The Resurrection of Christ & Man

By Brian Mitchell       In our postmodern world, many believe in no absolutes—no certain, unquestionable truths. How should the church react to such an attitude? Should we dilute doctrine? Should we negotiate with unbelievers, teaching only what they are willing to accept? Should we avoid public proclamation of doctrines that we know others do not believe? Paul faced a similar question when he wrote 1 Corinthians 15.     Some people in Corinth doubted the resurrection of the dead and they were not alone. As Paul stood defending himself before King Agrippa he asked, “Why should it be so incredible to you that God raises the dead” (Acts 26:8). In the days of the apostles there were those who had a difficult time accepting the biblical teaching concerning the subject of the bodily resurrection of man, it was to them unbelievable. Sadly, the modern counterparts of these early unbelievers are appearing ever more increasingly and their influence is even being felt today in the Lord’s Church.     Can you imagine a professing believer in Christ denying the fact of the resurrection. Yet, this is exactly what some who claim to be Christians are doing. History is full of different groups, who for whatever reason, denied the bodily resurrection of man. In NT times, the Greeks so disdained the idea of a resurrection of the body that when Paul spoke in Athens about the resurrection, the biblical text says that he was literally mocked (Acts 17:32). The Sadducees, whom Jesus dealt with, were well known for among other things their repudiation of the resurrection of man.     Even some within the early NT church so misunderstood this concept that they had been proclaiming that there was no resurrection (1 Cor.15:12). Finally, the Gnostics came upon the scene and in their own imagined illuminated state also denied that man would rise from the dead. Unfortunately, these groups of NT times have been rivaled and even surpassed by the modern day rejecters of the biblical doctrine of the resurrection of man.     So what is the point? The point is that there are a lot of groups who through the years denied the literal bodily resurrection of mankind. The point is that even though there are many who would affirm the resurrection, many of them have little idea of what the Bible teaches about the resurrection. Thus, when confronted with false ideas concerning or flat out rejection of the resurrection, they are not prepared to given an account of the things they believe in and such will continue to be the case until we look to the Word for answers.     In today’s lesson, we will examine what we can know from Scriptures about the bodily resurrection of all mankind, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Paul did not avoid the question because he might alienate someone, nor did he compromise the doctrine of the resurrection. Rather, he proclaimed and defended it, refuting the arguments of those who denied that Christians would someday be raised from the dead. He confronted false doctrine, arguing calmly and rationally for his position. When a matter of faith was involved, Paul stood firmly for the truth—and so should we!

- Brian Mitchell serves as a minister with the Jackson Church of Christ in Jackson, MO. He may be contacted through the congregation's website at https://www.jacksonchurchofchrist.net