But someone will say, “How are the dead raised up? And with what body do they come?” 1 Cor 15:35
It will not be merely a spirit but a “spirit-body”: 1 Cor. 15:36-49. Verse 50 says flesh and blood shall not inherit the kingdom.
Does this mean flesh and bones without blood?
In Luke 24:36-39, Jesus says after his resurrection that he is not a spirit. In Luke 24:41-43, Jesus eats in their presence.
Was this just a temporal manifestation to let them know he exists beyond the grave? His physical form seems significant for them to know, since he even eats in their presence, that they know he is not merely a spirit.
Luke 22:17: “Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, “Take this and divide it among yourselves; for I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.”
Job says concerning his resurrection:
“For I know that my Redeemer lives,
And He shall stand at last on the earth;
And after my skin is destroyed, this I know,
That in my flesh I shall see God,
Whom I shall see for myself,
And my eyes shall behold, and not another.
How my heart yearns within me!” Job 19:25-27
But there is an alternate translation that says “without my flesh.”
ASV: “But as for me I know that my Redeemer liveth, And at last he will stand up upon the earth: And after my skin, even this body, is destroyed, Then without my flesh shall I see God; Whom I, even I, shall see, on my side, And mine eyes shall behold, and not as a stranger. My heart is consumed within me.”
Most translations say “in my flesh.”
Daniel writes (12:2): “And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake,
Some to everlasting life,
Some to shame and everlasting contempt.”
“Sleep in the dust shall awake” speaks of death to life.
Daniel 12:13: “But you, go your way till the end; for you shall rest, and will arise to your inheritance at the end of the days.”
The expectation of being awakened from the dust speaks of a physical kind of resurrection, not just a continuation of some sort of existence beyond the grave.
The Apostle Paul appealed to the resurrection as the “hope” of Israel, and it was the reason he was being judged.
Acts 23:6, 26:6-8; 28:20
Why did he say this? It was because Jesus rose from the dead, physically, and this had become his defense for his belief in Jesus. If they believed in the future resurrection, and Jesus rose from the dead, then he was who he claimed to be. And if they believe in a resurrection, then they should believe in Christ.
Acts 17:18: Paul preached Jesus and the resurrection.
Acts 17:29-31: Jesus will judge the earth, and his physical resurrection is the evidence.
1 Cor 15:12-18: Because he was physically resurrected, our faith is not futile, and we are not still in our sins.
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