"THE RESURRECTION CONNECTION"
Look Up: Romans
8:19-23
(Copyright 2006)
INTRODUCTION:
If God were to end history and take us to heaven [the Intermediate
Heaven], away from the earth, then the earth would be left as a testimony to the
damage of sin [a sin-ravaged, curse effected world]. [Alcorn, p. 137].
But that will not be the case. Redemption reaches “far as the curse is
found”—for us and for the earth. The curse of sin affected
man and the creation [because the two are inseparably linked].
Cursed
is the ground because of you [Gen. 3:17].
For the
creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice…. {Rom. 8:20].
Therefore, redemption through Christ, the second Adam, also affects both.
The powerful, redeeming work of Christ overcomes every vestige of the curse. God
could have destroyed the sin-marred first pair and could destroy the sin-marred
earth. But He has chosen to redeem. He has chosen to redeem both.
Those who have and will accept Christ are in the process of being redeemed [I
have been redeemed, I am being redeemed, I will be redeemed]. But the
redemption of creation is tied to the final work of redemption of the
children of God.
The
creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed [Rom.
8:19].
…the
creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the
glorious freedom of the children of God [Rom. 8:21].
That final work of redemption involves our bodily resurrection. When that
happens it will signal the redemption of creation—i.e., its resurrection as
well.
…wait
eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies [Rom. 8:23].
Our resurrection follows Jesus’ resurrection—He was the first-fruit of those
who have died. And the creation’s resurrection follows our resurrection.
His resurrection guarantees ours and ours guarantees the creation’s.
There is the resurrection connection.
Eventually—when final victory has been achieved--the Resurrected Lord will
live with His resurrected people on a resurrected earth. That is the
Eternal Heaven and the fulfillment of the plan of God [Eph. 1:9-10].
So
what will the Eternal Heaven be like [i.e., what will it be like for the
Resurrected Lord to live with His resurrected people on a resurrected earth]?
To better understand what our resurrected bodies and the resurrected creation
will be like, we need to recognize the continuity factor in God’s work.
Let me explain or point out the continuity factor.
When
we came to Christ—i.e., when we were converted, redeemed—we were changed.
Therefore,
if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come
[2 Cor. 5:17].
But although we were new people, we were the same people. We were not
destroyed. We were transformed. After my conversion, I still
answered to the same name at school. I lived in the same house. My
clothes still fit. My friends still recognized me. I still looked
like I did in recent pictures. I underwent a change at conversion. I
will undergo a change at death. I will undergo a change at the
resurrection. But through all the changes I will still be me.
Through salvation, death and the resurrection, we remain who we are. That
is redemptive continuity [Alcorn, p. 112]. God takes His fallen and sinful
people and restores them to His original design. He will do the same for
creation.
The
New Earth will be a changed Earth, but still the same Earth. It will be
converted and resurrected but still earth—and recognizable as such.
Anthony Hoekema says: “There must be continuity, for otherwise there
would be little point in speaking about a resurrection at all” [Alcorn, p.
113].
Continuity
is seen with our forerunner, Christ. The empty tomb is the ultimate proof
that Christ’s resurrection body was the same body that died on the cross.
If resurrection meant that what came forth was totally something else, then the
old body would have been left in the tomb [Alcorn, p. 113]. But Christ was
recognized by those who knew Him. He had the markings on His resurrected
body of the crucifixion. His body could be touched, seen, and take in
food. He was not a ghost [Lk. 24:39]. His body was suited for earth.
He picked up with the relationships that He had prior to His death. His
memory had continuity. He was not a spirit. He had a spiritual
body—one that had continuity with His physical body but had characteristics
different and beyond it.
And
as His body is, so will ours be.
…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 [Phil. 3:21].
But
we know that when He appears, we shall be like Him….[I Jh. 3:2].
Our resurrected bodies and the
resurrected earth will be glorious. But to think that they will be
completely unfamiliar to what we know is wrong. Does it demean the Eternal
Heaven to think of it in earthly form? No. The earth is not bad, for
God created it. It just needs to be transformed. With Christ’s
incarnation, heaven became immanent. Heaven on earth will become a
reality. The New Earth will be His dwelling place, as pure and as holy as
the Intermediate Heaven has ever been [Alcorn, p. 159]. No longer will be
have to leave earth to be with Him nor will He have to leave heaven to be with
us. We will be together on the New Earth.
But why the
resurrection?
For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins [1 Cor. 15:16-17].Without Christ’s resurrection and what it means for us and the earth, there is not Christianity. Resurrection confirms redemption and is the proper conclusion to redemption.
One day we will be Home. Because it is home, it will be familiar [we have tended to think of heaven as unfamiliar and otherworldly; but it is familiar and earthly]—but will be gloriously different. We will enjoy all that God has for us forever and forever. We think of heaven as a good alternative to a tough existence here. But living in His presence in our resurrected bodies in a resurrected universe will be more exciting than we can imagine. We will be with those that we love—but we will love no one more than Jesus. It would not be heaven without Jesus. Our longing for heaven is a longing for Him. Eden’s greatest attraction was God’s presence. The greatest tragedy of sin was that God no longer dwelt with His people. After that, His presence came in a real, but restricted way, in the temple and the tabernacle. After the Exile, His shekinah glory—His visible presence—left the temple and Jerusalem [Ezek. 11:23]. We again saw the glory of God when Jesus came to live on earth [Jh. 1:14]. Now His glory lives in His people, the temple He indwells. But one day on the New Earth with His resurrected people, He will dwell with us fully and freely [Alcorn, p. 173].
1. Nothing will compare with the thrill of seeing Him. Though John knew Jesus intimately on earth, when he saw Him in His glory he fell at His feet as if dead [Rev. 1:17]. We will see Him in His glory.
2. We will know Him as never before. That is the essence of eternal life [Jh. 17:3]. All barriers will be gone.
Every joy in heaven will be as a result of knowing and seeing Him. He will be our primary and secondary delight [flowers/gems are beautiful because God is beautiful, fellowship is fun because fellowship with God is fun, achievement is fulfilling because God is fulfilling]. Every gift we enjoy will bring Him delight and glorify Him [e.g. giving our children gifts]. We will spend forever exploring the depths of His being and enjoying the blessings He provides. It will never exhaust the joy, the freshness and the beauty of that experience.
Wouldn’t you love to know the Lord fully, experience unhindered fellowship with Him, enjoy all of the beauty and goodness of this earth without any traces of the curse in a body that never hurts, ails, or deteriorates? Well, if you know Him as Savior and Lord, that is what’s ahead for you.