Frank Hasel
We sometimes think that the unsurpassable atoning sacrifice of Jesus on the cross is all that is needed for our salvation. While His substitutionary death certainly is the foundation for our forgiveness of sins, our redemption would lack something significant without His resurrection. Jesus could not intercede as our High Priest in the heavenly sanctuary on our behalf if He were still in the grave. And He could not come again in power and glory to give resurrection and life to all those who have put their trust in Him if He were not alive.
We have to understand that our salvation would not be complete without His resurrection, nor would it be complete without our resurrection. If our sins would just be forgiven, but we would remain dead in the grave, we would be in the most unfortunate situation, and we certainly would not have eternal life! If there were no resurrection of the righteous dead, death would indeed reign supreme, and we would be lost forever. Without the resurrection, we could not experience eternity with our Savior.
Think about it: we sinful human beings, who have willfully separated ourselves from God through our sins and thus have become His enemies (Rom. 5:8, 10), are the very reason why Jesus came to this earth. Our sin is the reason why he became fully one of us, albeit without sin (Heb. 4:15). There is only one explanation why Jesus would be willing to die the cruel death of crucifixion for us: He did it out of sheer love. He became human because He desires to spend eternity with us. In fact, in Jesus Christ, God so bound Himself to humanity that Jesus will be one with the human race forever (1 Tim. 2:5). What an amazing thought! This divine desire to be eternally united with those who have sinned and separated from the source of love and life can only be realized if there is a resurrection of the righteous.
This resurrection is not for some self-righteous people. Instead, it is the resurrection of all those who have put their trust in the atoning blood of Jesus, who believe that their only hope is in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ alone. Those who have made the merits of Jesus the foundation of their salvation live in the hope of the resurrection from the dead because they trust that they will follow the example of their Master, who also died. But He did not remain in the grave but rose again “on the third day according to the Scriptures” (1 Cor. 15:4, NASB). It was in the splendor and glory of His resurrection that the power of death was overcome.
“If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile,” the apostle Paul wrote, and we would still be in our sins, and even “those who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost” (1 Cor. 15:17-18 NIV). But because Jesus is alive, He is mighty to save all those who trust in Him. Seen from this perspective, the hope of the resurrection is the high-point and culmination of everything we long for. To be alive with Jesus, to experience eternal life with Him, who is the very source of life, is the telos (the ‘finality’ or ‘culmination’, in Greek, see Rom. 10:4, NIV) of our aspirations and is the goal of His love. Jesus deeply and tenderly desires to spend eternity with us. For this to happen, there needs to be a resurrection of all those believers who, while trusting His word, have died in the great cosmic conflict of the ages.
Think about it: there would be no need for a resurrection of the dead without the dark and cruel reality of sin in this world. The consequences of sin, the apostle Paul tells us, is death (Rom. 6:23). Death is a sinister reality that haunts every human being.1 Everybody is affected by it. Men and women, rich and poor, old and young, are confronted with its dire consequences. No one can evade it: death is inevitable. What is so dreadful about dying is that the nature of death is so final and irrevocable, humanly speaking. We experience the reversal of life as something that is permanent and cannot be changed. Even with all the modern medical knowledge and scientific advancements, we cannot evade or reverse it. Once it occurs, nothing can be done about it.
One sad consequence of death is that it is the end of life as we know it and thus a separation from everything living. As such, death is utterly disruptive and violent to all relationships. That is why death is the most frightening future experience we human beings have to face! It leaves us virtually helpless, utterly vulnerable, and desperately alone. Perhaps this is why the reversal of death, our resurrection to eternal life, reminds us that we live by grace alone. We are unable to contribute anything to our resurrection.
We are utterly dependent upon God to perform this miracle. That is why the resurrection of the righteous is the most joyful future experience we believers will face and can look forward to. It is an expression of God’s utter grace, His almighty power, and His supreme love.
God’s life-giving love is the only appropriate response to the horrific experience of death. There would be no resurrection without God’s love. Love is the ultimate reason why we will live and have eternal life! Love created us. Love was the reason why Christ willingly gave His life for us. And ultimately, God’s love is even stronger than death.2 Divine love will find its ultimate fulfillment in the re-united existence of God’s creation with its Redeemer—forever. It will be the antidote to death. Evil will be no more, and there will be no more separation by death. There will be no more pain and tears (Rev. 21:4-5). Instead, we will experience life as it is supposed to be. There will be life in meaningful joy and lasting happiness. Our hearts will give glory only to God and rejoice in Him because He is the source and sustainer of all life. In other words, as resurrected people, we will experience what the Bible calls shalom—a sense of peace and harmony that permeates all of God’s creation. The original state of being that existed in the garden of Eden will finally be restored.
Next to love, no other feeling is so intense as the agonizing experience of death. No wonder death and the manifestation of pain, sorrow, and loss that go along with it seem to be a prominent and reoccurring theme in literature, movies, and music. The reality of death causes us to cry. Why is this so? We feel this way because, in death, life ceases, and our human body becomes senseless and cold and eventually disintegrate. We return to dust—the same material God used to shape the first created human beings (Gen. 2:7).
In this unconscious state, the wise Solomon wrote under inspiration that there is no “activity or planning or knowledge or wisdom” (Eccles. 9:10, NASB). Death is void of everything that marks and defines life. As such, it is the end of all active, loving relationships. It terminates the life we all long to live. God, however, created us human beings to live and to love each other. We are to enjoy life in fellowship with one another and supremely with our creator God. Thus, for the triune God, who has life and fellowship in Himself, death is the “last enemy” (1 Cor. 15:26).
God knows that the experience of death is frightening. He understands the sadness and grief that is caused by it. God Himself, in His own son Jesus Christ, was willing to experience the painful effects of death and the moment of separation when Jesus died for our sins on the cross. While we were born to live, Jesus was born to die on our behalf. Without His death on the cross, Jesus could not be the promised Messiah of the Holy Scriptures (cf. 1 Cor. 15:3), and the Bible would be wrong. But without His death, there would be no His resurrection, nor could we experience our resurrection. The resurrection is the reversal of death and all its negative consequences.
If death is the most frightening human experience, the resurrection will be our most joyful experience. What death has separated because of sin, divine resurrection reunites. Death disrupted all our relationships, but Christ’s resurrection restores fellowship with God and the redeemed. Death terminates life and brings despair, but resurrection creates new life and restores hope. It will be a joy to be reunited with those we love and long to see again!
Because death ends our bodily existence, God’s resurrection restores a new body that is given to us when Jesus returns in power and glory (cf. 1 Cor. 15:42, 44; 1 Thess. 4:14-18). Just like Jesus’ body after His resurrection was real, tangible, and yet was not restricted (cf. Matt. 28:9; Mark 16:12; Luke 24:30-31, 36-43; John 20:19-20; 25-27; 21:1-14), our new resurrected bodies will not be restricted by the effects of sin nor obstructed but will reflect a perfect and recognizable new bodily existence. Christ is the first fruit of those who sleep in the grave. Biblically speaking, there is no human existence other than bodily existence. We do not exist just virtually in the mind of God. We exist in a creaturely dimension that is real and will be very real at the resurrection morning.3
In this way, “death is swallowed up in victory” (1 Cor. 15:54, NASB). In the resurrection, the reign of death is brought to an end, and finally, death itself is eradicated,4 and God’s love will be triumphant. It will bring a life that is no longer corrupted by sin nor disrupted by its deadly consequences. It is a life without tears of sorrow and pain (Rev. 21:4). The hope of resurrection appears already in the Old Testament (Job 14:7-17). It receives a crescendo in the Redeemer’s passage (Job 19:23-27) and is expressed in the eschatological prophecies in Isaiah 25:8-9 and Daniel 12:2.
But the resurrection hope reaches its fullest expression in the New Testament. It is established in the Gospels and Epistles (Matt. 22:31-32; Luke 20:27-38; John 11:24; 1 Cor. 15:51-53; 1 Thess. 4:13-18; Heb. 11:19). The apostle Paul tells us that just as in Adam all die (Rom. 5:12, 14-15), in Christ, the ones who believe in Him shall be made alive (Rom. 5:17-19; Acts 24:15; 1 Cor. 15:22). All the believers will enjoy eternal life (John 3:16; 5:25-29; 6:39-40; 1 Cor. 15:20-23; 1 Pet. 1:3), which will become immortal life following the resurrection at Christ’s second coming, which is a universally visible event and is accompanied by the sound of the trumpet and the call of the archangel.5 Then those who have died, trusting the Lord, will be called forth from their graves to new and eternal life (1 Cor. 15:51-53; 1 Thess. 4:13-18), and those who are alive at that moment will be transformed and glorified. This transformation will be instant when Christ comes back in power and glory (1 Thess. 4:16-17).
However, the resurrection of the righteous at Christ’s second coming is not the only resurrection about which the New Testament speaks.6 There will also be a resurrection of the unjust or wicked (Acts 24:15; John 5:28-29). According to Revelation 20:5, 7-10, this second resurrection of the wicked does not occur at Christ’s second coming but at the end of the 1000 years—the millennium—after Satan has been bound. Then all evil people will be destroyed forever together with the originator and instigator of evil, Satan, and the earth is recreated into a new one that reflects God’s original design, undefiled by sin.
This blessed hope fills our life with joy already here and now. It gives the believer a biblically appropriate and realistic attitude toward death. While we do not deny death nor cower before it, death still reminds us that our decisions in this life will decide our eternal destiny. Having faith in Jesus gives us hope beyond the grave. We know that death will not have the last word. The resurrection of Jesus has broken the irreversible ban of death and has restored hope beyond the pain and sad reality of earthly separation.
Bible-believing Christians will not see death as a friend. Instead, they see death as the last enemy that is defeated by Christ. Therefore, the dire reality of death will not be the last word on our human existence because we know that death will ultimately not prevail. Jesus is the victor! This thought about resurrection makes life full of triumphant joy and gratefulness for what God has done for us and what only He can do, and what He will undoubtedly do when he comes back in power and glory. Those who will experience this resurrection will be people who give honor and glory to Jesus Christ alone. He is our Savior who not only died for us but also rose from the dead and thus can resurrect all those who put their trust in Him. We can marvel in awe at what Jesus will do in the resurrection for us because the resurrection is as glorious and beautiful as God Himself.
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1 On the sinister reality of death and dying and the hope of the resurrection, see Frank M. Hasel, “Death Shall be no More” in Adventist World vol. 12, no. 10 (October 2016):14-15. The following ideas reflect some of my thoughts in this article.
2 Ellen G. White has stated that “Satan cannot hold the dead in his grasp when the son of God bids them live” (The Desire of Ages), 320.
3 In the words of Ellen G. White “all come forth from their graves the same in stature as when they entered the tomb. Adam, who stands among the risen throng, is of lofty height and majestic form, in stature but little below the Son of God. He presents a marked contrast to the people of later generations; in this one respect is shown the great degeneracy of the race. But all arise with the freshness and vigor of eternal youth,” The Great Controversy, 644.
4 So Niels-Erik A. Andreasen, „Death: Origin, Nature, and Final Eradication” in Raoul Dederen, ed., Handbook of Seventh-day Adventist Theology (Hagerstown, MD: Review and Herald, 2000), 328.
5 John C. Brunt, “Resurrection and Glorification” in Raoul Dederen, ed., Handbook of Seventh-day Adventist Theology (Hagerstown, MD: Review and Herald, 2000), 348.
6 Brunt, 348.