choose to select from more
than 250 languages for instant
translation of the information presented.
CHAPTER EIGHT
RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD: PART I
OBJECTIVES:
Upon completion of this chapter you will be able to:
• Write the Key Verse from memory. • Define the word "resurrection.” • Distinguish between past, present, and future resurrections. • Describe the present spiritual resurrection of believers in Jesus Christ. • Describe the past resurrection of Jesus.
KEY VERSES:
Jesus saith unto her, I am the resurrection and the life; he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:
And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. (John 11:25-26)
INTRODUCTION
There are two other foundational doctrines of the Christian faith. These are the resurrection of the dead and eternal judgment. In the study of these two remaining doctrines, the Bible takes us by revelation beyond the present time into the future of eternity.
By the act of creation, God brought the present world into being with the order of time including the past, present, and future (Genesis l). Someday God will bring this present world to an end and time, as we now know it, will cease to be.
The Bible reveals that for the world as a whole, the end of time will come at a special moment ordained by God. There are many events which will happen in the world at this end of time. Only God knows the exact timing of these events.
As individuals, however, a moment awaits each of us when "time shall be no longer.” This is when we come to the end of our earthly lifetime and step from time into eternity. For each person, the end of physical life is the end of time.
There are some mysteries surrounding the end of time and eternity which the Bible does not explain. But the doctrine of the "resurrection of the dead" provides some knowledge of the end of time and eternity which follows.
This chapter introduces the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead. The past, present, and future resurrections spoken of in the New Testament are defined and the past and present resurrections discussed. The future resurrection of the dead is discussed in the following chapter.