus today, in life, also belongs to him in death. Nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus, not even death itself.

·        But this also means that the life we live with Christ (after our soul separates from the body) is an incomplete life. To be fully human, to live to the fullest, we need to express ourselves bodily, physically. Paul may say that to be with Christ after death is far better than to stay here on earth and face its daily misery, but Paul never meant to teach that living apart from our body is what God has in mind for us eternally.

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b. Reunion:

          And thus the Catechism gives us the second part of its answer about comfort in the face of death: “even our very flesh, raised by the power of Christ, will be reunited with my soul.” The Scriptures clearly teach that

·        There will be a resurrection from the dead—a physical resurrection. Our bodies, though turned into dust and ashes, no longer recognizable from the soil of the earth, will nevertheless rise again when Jesus Christ returns. Dust will turn into flesh; flesh will be held together by bones and muscles and nerves; vital organs will form again: the heart will pump blood; the brain will produce thoughts; the liver and kidneys will cleanse the system; our souls will reunite with our bodies. The body will be raised from the dead. The graves will open up. You say, ‘how can that be?’ I say,  “by the power of Jesus Christ.”

·        Listen: “We believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him…the Lord himself will come down from heaven…and the dead in Christ will rise first.” Congregation, our souls will be reunited with our bodies. There’s the comfort that gives us hope and strength today!

 

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b.     Glorification:

But more needs to be said. Listen to the third part of the Catechism’s answer: “(Not only our soul will be taken immediately after this life to Christ its head, but even my very flesh, raised by the power of Christ, will be reunited with my soul) and made like Christ’s glorious body.” Consider:

·        Today our bodies are frail, prone to illness, subject to death. Today our bodies have limitations that keep us from being invisible or from walking on water, or from interacting from this earthly dimension of reality with the heavenly dimension of reality. Physically I cannot touch angels; I cannot rub shoulders with the powers of heaven; I cannot physically live both in finite time and eternity. Today our bodies are subject to all kinds of limitations.

·        But there will come a day when our bodies will be glorified. They will be made like Christ’s glorious, resurrection body. I am not interested in speculation. But I do believe that Scriptures call us to contemplation—we may contemplate our resurrection bodies in light of Christ’s resurrection body.

·        The Scriptures clearly teach that when Christ raises us from the grave, we will be like him—glorified. In I Corinthians 15:48-49 Paul says: “As was the earthly man, so are those of the earth; (he is thinking of Adam and us—the offspring of Adam); and as is the man from heaven (he is thinking of Christ, the Son of God), so also those who are of heaven. And just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, so shall we bear the likeness of the man from heaven.” And in Philippians 3:20 Paul says:

“…our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies, so that they will be like his glorious body.”

Folks, here is the good news! Things won’t be what they are today. We shall be like Jesus—like his glorious body.

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THE PASSAGE: I Corinthians 15:35-58

          In his letter to the Corinthian church, the apostle Paul addresses the whole matter of the resurrection of the body. Paul anticipates all kinds of objections from people who think that the resurrection of the body is a silly teaching or an impossibility. Paul’s discussion moves from

·        What kind of resurrection body to

·        There are different kinds of bodies to

·        Our resurrection body will be like Jesus’ body

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          In verses 35-41 Paul points out that God has made all kinds of different bodies in his creation. So to speak of a resurrection body is not a silly or stupid thing to do. He who has made the sun and the moon, as well as the birds and the dinosaurs, as well as rocks and trees and yes, human bodies, will he not also be able to make resurrection bodies when Christ shall make all things new at the end of time? Of course! “There are…heavenly bodies and there are earthly bodies; but the splendor of the heavenly bodies is one kind, and the splendor of the earthly bodies is another. The sun has one kind of splendor, the moon another and the stars another; and star differs from star in splendor. So will it be with the resurrection of the dead,” says Paul.

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          Paul then goes on and gives us a breath-taking comparison of our present bodies over against those same bodies when raised from the dead. Listen:

On the day of our burial:                               On the day of our resurrection:

-The body that is sown is perishable             it is raised imperishable.

-It is sown in dishonor                                  it is raised in glory

-It is sown in weakness                                 it is raised in power

-It is sown a natural body                             it is raised a spiritual body

Miss America’s body may be beautiful in the eyes of the world; Arnold Schwarzeneger’s may be a hulk; and yours may be a scream, but we have not seen anything yet. Wait till Jesus Christ is done with us, raising us from the dead, reuniting our souls with our resurrected bodies—then we shall see something that is truly “glorious.”

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Paul tells us that the resurrected body is a spiritual body. He does not mean that we shall have the shape or form of a ghost, or spook, or some kind of phantom, being able to come and go, to appear and disappear as we like.

Uh, uh. The resurrection body is our present body, fully restored and shaped in the image of Christ. It’s DNA, blood cells, and tissues, with our own distinctive fingerprints. The resurrection body is what you’ve got now—but then fully restored, or glorified. Our bodies today are wired by our human nature that is stricken by sin—Adam’s original sin, as well as our own. As Christians, however, we must learn to live—not by the impulses of our sinful human nature, but by the indwelling, abiding presence of the Holy Spirit. We must learn to live more and more a Holy Spirit-controlled life.

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          When Paul tells us that the resurrection body will be a spiritual body, he means that the Spirit of Christ will be fully in control of our body. The old sinful human nature (referred to by Scripture at times as “flesh and blood”) will then no longer be present. When Christ comes again and raises us from the dead, sin will no longer have any say or sway. Then the Spirit of Jesus will fully govern us; then we will be a spiritual or perfectly Spirit-controlled body, always able and eager to do the bidding of our heavenly Father. “…flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God.” It will be the Spirit of God, fully taking hold of us as re-newed human beings, who will rule us and move us to live the life of love, perfection and eternity. “Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.” We have not seen anything yet. The best is yet to come.

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          How must we think of “life everlasting”? The Catechism tries to say some intelligible things in light of scriptures, but it gets carried away and becomes poetic: “Even as I already now experience in my heart the beginning of eternal joy, so after this life I will have perfect blessedness such as no eye has seen, no ear has heard, no human heart has ever imagined: a blessedness in which to praise God eternally.” It’s hard to describe the glory of the sun; when you look straight at the sun, you go blind; so you observe its sunrays and its glory. And then you get some kind of idea. It’s hard to describe the glory of a resurrection body and the glory of eternal life. So you look at its firstfruits—the Lord Jesus—his resurrection body, his life given to us today. And then you get some kind of idea.

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          Think of eternal life as a force or power from heaven above, from God himself. Think of that power as a stream, or river. The river of eternal life is ours already today. Eternal life originates in our rebirth, when the Spirit of Christ gives us new life and makes us spiritually alive. That river of eternal life that begins to flow in us and through us finds its banks in a life of daily conversion.

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Gradually, slowly, more and more, the Spirit of Christ reveals himself in a life that is dedicated to Jesus, committed to his Word, and offered to him for service. Even though our bodies may fail and soon turn to dust, the force or stream of eternal life does not abandon us. We belong to Christ in life and in death. So, when Christ comes again and raises us from the dead, the river of eternal life issues forth in a Niagara Waterfall of thunderous, never-ending living in the presence of God on a renewed heavens and earth. The best is yet to come!

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Today we may experience bursts of energy, periods of good health, and long episodes of sustained life. But then, after Christ raises us from the dead, we shall renew our strength eternally; we shall flourish as human beings, fully human, fully controlled by the Spirit of God, and fully alive—forever more.

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          How do you spell “comfort”? “R-E-S-U-R-R-E-C-T-I-O-N.” I believe in the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.  In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen

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