Thursday, November 14, 2013
John 5:28-29 Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth--those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation.
THE LAST RESURRECTION
God's Word certainly shows that there have been a number of individuals raised from the dead. The LORD God raised the widow's son at the prayer of Elijah (cf. 1 Kings 17:21-22). The LORD Jesus raised Jairus' daughter (Luke 8:49ff) and Lazarus (John 11:39-44) from the dead. The LORD Christ Himself arose the third day.
Now with the obvious exception of the Christ, each of these individual died again. The widow's son, the daughter of Jairus, and even Lazarus again died and was buried. They will all rise a second time when all the dead arise on the Last Day.
There will be one final resurrection of all the dead. Please don't misunderstand. I'm not suggesting that there will be more than one resurrection of the dead as some mistakenly suggest because they have been misled by millennialistic fantasy. There will be no reincarnation either, for the Scripture plainly says (cf. Hebrews 9:27) that it is "appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment."
The resurrection of all flesh will occur on the Last Day and precede the Last Judgment. Yes, and those who died trusting in Christ will arise in glorified bodies, perfectly fitted for everlasting life. As we grow older and these bodies break down we look forward to the resurrection of all the dead. We look forward to seeing the Savior face to face.
