Resurrection

The resurrection is more clearly set forth in the NT than in the OT . The principal word for resurrection in the Greek NT is anastasis , “a standing up,” “a rising up.” The corresponding verb, anisteµmi , is used both transitively “to raise up” ( John 6:39 , 40 , 44 , 54 ; Acts 2:32 ; 13:34 ), and intransitively “to rise” ( Mark 9:9 , 10 ; 12:25 ; Luke 16:31 ; 24:46 ; John 20:9 ). Another verb, egeiroµ , “to awaken,” “to arouse from sleep,” is similarly used in the sense of arousing from the sleep of death ( John 5:21 ; Acts 26:8 ; 2 Cor. 1:9 ; Mark 5:41 ; Luke 7:14 , etc.). The Bible considers humanity as inherently mortal ( see Death ). Inherent immortality belongs to God alone ( 1 Tim. 1:17 ; 6:16 ). Immortality comes as a gift from Christ, through the gospel ( Rom. 2:6 , 7 ; 6:23 ; 2 Tim. 1:10 ; John 3:16 , 36 ; 1 John 5:11 , 12 ). Accordingly, a resurrection is necessary if there is to be a future life beyond the grave ( 1 Cor. 15:18 , 19 , 32 ). It is at the resurrection that the gift of immortality is bestowed upon all who are eligible to receive it ( Luke 20:36 ; John 6:39 ; 1 Cor. 15:51–55 ). The resurrection of the righteous dead is closely bound up with the resurrection of Christ ( 2 Cor. 4:14 ; Rom. 8:11 ). Jesus foretold His resurrection ( Mark 8:31 ; 9:31 ; 10:34 ; etc.). He gave evidence of His power over death by raising the widow’s son at Nain ( Luke 7:12–15 ), the daughter of Jairus ( Mark 5:22–24 , 35–43 ), and Lazarus, who had been dead four days ( John 11:24 , 25 , 43 , 44 ). However, not one of these was clothed in a glorious resurrection body. They were brought back to an earthly life, to endure its toils and perils and eventually to pass again under the dominion of death. But Christ’s body came forth from the tomb a glorious, heavenly body ( Phil. 3:21 ; cf. 1 Cor. 15:47–50 ). Several other instances of the dead being resurrected are given in the OT and the NT : the resurrection of Moses ( cf. Jude 9 ; Matt. 17:3 ), the son of the widow of Zarephath ( 1 Kings 17:17–23 ), the son of the Shunammite woman ( 2 Kings 4:18–37 ), the man cast into Elisha’s sepulcher ( 2 Kings 13:21 ), the saints raised at Christ’s resurrection ( Matt. 27:52 , 53 ), Dorcas ( Acts 9:36–41 ), and Eutychus ( Acts 20:9–12 ). Seventh-day Adventists believe that the resurrection of Christ from the grave is a literal historical fact. The guarded but empty tomb, with the graveclothes left behind in an orderly manner ( John 20:6 , 7 ), convinced John of the Resurrection ( John 20:8 , 9 ). The theories that Jesus swooned but did not die, that the body was stolen by the disciples, that an empty tomb was mistaken for the one in which Jesus had been placed, or that Joseph of Arimathaea removed the body require more faith to believe than acceptance of the events recorded in the NT . There was, as well, the testimony of the Roman guard ( Matt. 28:11 f. ), the announcement of the angels at the tomb ( verses 4–7 ), and the testimony of those resurrected with Christ ( Matt. 27:52 , 53 ). Even stronger evidence is found in the 10 post-Resurrection appearances of our Lord. Five of these took place on the day of the Resurrection—to Mary Magdalene ( John 20:11–18 ), to the other women ( Matt. 28:8–10 ), to Simon Peter ( Luke 24:33–35 ; 1 Cor. 15:5 ), to Cleopas and a companion on the way to Emmaus ( Luke 24:33–34 ), and to the 10 disciples in Jerusalem ( John 20:19–31 ). Five additional appearances came later—to the 11 in Jerusalem ( John 20:26–28 ), to the seven by the Sea of Galilee ( John 21:1–23 ), to more than 500 on a mountain in Galilee ( Matt. 28:16–20 ; 1 Cor. 15:6 ), to James ( 1 Cor. 15:7 ), and to the 11 in Jerusalem and Bethany ( Luke 24:44–49 ). A strong indirect evidence for the resurrection of Christ is the impact it made on the disciples. It transformed them from a group of dispirited, frightened men into a valiant band of apostles ready to do and dare for their Lord. The Resurrection became one of their main themes, as their sermons reveal ( Acts 2:32 ; 3:14 , 15 ; 4:11 ; 10:40–42 ; 13:30–35 ). It was the crowning vindication of Jesus’ Messiahship ( Rom. 1:4 ), and closely bound up with the believers’ justification ( Rom. 4:22–25 ) and a new spiritual life in Christ ( Rom. 6:4 , 5 , 8 , 11 ; Eph. 2:1 , 5 , 6 ; Col. 2:13 ). This great historical event is also the pledge and guarantee of the resurrection and future life of all who believe in Christ ( 1 Cor. 15:12–17 ; John 5:28 , 29 ; 11:25 , 26 ; Rev. 1:18 ). The Bible teaches that there will be two general resurrections—one of the just, to life; and the other of the unjust, to condemnation ( John 5:28 , 29 ; Acts 24:15 ). These two general resurrections are separated by the “thousand years” of Rev. 20:4 , 5 . Those who have part in the first resurrection are “blessed and holy” ( v. 6 ) and over them the “second death,” “the lake of fire” at the close of the millennium ( v. 14 ), has no power. The first resurrection—“the resurrection of the just” ( Luke 14:14 )—takes place in connection with the Second Advent ( 1 Cor. 15:22 , 23 ; 1 Thess. 4:15–18 ). ( See Home of the Redeemed .) This is a resurrection to life and immortality ( John 5:29 ; 1 Cor. 15:52 , 53 ). Those who have part in it “cannot die any more” ( Luke 20:36 , RSV ), but are united with Christ forever ( 1 Thess. 4:16 , 17 ). In his great treatise on the resurrection, the apostle Paul discusses the nature of the resurrection body ( 1 Cor. 15:35–51 ), and regards the resurrection of Christ as the type and pledge of the resurrection of all who have died in Him ( v. =r1 Co 15:20). This is true both as to the fact of the resurrection and as to the manner. Even as Christ rose a glorified being, so will the righteous arise ( Rom. 8:11 ). Their mortal bodies will then be changed to resemble His glorious body ( Phil. 3:20 , 21 ). As a seed buried in the ground springs forth to new life that far surpasses the dormant seed, so the resurrection body will be glorious and imperishable ( 1 Cor. 15:42–44 ). Before human beings can inherit God’s eternal kingdom, their mortal bodies must be transformed into resurrection bodies resembling the glorious body of Christ ( vs. 50–54 ). Speaking of the preservation of personal identity in the resurrection, Ellen White says: “Our personal identity is preserved in the resurrection, though not the same particles of matter or material substance as went into the grave. The wondrous works of God are a mystery to man. The spirit, the character of man, is returned to God, there to be preserved. In the resurrection every man will have his own character. God in His own time will call forth the dead, giving again the breath of life, and bidding the dry bones live. The same form will come forth, but it will be free from disease and every defect. It lives again bearing the same individuality of features, so that friend will recognize friend. There is no law of God in nature which shows that God gives back the same identical particles of matter which composed the body before death. . . . “A much finer material will compose the human body, for it is a new creation, a new birth. It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body” ( SDACom 6:1093). The wicked are raised at the second, general resurrection at the end of the millennium, which is a resurrection to final judgment and condemnation ( John 5:29 ; Rev. 20:11 , 12 ). ( See Hell ). Seventh-day Adventists believe also in a special resurrection a little before the general resurrection of Christ’s second coming, at which time some will rise to everlasting life and others to shame and eternal contempt ( Dan. 12:2 ). Seventh-day Adventists understand that those who have been eminent on both sides of the great conflict between good and evil will be raised to life a short time before Christ’s return in power and glory to witness the event: Jesus ( Matt. 26:64 ) told the high priest and the Sanhedrin that one day they would see Him return as Son of man, seated at the place of honor beside God, and John ( Rev. 1:7 ) predicted that those who pierced Christ would see Him return. To make this possible, a special resurrection would be necessary. Ellen White interpreted this special resurrection as including not only the enemies of Christ but “all who have died in the faith of the third angel’s message” ( GC 637, 643). ( See Three Angels’ Messages .) The earliest articles in the Review and Herald dealing with the resurrection were reprinted from other sources, as, for instance, one from the Midnight Cry (1843) in the Review and Herald (3:117, Dec. 9, 1852) and another from an unnamed Baptist source in the issue for Apr. 18, 1854 (5:99). A well-developed discussion of the resurrection occurs in a letter from Charles Fitch to Josiah Litch reprinted from the Second Advent Library ( No. vii, 1843), in the Review for Sept. 27, 1853 (4:89). Fitch discusses the two resurrections, a thousand years apart as set forth in Rev. 20 . One of the earliest articles on the resurrection written for the Review is one by J. N. Loughborough in the issue for Dec. 11, 1885 (7:81), entitled “Is the Soul Immortal?” Loughborough argues that the Christian’s only hope of a future life is through the resurrection-a point of view inevitable for Seventh-day Adventists, believing as they do concerning the state of man in death. Loughborough presents the case for a literal resurrection at considerable length, and for a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked. J. H. Waggoner ( ibid. 9:108, Feb. 5, 1857) developed the Bible evidence for a resurrection of the wicked, citing such passages as 1 Cor. 15:22 ; Rev. 20:6 , 12–14 ; and John 5:28 , 29 .