Whatsoever
Things Are True
by Dan Coburn
Pastor, Emmanuel
Baptist Church
pastordan@mtida.net
Resurrection: Yea, Whatever.
The Greeks of Jesus’ day were the “educated” of their time. They had a
monopoly on philosophy, astronomy, astrology, and mythology. They denied
the resurrection. Some; (a lot), do today. Many secular Networks in what
seems overtly to be concerted effort to diminish the Bible, are airing
"specials" like - “The Gospel of Judas”. First of all, I need to point
out that an epistle had to meet a certain criteria before being called
a Gospel, and this one didn’t. It is an ancient writing, and has been around
and denied for hundreds of years. It is the translation of only 4 of about
40 manuscripts, and says basically that Jesus was never really killed on
the cross. It was written by the Gnostics in the first or second
century. Besides denying the resurrection, what they are famous for is
the idea that since the soul is saved, it doesn’t matter what the body
does. (They get this from “things of the flesh are flesh, and things of
the spirit are spirit”-John 3:6, Rom. 8:1, and 9). This is very bad Theology,
and led them to having temple orgies in the name of God. After all, if
my Spirit is going to Heaven, what difference does it make what my body
does? Let's turn the Spiritual switch—Do you suppose this was written
by a man? Roger Williams, the founder of Rhode Island, was
for some reason disinterred after being buried for a while. To the family’s
dismay, a nearby apple tree’s roots had found their way into his coffin,
and had been feeding on him. Is he now in the apples? And what of the apples
that have been eaten; is Mr. Williams in whatever ate them? In 1st
Corr. 15: 35, Paul asks a question on behalf of some resurrection scoffers
of his day. “Then who will claim the various elements?” “You
Fool” Paul replied. Resurrection is not reconstruction.
We could argue for days about burial VS cremation, or “what about people
buried at sea? They were scattered by a thousand fish; weren’t they?”
These are really redundant questions. The point is this, and is found in
John 5: 28-29, “do not marvel at this for the day is coming when all
in their graves will hear His voice, and shall come forth; they that have
done good unto resurrection of life, and they that have done evil, unto
resurrection of damnation”. Paul knew such miracles could not
be explained, so he used three analogies to make his point, all in 1st
Corr. 15. He talked about seeds, vs 35-38, then flesh, vs 39, and
finally celestial bodies in 40-41. Flesh and blood cannot inherit
the kingdom; we need bodies suited for that environment. Likewise, hell–2nd
Thes. 1: 7-10.
This was not written merely to satisfy the curiosity of the Greeks,
but to both warn and encourage us. Choose you this day.
God says you will be resurrected one day. Will you be Joyous and Glorified-
or cursed and ashamed? Happy Easter. |
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