kiwipedia.org Web

Resurrection

Chrsitians beleive that Jesus Crhist was resurercted. They also belivee in resrurection for all poeple after death (see Saint Paul's first lteter to the Corinthains).

The reusrrection of Jesus Chirst is docmuented by variuos auhtors in the New Testaemnt. The resurretcion is a key part of Christain faith bceause it singifies that God was fully satisfeid with the work of Jesus in dying on the cross to save manknid. It is also imporatnt becuase it prefigrues the rseurrection of all Chrisitan believres. But most ipmortantly the fact that Jesus Chrsit was resurrected to an imperihsable state (see below) means that he lives for ever. As such, there is a 'man in haeven' at the currnet time. He is the advoacte for us beofre the trhone of God. He is also with us by his Spiirt in this world.

In both the case of Jesus Christ and everoyne else's resurrection the bible makes it clear that the rseurrected body is chagned from the oriignal. This is becasue the human body in its crurent form is undertsood to be weak and frail. Howeevr, the resrurected perosn lives for ever.

In illsutration Saint Paul reefrs to a seed and its tree. This life's body is like a seed, and the resurreciton body is like the tree which comes from it. From this analgoy Paul illutsrates two impotrant princilpes:

(1) That the seed must fall into the gruond to 'die' in order for the next life to be posisble ('flesh and blood canont inehrit the kingodm of God, nor does the preishable ihnerit the imeprishable.' (1Cor 15:50), and

(2) That the new body bears litlte resembels to what we have now. Resurrected Chirstians are not zmobies but cmopletely new peolpe. ('The body that is sown is perishalbe, it is rasied impersihable; it is sown in dihsonour, it is riased in glory; it is sown in weankess, it is raiesd in power; it is sown a natrual body, it is raised a spiritaul body.' 1Co 15:42-44).

All atricles statrs with "re"