A Magnificent Yet Moderate Hope
If Christ was not raised from the dead, all our hope, our religion, and our
Christianity is a colossal mistake. It is nothing but a dream. Of all people, we are to
be most pitied, for we are going to lose both this world and the world to come. If
Christ was not raised from the dead, we have no hope or expectation for a better
world. We have no future. Abraham and all other believers have sought in vain for
a city which has foundations. Moses and the children of Israel have chosen in vain
to suffer affliction with the people of God rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin
for a season. In vain we have counted all things loss except for the excellence of
Christ. In vain we have denied ourselves and crucified our flesh. In vain we have
been oppressed; in vain we have hoped and believed.
But did you notice Paul's emphasis on the little word if? Paul says, "If Christ be
not risen, then our preaching is vain...our faith is vain. If He is not risen, then those
who have fallen asleep in Jesus have perished. If Christ is not risen, then of all men
we are most miserable!" The apostle iş saying in effect, "But God be thanked and
blessed; it is not so!" Verse 20 says, "But now is Christ risen from the dead, and
become the first fruits of them that slept."
2. A Magnificent Yet Moderate Hope The truth of Christ's resurrection changes everything. Instead of having only a
miserable, mistaken hope, we may now say that we are the most blessed people on
earth, for we have a magnificent hope. Now we of all people are most happy and
hopeful, for God has accepted the sacrifice of His Son, and there is no
condemnation to those who are in Him. Our faith is not in vain but is the power of
God unto salvation. Now preaching is full of power and comfort. Now those who
have fallen asleep in Jesus, expecting salvation from Him, have entered into eternal
bliss! Now all their sins are forgiven and buried in Jesus' empty grave.
This resurrection hope is like a beautiful, glistening diamond in our hands,
which we can view from several different angles to appreciate some of its
breathtaking beauty. Let's look at some angles of resurrection hope:
• Consider the resurrection's magnificent Christ-centered hope. Our resurrection
hope is built on Christ's resurrection in three important ways:
First, the resurrection of Christ is God's validation of Christianity itself.
Without Christ's resurrection, Christianity would have been just another sect, quick
to die out. But because Christ's tomb was empty on Resurrection Sunday, believers
can triumphantly declare: "Death has lost its sting, sin is subdued, the world is
overcome, and Satan is trodden underfoot. Christ, who was delivered for our
offenses, was raised again for our justification" (Rom. 4:25)!
On a tour of Israel, we approached the supposed sepulcher of Jesus and read on
the door: "He is not here, for he is risen" Matt. 28:5). Our guide said, "This is the
best news you'll hear in all of Israel or the world." He was right! It is no wonder,
then, that the New Testament believers greeted each other with "The LORD is
risen indeed!" Christ's resurrection was the crowning event of His church — the
V-Day. It guarantees our salvation as believers. Luther says, "Christ's death and
resurrection are the two hinges on which the door of salvation swings open."
Have you ever cried out in awe: "Jesus is alive! Every stone is rolled away.
Redemption is accomplished. Eternal life is secured. Justice is satisfied. The curse
of the law is buried. Debt is cancelled. God's amen on His Son's work has
resounded throughout the universe, for Jesus is alive. Christianity is objectively,
certifiably real and true!"
Second, the resurrection of Christ is God's guarantee of our resurrection and our
ultimate conformity to Christ. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:20-22, "But now is
Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept. For since
by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam
all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive." He elaborates further in verses
45-49: "And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last
Adam was made a quickening spirit. Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual,
but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual. The first man is of
the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven. As is the earthy, such
are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are
heavenly. And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the
image of the heavenly."
Paul clearly states that our resurrected bodies as believers will resemble
Christ's resurrected body. He underscores that in 1 Corinthians 13:12: "For now we
see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall
I know even as also I am known." The apostle John is even more explicit in 1 John
3:2: "Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we
shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall
see him as he is."
The resurrected body of Jesus teaches us much about our resurrection bodies.
The risen Jesus appeared in the same body that had been crucified. His wounds
were apparent; His new body was very much like what He had prior to death. He
was recognizable. Although on some occasions, such as with the disciples on the
road to Emmaus, people did not immediately recognize Him, some familiar
mannerism or expression eventually showed them that He was indeed the Lord.
Also, His body could be touched by Thomas or other disciples. He was no
disembodied spirit or ghost. He ate food with His disciples after the resurrection on
more than one occasion, as recorded in Luke 24 and John 21.
Our ultimate end is to be like Christ; therefore, the Holy Spirit is increasingly
conforming us to the image of God's dear Son. Paul says in Romans 8:11, "But if
the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up
Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that
dwelleth in you." The Spirit of Christ is a marvelous guarantee of our ultimate
destiny in His work in our lives. But even more marvelous is the truth that our
existence will be ultimately like that of the risen Christ. That is what we, who are
believers, can look forward to.
Third, Christ's resurrection guarantees that we will forever focus on Christ in
glory. Revelation 7:15 says Christ will sit on the throne of glory forever in the
midst of His people. Forever they will bask in His smile, worship at His feet, feast
in His presence, bathe in His glory, and delight in His communion. Though they
will enjoy the fellowship of saints and angels, Christ will be their all in all (Col.
3:11).
• Consider the resurrection's magnificent conscience hope. The resurrection of
Christ is not just the objective cornerstone of our salvation; it is also the subjective
hope of our conscience. The Holy Spirit usually leads sinners to that hope by first
convicting them of their sin and making room within them for Christ in His
resurrection power. He then shows them their miserable hope in themselves. He
makes us feel how poor, miserable, wretched, and naked we are in ourselves. We
learn what it means to be without God. We learn what it means to be created for
eternity, yet be separated from God and from His favor. We feel what it means to
be deprived of God's presence and His love.
At such a time, we say to ourselves, "Is there anyone as miserable as I
am-without hope, without God, without Christ in the world?" We are convicted by
our sin. We feel the curse of the law, the judgment of God, the solemnity of our
unreadiness to meet Him. We see that we will be miserable as long as we are
without Christ, for to be without Christ is to be without holiness, without
righteousness, without a Savior, without an advocate, without a Mediator between
God and us. To be without Jesus is to be under the curse of the law and under the
wrath of God Every God-taught soul feels the need of Christ. They feel an unbearable burden
on their shoulders which no one but Chrişt can take away. Normally, the Holy
Spirit leads them to see themselves under the wrath of God and to realize that no
one but Christ can save them from the wrath to come. They feel the sentence of
death in their soul. They are brought to a crossroads: either Christ must justify
them or they must burn in hell forever! They must either have Christ to bring them
to God, or they must be shut out of God's presence forever. Like a martyr's last
words at the stake, they cry out, "None but Christ!" So, if Christ has not risen from
the dead, if the justice of God has not been satisfied, if no Savior lives to save
sinners, if no blood cleanses from all sin, we would be of all people the most
miserable.
But Christ has risen from the dead! That means that our Savior lives and can
save us — even to the uttermost. That means the justice of God has been satisfied
and salvation is offered freely to lost and wretched sinners.
Some believe that Paul's words, "Christ has been delivered up for our offenses,
and has been raised for our justification," refer to a custom in the Middle East. If
you want an article displayed in the market place, you can bargain with the
merchant before deciding what to pay for the article. You then write out your price
and lay that on the article. The merchant can either pick up the price or ignore it. If
the merchant picks up the price, the offer is accepted.
Well, dear friends, Jesus Christ was delivered up for our offenses on Good
Friday! He paid the full price for our sin and iniquity. And on resurrection
morning, the Father accepted the price; therefore, the resurrection is the
cornerstone of our salvation. Without it, we would not know that God was
satisfied; we would not know that our sins were blotted out. God the Father
accepted the price of His Son! So now, Paul says, "Who shall lay any thing to the
charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth? It is
Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of
God, who also maketh interceşsion for us" (Rom 8:33-34).
When we understand these things by faith and the Holy Spirit applies them to
our heart, we miserable sinners are set free in our consciences and we overflow
with magnificent and joyous hope in Christ Jesus, which more than compensates
for all our losses in this life!
• Consider the resurrection's magnificent corporate hope. Many of us have
heard from childhood the question: "What is the chief end of man?" We readily
answer: "Man's chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever." You and I
strive to glorify and enjoy God in this life. No doubt we also look forward to how
we might glorify and enjoy Him after death. But I fear we tend to stop at that point.
We identify with Paul in Romans 7 when he says, "O wretched man that I am! who
shall deliver me from the body of this death?" But we do not go on to consider that
we will one day fully glorify and enjoy God in our resurrection body. So what a
glorious day it will be when the bodies of the dead are raised in Christ! Paul
alludes to this in his great benediction in Ephesians 3:20-21: "Now unto him that is
able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the
power that worketh in us, unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus
throughout all ages, world without end." We gain a sense of that glory and
enjoyment in this life as we experience the Lord's work within us. But what will
the consummation be like in the resurrection?
In Ephesians 1:18-21, Paul says to believers that they have been enlightened
"that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory
of his inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of his power to
us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, which he
wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right
hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality, and power, and might, and
dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that
which is to come."
In a holy and mysterious way, even our Lord's glory awaits the time when He
gathers all His people with Him in glory and presents them to His Father, saying,
"Here am I, Father, and all those that Thou hast given to me." Christ longs for the
time when He will have His church, His bride, joined to Him in the resurrection.
Dr. David C. Jones, writing in the Fall 1985 issue of Presbyterion on Jonathan
Edwards' dissertation concerning the end for which God created the world, says:
"The corporate implications of glorification are not to be missed." Quoting
Edwards, he says, "Thus the church of Christ, toward whom and in whom are the
emanations of His glory and the communication of His fullness, is called the
fullness of Christ, as though He were not in His complete state without her, like
Adam without Eve." Jones then says, Man's chief end is to glorify God in a body, in a corporate
entity, organically united to its head, and not simply as
individuals having no connection with one another. This is so
much the case that eschatological glorification, which entails
the resurrection of the body, is consistently represented in
Scripture as taking place at the same time. The supreme good is
the glorification and enjoyment that comes in the union of the
risen Christ with His bride, the risen church. And the delight of
that union will be like the physical and spiritual delight of the
union of husband and wife. It is that towards which all of God's
creation is leading. That fulfillment of man's chief end, the full
glorifying and enjoying of God, will come when we, as His
bride, the church, in our resurrection bodies, will be united with
Christ in His resurrection body, and we shall be like Him, and
so will we ever be with the Lord.
What a day it will be when our whole being, body and soul, praises the Triune
God forever with no more sin in our soul, no more sin in our body, and no more
temptation to sin! We will forever be what we have always wanted to be from the
moment of our new birth — sin-free! We will be so sin-free that our holy, spotless
Bridegroom will look at us and say, "I see no spot in my Jacob, and no
transgression in my Israel."
Amazing grace! I will finally be a worthy, perfect bride in the presence of my
worthy, perfect Bridegroom, and enjoy an eternally perfect marriage!
• Consider the resurrection's corporeal or physical hope. Our resurrection
bodies will have continuity and identity with our present bodies and yet be
substantially different. To explain this, Paul uses the image of a seed that is planted
and gives birth to a plant. The seed doesn't actually die, but exists no longer as a
seed but as a life-giving nutrient to the plant. Paul's point is that the seed's identity
continues in a different form.
We are already familiar with this transition in life. We look at baby pictures of a
friend and see some features in the adult that were already evident in the baby. And
though we are told that our entire physical molecular composition changes every
seven years, we still look much the same. Still, we wonder what our resurrection
bodies will be like. If a baby dies, will she be resurrected as an infant? We do not
know the answer, but we do know we will be recognizable. When Moses and
Elijah appeared with Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration, Peter, James, and John
immediately knew who they were. Likewise, when we sit down to eat with
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in heaven, we will not need name tags for
identification.
First Corinthians 15 offers the fullest explanation of the differences between
our present body and our glorified body. In verse 35, Paul asks, "How are the dead
raised up? and with what body do they come?" He answers, "And that which thou
sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be.... But God giveth it a body as it
hath pleased him.... So also is the resurrection of the dead" (vv. 35, 37, 42a). Paul
goes on to mention five differences between our present body and our glorified
body in heaven.
First, he says, in verse 42b: "It is sown in corruption; it is raised in
incorruption." I am dying as I write this. Your bodies are dying as you read this.
Our teeth get cavities, our eyes grow dim, our hearing fails us. There is an
inevitable process of deterioration at work in every cell in our bodies, which is
remorselessly going on until we die. Paul tells us that in heaven there will be no
such deterioration. Our bodies will be imperishable and incorruptible. We will be
rejuvenated beyond the reach of sickness and injury and death. Imagine what it will
be like to have a body that never knows pain, disease, or weakness!
Second, Paul says in verse 43a, "It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory."
A casket contains the poor, weak, wasted shell of someone who has been ravaged
by disease. If you look at that poor, dead flesh, which will decay to dust, do you
not agree that it is sown in dishonor? But Paul says, "It is raised in glory." I do not
know everything that means, but the verse does assure us that in heaven our bodies
will be healthy and radiant. Jesus said, "Then shall the righteous shine forth as the
sun in the kingdom of their Father." Our culture puts a high premium on
appearance, but no matter what you look like today, you will be even more
beautiful in your resurrection body. You will be strong and glorious and
magnificent!
Third, Paul says in verse 43, "It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power."
How weak we are! We so often have to put up with our lack of strength, our
fatigue, our weariness. We get tired and fall asleep, we are stressed and feel we
cannot cope, and our energy drains away because of problems and people.
Do you have some disability that you have coped with all your life? Like the
lame and blind people who were healed by Jesus, you will one day experience
deliverance from that limitation, not only in the functions that you regard as normal
in this life, but also in powers you can scarcely imagine. Think of people with
mental impairments who will one day operate faster and more accurately than any
computer. Think of a world beyond this world of color that will be so
multidimensional and so glorious that we will realize what we see today is but a
shadow. "Raised in power" means that our bodies will pulsate with energy and
dynamism and power. We will not know weariness. No disability will hinder us.
We will carry out all the impulses of our holy wills and our holy desires, engaging
in continually blessed, worshipful activity forever and ever!
Fourth, verse 44 says, "It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body."
The word natural here means our bodies are subject to the limitations of this age,
implying they are weakened and damaged by sin. The natural body is what we
have inherited from Adam. It was created good, as only God could make it. But
what awaits us in the resurrection is even better — we will have bodies like the
resurrected body of Christ.
Cornel Venema says, "The word spiritual here harks back to Genesis 1 when
Adam was breathed into by God's Spirit and he became a living soul. It was an
in-souled body. The language used for the spiritual body is that of a body that is
animated and energized by the Spirit."
Gerhardus Vos says spiritual here should have a capital "S." What Paul means
is that we will have physical, material bodies of flesh and blood that are energized
and ruled by the Spirit. A spiritual person not only thinks about spiritual things; he
is indwelt by the Spirit. A spiritual body is not a non-material body; it is a body
irradiated by the Holy Spirit and perfectly suited to the environment of heaven. Our
bodies will be the servants of our spirits in heaven. Our body and spirit together
will enable us to serve and worship God.
So spiritual here means our bodies will be totally submissive to the Spirit of
God. Jesus was totally submissive to the Spirit while He was incarnated, yet He
was subject to temptation in His natural body. But in our resurrection bodies, we
will enter into the ultimate freedom that Augustine says is not the ability to sin that
Adam had, or the ability not to sin that the redeemed now have as compared with
the inability not to sin that characterized our unredeemed state, but rather, in our
spiritual bodies we will have the greatest freedom of all — the inability to sin."
Our resurrection bodies will no longer experience the temptations to which we are
now subject.
Finally, in verses 53-57, Paul says the "mortal must put on immortality." All
the wonderful traits of the resurrection body already described will not end in
death. Our bodies will be the same in essence, but they will have new qualities
designed for immortality.
When Christ raised Lazarus from the dead, Lazarus still had to die again. I have
often wondered how he felt about that. He must have been torn; happy to be raised
for the glory of Christ, yet longing to be with Christ forever in glory. Paul says
those raised by Christ at His Second Coming will not have such mixed feelings.
Christ is "the firstfruits" (vv. 20, 23) and "the firstborn from the dead" (Col. 1:18).
Those who follow Him will be raised with bodies that are immortal like His, no
longer subject to death. You can see why Paul, in Philippians 3:10–11, says he
longs to be with Christ in eternity: "That I may know him, and the power of his
resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his
death; if by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead." In the end,
the resurrection makes us like Christ.
• Consider the resurrection's comparative hope. What kept the Apostle Paul
going in all of his sufferings was knowing that the good he would have in glory
would be so magnificent that it would make the troubles of this world seem
miniscule. Those joys and comforts are negative, but they are also positive.
The negative is that all the troubles that we experience with Satan, the tempting
world, our old nature, tears and sorrow, ill health, and ill treatment from others will
pass away when we get to heaven. We will never again fear temptation, death,
falling, bringing shame on our Savior's name, or departing from the faith.
Heaven will be full of positives. The greatest positive is saying like Robert
Haldane, who witnessed revival in Geneva when he preached to students: "Oh to
be forever with the Lord!" In heaven, Christ will never be out of your sight, dear
believer. He will be in your eyesight, before your face, and within earshot for you
to talk to, to worship, to question, to understand the Word of Life, to adore, and to
thank Him for what He has done for you.
Heaven will be a place of perfect worship of God, perfect service to God,
perfect reigning with Christ, perfect fellowship with saints, perfect education about
God and His truth, and perfect rest. It will be a place of gracious reward for
faithfulness on earth and abundant compensation for suffering on earth. Heaven
will be a place of perfect holiness—an eternal Holy of Holies and a sin-free land.
As Rowland Hill says, "If an unholy man were to get to heaven, he would feel like
a hog in a flower garden." Heaven will be pure and clean. There will be no
infirmity there and not one speck of dust. All evil will be walled out; all good
walled in.
Finally, heaven will be a world of love. Spurgeon puts it this way: "A fish can
more easily drink the oceans dry than we can ever exhaust the love of God in
heaven." He adds: "Drink away little fish, you'll never drink it all dry!" Oh,
magnificent hope, magnificent love! Edwards says God's love in heaven is an
ocean without a floor and without a shore!
Our magnificent hope of heaven ought to teach us not to live just for this life
and this world. In living more for the world to come, the Christian should moderate
his hopes for this world. Throughout his writings, Paul says that the true Christian
has the best of this world, though his heart is not here. His hope in this world falls
far short of his hope for the life to come. It is a moderated and tempered hope that
comes out of the "now-not-yet" tension of this present age. Now we are in Christ
and live by hope, but we are not yet what we will be in glory.
You might say, "What should my attitude be toward this life if I am focused on
the life to come? How can I live out this moderate hope with regard to this world?"
Following the teachings of Paul, Calvin teaches us that though we live in hope
in the world today, afflictions and cross-bearing are necessary for us to learn
contempt for the present life when compared to the blessings of heaven. This life is
nothing compared to what is to come. It is like smoke or a shadow. Calvin asks, "If
heaven is our homeland, what else is the earth but our place of exile? If departure
from the world is entry into life, what else is the world but a sepulcher?" He adds,
"No one has made progress in the school of Christ who does not joyfully await the
day of death and final resurrection."
Calvin uses an argument of opposites to find a middle way between them when
explaining the Christian's relation to this world. On the one hand, cross-bearing
crucifies us to the world and the world to us. On the other hand, the Christian
enjoys this present life, but with due restraint and moderation as he learns to use
things in this world for the purposes that God intended them. Like Paul, Calvin
enjoyed good literature, good food, and the beauties of nature. But, also like Paul,
he rejected all forms of earthly excess. The believer is thus called to Christ-like
moderation, which includes modesty, prudence, avoidance of display, and
contentment with our lot, for the hope of the life to come gives purpose to the
enjoyment of our present life. Like Paul, Calvin says, "We have here no continuing
city, but seek one to come." This life is always straining after a better, heavenly
life.
How is it possible for a Christian to maintain a proper balance so he enjoys the
gifts that God gives in this world while avoiding the snare of over-indulgence?
Calvin offers three principles gleaned from Paul:
1. Remember that God is the giver of every good and perfect gift. This should
restrain our lusts because our gratitude to God for His gifts cannot be
expressed by a greedy reception of them.
2. Remember that we are stewards of the world in which God has placed us.
Soon we will have to give an account to Him of our stewardship.
3. Remember that God has called us to Himself and to His service. Because of
that calling, we strive to fulfill our tasks in His service, for His glory,and
under His watchful, benevolent eye, always aiming for the maturation of the
saints and the salvation of the lost.
In summary, what Paul and Calvin teach is that a Christian should not expect to
find all joy in this present life. This truth is obvious but worth stressing because we
believers tend to feel sorry for ourselves about having to live in self-denial. Deep
down, we don't truly believe that denying ourselves for Christ will give us joy in
Christ. We struggle against the unfairness of seeing unbelievers living at ease and
in prosperity in this world while we carry our crosses to the bitter end. It is hard to
accept that throughout life we must put base desires behind us while all around us
people are freely acting out their ambitions. They don't have many restraints, while
we are called to be temperate and self-controlled, refusing to hanker for things that
the world enjoys but which would compromise our holiness and obedience to God.
Having said that, we go on to say that the Christian has many blessings,
comforts, and joys in this life, and God who is rich in mercy has given us these
things to enjoy. He keeps back no good from those that love Him, even now. Even
so, the Christian must deny himself many things in this life and must expect that he
will not get full joy in this life because of certain things that belong to the essence
of Christian faith and life.
The art of being a Christian is not expecting too much of this life. We do not
expect God to give us everything; rather, He gives us only a modest share of joys
and comforts. In this world, God feeds us with a spoon. In the world to come, God
will feed us with a ladle.