What does the Bodily Resurrection of Jesus Christ have to do with
the death of a precious loved one? If Christ had not miraculously risen
from the grave, then we would have no hope in the resurrection of the
dead, eternal salvation, or immortality. By faith we believe: "Multitudes
who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life,
and some to shame and everlasting contempt" (Daniel 12:2, NIV).

Father God: Thank You for Your Infinite Love. We worship You in spirit and in truth. We seek Your blessings. We pray for sin-forgiveness, mercy, and divine grace. You are worthy of our praise! You are our hope and inspiration. You are our light and salvation. Cleanse the sin-infested hard drives of our minds. Comfort our hearts. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done. Empower us to love each other as you loved others. We pray in the wonderful, powerful name of Jesus Christ. Amen!

"The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life" (Job 33:4, NLT). "For you were made from dust, and to dust you will return" (Genesis 3:19, NLT). "Wake up, sleeper, and rise from death, and Christ will shine on you" (Eph. 5:14, GNB-UK). Awake ye that slumber! Arise from the dust. He who believes in Me, and My Resurrection, though he may die, he shall live again.

"Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations . . . The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they are fourscore years . . . So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom" (See Ps 90:1-12). On earth, one’s transitory, mortal life is gone way too soon, but we do not sorrow as others do who have no hope. This is a Good News Gospel Message. King Jesus has already solved the sin and the death problem. Time is running out! We’re in the last days. Soon we will witness Christ’s Resurrection Power. Jesus Christ will raise up every righteous soul who has died in union with Him at His Second Coming. Our Messiah fulfilled many prophetic revelations. "I offered my back to those who beat me, my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard; I did not hide my face from mocking and spitting" (Isa. 50:6, NIV). "He was wounded for our transgressions; He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement for our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed . . . He poured out His life unto death . . . He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in death." (www.isaiah53.com). Our eternal salvation is certain because of the Death and Bodily Resurrection of Jesus Christ. He experienced and tasted the death we deserve on a cross at Calvary. Whether Christ died the second death or its equivalence, we know for certain that He has already died the death we deserved to die. Christ died voluntarily in our place as our substitute. By faith we believe: "Christ died for our sins" (1 Cor. 15:3), and today He has an empty tomb. Christ rose from His grave literally and bodily, and our bodily resurrection is inevitable because of His resurrection. There is definitive evidence and infallible proof that the miraculous Resurrection of Jesus Christ truly happened. After His resurrection, "He appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time" (1Cor. 15:6, NIV). He said to Mary Magdalene. "Touch me not; I have not yet ascended to My Father" (John 20:11-18). Christ did not go to heaven the day He died, neither do the dead. Just think about it. Christ was on earth 40 days after His resurrection. Jesus told His disciples; "Behold My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself. Handle Me, and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have" (Luke 24:39, NKJV). Then He ate some fish. We will be able to recognize our loved ones after the Resurrection. Christ was not a ghostlike, spirit apparition after His resurrection. He was a real person with an immortal, glorious body. The dead in Christ shall rise, and be reunited with the living saints on Resurrection Day. I never say "Goodbye" to those who have died in Christ. I just say, "I’ll see you soon."

Right now, I encourage you to place all of your emotional anxieties, burdens, needs, and cares upon our sinless Sin Bearer. True Believers have faith and hope that their departed loved ones will rise, and come alive in the resurrection of the dead, and that they will be reunited with them again. King Jesus has never given us more burdens than we can bear without giving us a Way of Escape. Solomon said. "To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die . . . A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance . . . A time to get, and a time to lose . . . A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace . . . I said in mine heart, God shall judge the righteous and the wicked: for there is a time there for every purpose and for every work" (Ecclesiastes 3:1-17). "This is the day that the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it" (Psalms 118:24, ESV). Let us rejoice because Christ’s perfect holy character stands in the place of the character of every born again, Christlike Christian. Let us rejoice in the Lord today because we are clothed with His righteousness. Let us rejoice in the Bodily Resurrection of Jesus Christ because He has the keys to the prison house of death, and to our immortal, future life. We have a reason to rejoice! Jesus suffered and died while paying our ransom and redemption price with His atoning blood sacrifice. The word resurrection is mentioned over 40 times in the Bible.

When a loved one departs, they are "gone too soon." Like a cool breeze in the sizzling heat on a hot summer day, they are gone too soon. Like the pulsating rain tap dancing on the parched crackling earth, they are gone too soon. Like a beautiful flower blossoming in the botanical gardens of life, they are gone too soon. But they will never completely fade away because their precious memories are indelibly engraved on our hearts. David’s Shepherd Prayer says: "Yea, though I walk through the Valley of the Shadow of Death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me" (Psalms 23:4, NKJV). Comfort one another with God’s encouraging words when others are experiencing profound grief and sorrow. Don’t let Satan’s fear mongers torment or torture your minds with superstitious fears about death. The mind is a spiritual battlefield. Whatever power controls your mind is the power that you will worship as God. The Devil is the author of sin and death. Don’t blame God! Let me fast-forward to the Day of Judgment. On that day lost sinners and their inventions, and Satan and his evil angels will burn up in the Lake of Fire. God does not eternally torment people. Don’t resist God’s Holy Spirit. Resist Satan’s evil spirits. He has but a short time to wreck and wreak havoc upon the human race. Our Prince of Peace and Love reminds us that "There is no fear in perfect love" (1 John 4:18.) The dead do not creep out of their graves at night to stalk us. The moment after biological death the dead person is lifeless. The dead are all dead! They are in an unconscious state in their peaceful resting place. Our departed loved ones are unaware of anything or anyone until the Resurrection of the Dead. The dead are not burning in hell, or floating on clouds smiling at us. "The wages of sin is death" (Rom. 6:23). Sin pays a wage. Sin is separation from God. Unrepentant sin leads to spiritual, physical, and eventually eternal death. We must be born again! Someone has aptly said. "Born Once – Die Twice; Born Twice – Die Once." Jesus Saves Sinners from their sins. But He does not save sinners living in continuous, willful, known sin. (Read Heb. 10:26-27). As a Bible Christian I believe that sin is more than just an indiscretion. Sin is violating the Ten Commandments of God which He gave to all mankind for a "thousand generations" (Deut. 7:9, NKJV).

There are only two different lifestyle mind-sets or spiritual pathways that every person has chosen: God’s righteous way of obedience, or Satan’s self-centered, broad way of disobedience and unrighteousness. The Golden Rule: "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you" (Luke 6:31). Or the Iron Rule: "Do hurtful things to others so that they are too humiliated, wounded, and brokenhearted to harm you." John’s Gospel says: "Whoever puts his faith in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see that life, for God’s wrath remains on him" (John 3:36NIV). If you were arrested, is there enough evidence to convict you of being a true Christian? "For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also" (James 2:26).

God Has No Pleasure in Our Death

God has no pleasure in the death of anyone. God had a Q & A session with Himself about death in Ezekiel chapter 18. God’s Question: "Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked?" God’s Answer: "I have no pleasure in the death of anyone who dies?" The earth’s population will be over 7 billion by 2012. The CIA World Factbook states that on an average more than 155,000 people die daily worldwide. It breaks God’s loving heart when He sees so many of His people suffering and dying. God loves sinners, but He hates sin. Someday soon our Lord will unlock the graves of the dead. Jesus holds the keys to Hades. It is true that it is hard to get over the death of someone you dearly love. This is such a sensitive topic to discuss. I’ve been told that time will heal you from the painful loss of a loved one; I am still going through the healing process just like you. I’ve lost my parents and several siblings. God is love, and He will comfort you so that you can endure the loss of a loved one. Never try to make contact with the dead! Our departed loved ones cannot communicate to us from beyond the grave. "The dead know not anything" (Eccl 9:5). The dead cease to exist. They cannot talk or interact with the living or the dead. But Satan and his evil angels can personate the dead. In the Holy Scriptures sleep is used as a metaphor for death, but this sleep is not the gateway to paradise. The Word of God compares death to a temporary sleep over 50 times. This death is not the dreamy sleep that we experience at night. This death is likened unto a non-conscious, dreamless sleep. In the Bible it is referred to as the First Death. It is not kosher to discuss a multiplicity of creeds or anyone’s occasional misdeeds during a time of bereavement, but it is always appropriate for Bible Christians to expose Satan’s unbiblical deceptions. There are still Sadducees in our world today who deny, reject, or belittle the truth about the bodily resurrection of the dead.

Any Bible text taken out of context is a pretext because it is used to convey false hopes and false doctrines. After the daughter of Jairus’ died, Jesus said to the weeping mourners. "Why all the commotion and wailing? The child is not dead, but asleep" (Mark 5:39, NIV). God’s Word says in 1 Kings 2:10, "So David slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David." King David "is both dead and buried, and his sepulcher is with us unto this day . . . For David is not ascended into the heavens" (Acts 2:29, 34). This is why Christ emphasized so much His glorious Appearing and the Blessed Hope of the Resurrection. Our Creator God "formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul" (Genesis 2:7). Humans do not have a soul because we are "living souls," and when we die we are "dead souls." The Holy Scriptures bear witness to this truth: "The soul who sins shall die" (Ezekiel 18:4, NKJV). The Bible doesn’t teach the natural immortality of the soul. Most people want to live forever. But we all have sinned, and all of us will die someday unless our Lord God returns very soon. We are all sin-sick sinoholics. Our Lord God said to Adam after his sinful fall into Satan’s trap. "All your life you will sweat to produce food, until your dying day. Then you will return to the ground from which you came. For you were made from dust, and to dust you will return" (Genesis 3:19, NLT). The Bible describes biological human death this way: "When you take away their breath, they die and return to dust" (Psalm 104:29, NIV). It is written: "All go to one place; all are of the dead, and all turn to dust again . . . Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit (life-breath) shall return unto God who gave it" (Eccl. 3:20; 12:7). Brothers and sisters, are you growing in your personal love relationship with Jesus Christ? Life after death can only happen on Resurrection Day. This miraculous event will take place at the end of days. Here are a few words from Bob Dylan’s song:

"Death Is Not The End."

When you’re sad and when you’re lonely
And you haven’t got a friend
Just remember that death is not the end
And all that you held sacred
Falls down and does not bend
Just remember that death is not the end . . .
When you’re standing on the cross-roads
That you cannot comprehend
Just remember that death is not the end And all your dreams have vanished
And you don’t know what’s up the bend
Just remember that death is not the end . . .
When the storm clouds gather round you
And heavy rains descend
Just remember that death is not the end
And there’s no one there to comfort you
With helpin’ hand to lend
Just remember that death is not the end.

The Resurrection of the Dead in Christ

The Bible explains the state of the dead. Their love, their memory of you, their brain activity, and their emotions are all gone during the temporary sleep of death. Some preachers will tell you that the dead are in heaven praising God in a choir of angels. But I have never found that verse. In fact, the prophet Isaiah says just the opposite: "For the grave cannot praise thee, death cannot celebrate thee: They that go down into the pit (the grave) cannot hope for the truth. The living, the living, he shall praise thee, as I do this day" (Isa 38:18, 19).

Mortal "man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble. He springs up like a flower and withers away, like a fleeting shadow, he does not endure" (Job 14:1-2). Death is an uninvited, unwelcomed enemy to most of us. To some death is personified as the Grim Reaper. But to the sanctified Christian the fear and sting of death has lost its power. They know that pain, suffering, and misery is gone during the sleep of death; Christ, our risen Savior, is our Passport to Heaven. Jesus Christ is more than just a perfect Role Model. Our eternal Life Giver is God incarnate. We all look forward to the Blessed Hope that our Messiah has promised to the righteous. Let us get into God’s Word. Jesus said, "Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation" (John 5:28-29). These two resurrections are not simultaneous. The New Testament says, "There will be a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked" (Acts 24:15, NIV). The righteous dead "in Christ" will be miraculously resurrected at His Coming, but the wicked lost will rise from their graves "when the thousand years are expired" (Revelation 20:7).To be "in Christ" is to love God with all of our heart, mind, and soul, and to love our neighbors as ourselves. To be "in Christ" is to forgive one another as Jesus Christ has forgiven you. To be "in Christ" is to be in harmony with God’s divine will, and God’s Ten Commandment moral law of love (John 14:15; 15:10). In the New Covenant God’s moral law is written in our hearts. Satan is a hatemonger. He inspires people with his evil spirit to hate one another and to kill others. Jesus said, "Love one another."

Jesus told Mary and Martha, the sisters of Lazarus, that He had the supernatural power to resurrect their dead brother from the sleep of death and He did. Jesus is "the Resurrection and the Life" (John 11:25). Just think about it. Lazarus had been dead for four days. Jehovah God can and will raise us up the righteous dead at His Second Coming. I’m giving you the gospel truth about death in love (truthaboutdeath.org ). I like this poetic message by Cathy White.

"The Dead In Christ Shall Rise"

Dear loved ones gone, no longer here, Feeling still, our hearts the pain,
But is this truth we do rejoice, We will see them once again!
Christ is risen, Christ is risen, And the dead in Christ shall rise.
Christ is risen, Hallelujah! Yes, the dead in Christ shall rise!
What joy to know the dead shall rise. Jesus took from death its sting,
We sorrow not as others do, Joyous victory we sing!
Christ is risen. Christ is risen, And the dead in Christ shall rise.
Christ is risen, Hallelujah! Yes, the dead in Christ shall rise!

Job asked this question. "If a man dies, shall he live again? All the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come . . . People lie down and do not rise again until the heavens are no more, they will not wake up nor be raised from their sleep" (Job 14:14, 12). When a person passes away the Bible says that "His spirit departs, he returns to the earth, in that very day his thoughts perish" (Psalm 146:4). Spirit and breath are from the same Hebrew word: "Ruach." They are used interchangeably, and have the same meaning. Only the Godhead has immortality. Human beings are mortal. The Bible says, "And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment. So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many, and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation" (Heb. 9:27-28). God has promised: "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9). The wicked lost, those unworthy of salvation, will number as the sand of the sea. Be Ready! King Jesus will return unexpectedly.

The First Resurrection

The First Resurrection is an apocalyptic event. In this cosmic arena the bodily resurrection of the righteous dead will take place. The dead in Christ will rise first. God’s saints will be raised up and restored to life in the first resurrection with glorified, immortal bodies. The righteous believers and the unrepentant sinners will be resurrected at different times. Lost sinners are raised up a thousand years later in the Second Resurrection to suffer the second death. The second death is eternal death. The Holy Bible declares, "Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power" Revelation 20:6. When is the first resurrection? The Apostle Paul believed in the resurrection of the righteous dead. He said, "Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen: And if Christ, be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain . . . For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised. And if Christ be not raised, your faith is wasted; you are yet in your sins. Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished. If in this life only, we have hope in Christ; we are of all men most miserable. But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the first fruits of them that slept (died) . . . For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order: Christ the first fruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at His Coming" (1 Cor. 15:13-24).

When will the righteous receive their crown of life? Jesus said, "I will come again, and get you and take you to My Father’s house (John 14:1-3). Did you get it? We will be transported to heaven by Christ Himself at His glorious Appearing. Christ’s disciples saw Him ascending up to heaven in a cloud. And the angels told them that He would come back in like manner (Acts 1:9-11). Every eye will see Christ when He returns in all of His majestic glory, and with all of His holy angels. This is the time when the righteous shall lift up their voices like trumpets, and cry out like Job: "I know my Redeemer lives, and that He shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh I shall see God" (Job 19:25-26). At Christ Coming, will you run to the mountains, and hide your head in shame? Or will you cry out to our Resurrected Savior: "Come Lord Jesus. Deliver me from this evil world. Take me home to heaven!" I recommend Steve Wohlberg’s book: "End Time Delusions" and his website: rapturetruth.org. He states that the Rapture is not silent or secret. It is a noisy, visible event. True believers will be physically "caught up" to Christ, and to a beautiful cloud of holy angels. The Second Advent of Christ will be a loud shouting, trumpet blowing, event. The whole universe will know when the resurrection of the righteous dead, those truly born of God, takes place.

The apostle Paul puts it this way. "For the Lord Himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God; and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage each other with these words" (1 Thess. 4:16-18, NIV).

I’m paraphrasing 1 Corinthians 15: "Listen to this incredible story. The dead will not sleep forever. At Christ’s Second Coming there will be a catastrophic earthquake. The earth will shake, and the dead in Christ will awake from their deep unconsciousness, and be transformed in the twinkling of an eye at the last sound of the trumpets; They will not rise with their corruptible, biodegradable, perishable bodies, but in a microsecond their diseased bodies will be instantly transformed into glorious, immortal bodies. When this mortal body shall be clothed with immortality, all of the redeemed saints of the ages will defy gravity, and fly into outer space glory-bound. As they ascend to a cloud of angels to be with our Life-giving Liberator, He will transport His saints beyond celestial stars and Earth-like planets. They will travel zillions of miles through and beyond the open space or Stargate in Orion. Christ, our Conductor, will then transport the redeemed saints to the Holy City, the New Jerusalem, where they will worship in the Presence of God. Then Isaiah’s prophecy will come to pass: "He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces . . . " (Isaiah 25:8). Friends: Do not sorrow and mourn as others do who have no hope!

The late Dottie Rambo imagined Christ’s Second Advent this way: "The sky shall unfold preparing His entrance; the stars shall applaud Him with thunders of praise; the sweet light in His eyes shall enhance those awaiting, and we shall behold Him, then face to face. The angels will sound the shouts of His Coming; the sleeping shall rise from their slumbering place; and those who remain shall be changed in a moment. And we shall behold Him, our Savior and Lord."

In closing, we need to stay connected to Jesus Christ every moment of the day. Listen to some lyrics in a song performed by Jackie McCullough:

"Be Connected"

Stay connected to the tree of life; Stay connected to the way that is right.
Stay connected to the creative power; Stay connected to God.
Don’t separate your heart; Don’t hold back your love.
Don’t let go His hand; He’ll lead you to the Promised Land.
Hold fast to your dreams; Hold high your esteem.
Hold on through your tears; Hold on through your fears.
Keep your mind stayed on Him; Keep striving till your journey’s end.
Stay connected to God; Stay connected to God!

Michael Battle   P.O. Box 50471
Mesa, AZ 85208   (602) 679-9405

Copyright ©2005 Michael Battle (click name to send email)