Articles
The Importance of Jesus' Resurrection: Fulfillment of Prophecy Pt 3: An Incorruptible Life
An Incorruptible Life
"…then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature." Genesis 2:7.
"For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust." Psalm 103:14
In Psalm 16
"I have set the LORD always before me;
because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.
Therefore my heart is glad and my whole being rejoices;
my flesh also dwells secure.
For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol,
or let your holy one see corruption." Psalm 16:8-10
In Psalm 49
Why should I fear in times of trouble,
when the iniquity of those who cheat me surrounds me,
6 those who trust in their wealth
and boast of the abundance of their riches?
7 Truly no man can ransom another,
or give to God the price of his life,
8 for the ransom of their life is costly
and can never suffice,
9 that he should live on forever
and never see the pit.
10 For he sees that even the wise die;
the fool and the stupid alike must perish
and leave their wealth to others.
11 Their graves are their homes forever,[a]
their dwelling places to all generations,
though they called lands by their own names.
12 Man in his pomp will not remain;
he is like the beasts that perish.
13 This is the path of those who have foolish confidence;
yet after them people approve of their boasts.[b] Selah
14 Like sheep they are appointed for Sheol;
death shall be their shepherd,
and the upright shall rule over them in the morning.
Their form shall be consumed in Sheol, with no place to dwell.
15 But God will ransom my soul from the power of Sheol,
for he will receive me. Selah
Psalm 49:5-15
Our bodies belong to God
When man's body was fashioned from the dust (Genesis 2:7a), our God and Father breathed the breath of life into that body with no time limit attached (Genesis 2:7b). He prepared the Garden of Eden where Adam was to walk with the LORD in that physical body which God had formed (Genesis 3:8-9). The food which God intended for man to eat was from the "Tree of Life" which was to sustain him to live forever (Genesis 2:9, 15-17; 3:22-23) . Because of sin, however, Adam lost access to the tree of life and the entire human race, which followed from Adam has suffered physical corruption, disease and death because of this (Genesis 3:17-19; Romans 5:19-23).
Notice God made our bodies and breathed LIFE into them. It was Adam's trespass which put death into our physical bodies as the consequence of sin which we commit that separates our spirits from life (Romans 5:12-14). James says that death is a result of the separation of the physical body from the spirit (James 2:26).
Solomon wrote, "7 and the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it." Ecclesiastes 12:7
For all the time and effort we give to maintaining our physical bodies, which is important in many ways, still we will all die and our bodies will decay. I don't like talking about this, and I won't go into unnecessary detail, but we know this is true.
Jesus is the one and only exception to this fact. Though He certainly died, and was even buried in a tomb, His body never suffered defilement, corruption and decay. Even from perspective of the ritual purity of the Jews, His body never even came in contact with something a dead body had touched. He was buried in a new tomb, carved out of the rock, which means that it still exists somewhere near Jerusalem, and being new it means it had not previously contained a dead body (Matthew 27:60; Mark 15:45-46; Luke 23:50-53; John 19:40-42). These details are important.
The fact that Jesus' body never underwent physical corruption was preached by the apostles throughout their ministries. Peter proclaimed it on Pentecost after Jesus' resurrection and during the earliest growth of the Church in Jerusalem (Acts 2:25-27; 3:26; 5:30). Jesus' resurrection was seen as the fulfillment of David's prophetic Psalm 16.
Dwell on that thought regarding the power of our Savior. His life is empowered with incorruptibility and immortality. He declares in the book of Revelation, "17 When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, “Fear not, I am the first and the last, 18 and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades." Revelation 1:17-18
Promise for US
Is this incorruptibility and immortality for Jesus' body alone? No we are told that it is for us as well by the apostle Paul, "52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. 53 For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality." 1 Corinthians 15:52-53
In Psalm 103
"But the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him,
and his righteousness to children's children,
18 to those who keep his covenant
and remember to do his commandments.
19 The Lord has established his throne in the heavens,
and his kingdom rules over all." Psalm 103:17-19
What a blessed promise we have both spiritually and bodily through Jesus Christ our LORD!
Michael Franklin
Highly Reliable Testimony of the Resurrection Accounts in the Gospels
Interestingly, the resurrection accounts of the Gospels do not attempt to describe Jesus actually emerging from the tomb. They objectively report the facts.
Matthew reports that "Jesus met them and said 'Greetings!'" (Matthew 28:9).
Mark records "Now when he rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, from whom he had cast out seven demons. " (Mark 16:9).
Luke records no direct account of His emergence from the tomb, but His appearance later that same day to two disciples on the road to Emmaus, "While they were talking and discussing together, Jesus himself drew near and went with them." (Luke 24:15).
John's account of Jesus' first appearance after the resurrection is to Mary, "11 But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb. 12 And she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet. 13 They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” 14 Having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus. 15 Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” 16 Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned and said to him in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means Teacher). (John 20:11-16)
Make no mistake, the inspired authors were describing the resurrection of Jesus, but they were describing it without any embellishment or fabrication of narrative. Their accounts were true to their own observations and didn't attempt to mythologize or imaginatively enlarge the narrative. Although each one of them suffered greatly for preaching the resurrection, yet they only affirmed what they had seen as eyewitnesses or heard accounted by those who were witnesses.
Here are the facts to which they all agree:
- Jesus died on a cross.
- Jesus was buried in the tomb belonging to Joseph of Arimathea.
- His tomb was empty on the third day.
- Jesus was seen alive after the moment of His resurrection and the discovery of the empty tomb. MLF
