Dec 22
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Baptist Catechism 41
Q. 41. What benefits do believers receive from Christ at the Resurrection?
A. At the resurrection believers, being raised up in glory, shall be openly acknowledged and acquitted in the Day of Judgment, and made perfectly blessed, both in soul and body, in full enjoyment of God to all eternity. (Phil. 3:20,21; 1 Cor. 15:42,43; Matt. 10:32; 1 John 3:2; 1 Thess. 4:17)
Scripture Reading: 1 Corinthians 15:35–49
“But someone will ask, ‘How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?’ You foolish person! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. And what you sow is not the body that is to be, but a bare kernel, perhaps of wheat or of some other grain. But God gives it a body as he has chosen, and to each kind of seed its own body. For not all flesh is the same, but there is one kind for humans, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish. There are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is of one kind, and the glory of the earthly is of another. There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for star differs from star in glory. So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. Thus it is written, ‘The first man Adam became a living being’; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. But it is not the spiritual that is first but the natural, and then the spiritual. The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven. As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust, and as is the man of heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven.”(1 Corinthians 15:35–49, ESV)
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Please excuse any typos and misspellings within this manuscript. It has been published online for the benefit of the saints of Emmaus Reformed Baptist Church but without the benefit of proofreading.
Introduction
Have you ever wondered what the tree of life signified for Adam in the garden of Eden? We know what the tree of the knowledge of good and evil signified. That forbidden tree signified rebellion against God and its consequences. God commanded Adam not to eat of that tree and warned that in the day he ate of it he would surely die. Eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil would mean that there was rebellion in Adam’s heart and it would lead to death – physical death and eternal enmity with God. Conversely, eating from the tree of life would mean that Adam passed the time of testing and would enter into life, just as the name implies. But you ask, wasn’t Adam already alive? Indeed he was! And not only was he alive, he was alive in paradise. He stood in right relation to God! What more could he ask for?
Clearly, the presence of the tree of life in the garden communicated that God had more for Adam. The one tree was a threat to him, but the tree of life held out the promise of life – a higher form of life – life eternal. If Adam would have passed the test he would have been transferred from life in Eden to life in glory.
As you know, Adam failed. He ate of the forbidden tree and entered immediately into the state of death, which is eternal separation from and enmity with God. Never did he eat of the tree of life. He was barred from that tree. God “drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life” (Genesis 3:24, ESV).
What was it that Adam forfeited? What kind of life was it that was offered to him through that tree of obedience? If the only scripture we had was Genesis 1-3 then I suppose we could only speculate. But the rest of scripture answers this question with great clarity. The tree of life held out to Adam the offer of life eternal; consummate life; spiritual life; life in glory. This is what the scriptures mean when they say, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” In sin, Adam, and all who are born from him, are born in sin and thus fail to enter into this state of glory.
Brothers and sisters, if you wish to know the kind of life and the kind of body that Adam would have been given had he passed the test by abstaining from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and eating from the tree of life, then consider Christ in his resurrection. Christ lived for sinners, he died for sinners, and on the third day, he rose from the grave bodily. He was raised in glory (see 1 Corinthians 15:42ff and 1 Peter 1:21). He walked on earth for 40 days proving himself to be alive. And then he ascended to the Father, that is to say, into glory. Christ, the second Adam, obeyed God. He earned the right to eat of that tree of life, if you will. And he did enter into the glory of the Father. His earthly body went into the grave, but from there it was raised by the power of the Holy Spirit. To use Paul’s metaphor, the body of Christ was, like a seed, sown perishable but raised imperishable. It was sown in dishonor. It was raised in glory. Christ, the God-man, died according to the flesh, but he was raised in the flesh never to die again. He completed the race that the first Adam failed to complete.
But listen carefully to this: when Christ entered into glory, he entered as a forerunner. He entered into glory so that he might, in due time, bring others into glory also. As Paul says elsewhere: “But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power” (1 Corinthians 15:20–24, ESV).
In the previous question, we learned that when the believer dies their body goes into the grave and their souls immediately pass into the presence of God. Indeed, that will be a great blessing to pass into the presence of God at the moment of death. But this week we learn that this is not the end for the believer. The believer will not remain in that incomplete, disembodied, soulish state forever. Instead, at the resurrection believers, being raised up in glory, shall be openly acknowledged and acquitted in the Day of Judgment, and made perfectly blessed, both in soul and body, in full enjoyment of God to all eternity.
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Catechism Explained
Notice a few things about this answer.
One, notice that we are talking about what will happen “at the resurrection”. What is this? It is what will happen in the future, on the last day, when Christ returns. He will do many things on that day, one of them being, to raise the bodies of all who have died. 1 Thesalonians 4:16-17 says, “For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord” (1 Thessalonians 4:16–17, ESV).
Two, our catechism is specifically addressing what will happen to believers on the last day. “At the resurrection believers…” This is about beleivers, and not those who remain in unbelief. Those outside of Christ will be our focus in the following question.
Three, the language of glory is used here. Christ suffered in the flesh to bring many sons to glory, to quote Hebrews 2:10. To enter into glory is to eneter into the blessed presence of God where we will enjoy him forever and ever.
Four, notice the connection between the resurrection and the day of judgment. Again, “at the resurrection believers, being raised up in glory, shall be openly acknowledged and acquitted in the Day of Judgment.” According to dispensational premillennialists there will be a long gap between the resurrection and the day of judgement, but the scriptures nowhere teach this. In fact, the scriptures teach that on the last day Christ will return to raise the day, to judge, and to usher in the new heavens and earth. There will be many things that happen on that last deay (including the resurrection), but this will be one event with many components, and not many isolated events spread over a long period of time. This is what Paul so clearly teaches in 1 Corinthians 15:22ff: “For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power” (1 Corinthians 15:22–24, ESV). The premillennial dispensationalists see gaps of time in the scriptures where there are no gaps of time. The truth is this. When Christ returns he will raise the dead, judge the world, and make all things new.
Five, those in Christ “shall be openly acknowledged and acquitted in the Day of Judgment.” Believers will be acknowledged as children of God, for they were adopted in Christ. And believers will be acquitted (a legal term), for they were justified through faith in Christ. What a terrible thought to be judged by God. But what a wonderful hope we have. We will not be judged, but will be openly acknowledged and acquitted instead, thanks be to God.
Six, believers will be made “perfectly blessed” at the resurrection. We will be blessed at the moment of death when our souls are brought into the presence of God. But at the resurrection we will be perfectly blessed.
This is because, seven, in that moment we will be glorified “both in soul and body” as whole persons. As I explained last week, those with faith in Christ will be blessed in soul when they die, but their bodies will go into the grave. For this time we will be blessed, but incomplete. At the resurrection we will be whole persons against. Then we will be ”made perfectly blessed, both in soul and body.”
Eight, notice what it is that will make us perfectly blessed, or happy. It will be the “full enjoyment of God to all eternity.” Stated differently, God is the blessing. His presence is what makes heaven heavenly. King David knew this. And Christ knows this. Listen to Psalm 16:8-11: “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. You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” (Psalm 16:8–11, ESV)
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Conclusion
Q. 41. What benefits do believers receive from Christ at the Resurrection?
A. At the resurrection believers, being raised up in glory, shall be openly acknowledged and acquitted in the Day of Judgment, and made perfectly blessed, both in soul and body, in full enjoyment of God to all eternity. (Phil. 3:20,21; 1 Cor. 15:42,43; Matt. 10:32; 1 John 3:2; 1 Thess. 4:17)
