1/12/15

From Ed Healy... Promise of Renewal!







Promise of Renewal!
Yesterday as I walked about my garden I saw much work to be done. The old scars of winter lay everywhere. In a word, it all looked ugly!

Today when I looked out I saw the result of a spring snow. All the scars were covered with a beautiful white blanket. It was pleasing to my eyes and for a moment I forgot about what was under that covering.

Then I realized that soon the warm days of spring will melt away the blanket and those ugly scars will still be there.

Sometimes life is like the spring snow. We receive scars from daily living, facing struggles but not always having success. As a result scars appear in our memory and it appears to be ugly. So there is an attempt to forget by covering the scars with something like spring snow. For the moment it appears beautiful. But soon that covering fades away like the spring snow revealing the ugly scars.

What can be more effective than just covering over and hiding for the moment the reality of the scars? In a short time the scars will be revealed. Removal must come first.

With my garden it takes the removal of the old, cleaning up, and then there is room for the renewal of spring growth.

From the scriptures God tells me that the old must be removed in order for the new to grow. Once the removal comes there is the time for new growth. As with my garden, the new growth brings with it the promise of a new harvest. Col 1:21-23 Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation--if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel…(NIV)

Life is much like a garden. It takes continued care. With a life connected to God there is the promise of a harvest that is eternal. This gives me hope in this world of change. Rom 12:1-2 Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God-- this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is-- his good, pleasing and perfect will. (NIV)

Eph 4:14-16 Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work. (NIV)

Many thanks to brother Ed Healy, for allowing me to post from his website, theabidingword.com.

From Jim McGuiggan... Did satanic angels have sex with women?

Did satanic angels have sex with women?

Does Genesis 6:1-2 teach us satanic angels “had sex with women” (which is how it's usually phrased)? Well, whatever those verses teach us they don't teach us that anyone “had sex with women”. They tell us someone (“sons of God”) married women and had children by them (6:2,4). This is a far cry from painting the picture of satanic angels manufacturing human bodies and “sleeping with women”. If these were satanic angels it seems they had more virtue than a host of humans today since they had the decency to get married. The picture of evil angels having a night out on the town with women is more bizarre but easier to swallow than seeing them settling down to marriage and raising a family. Maybe, after all, the more conservative view is correct, “sons of God” is a reference to godly people giving way to ungodly ways. (The context suggests some evil involved and the implication may be that they were committing polygamy. The Jerusalem Bible renders 6:2 this way, “the sons of God, looking at the daughters of men, saw they were pleasing and married as many as they chose.” The NJB retains that reading and several other versions seem to agree though the language is a bit ambiguous. Note Genesis 4:26 that is suggestive of existence of a godly line.)

Psalm 82:6 has an equivalent expression (“you are all sons of the Most High”) which Jesus seems to use to refer to human rulers. See John 10:34-35. Wicked human rulers, by the way. And Luke 3:38 has the Greek equivalent used of Adam who was a “son of God” (the word “son” is in 3:21 ). If this is a legitimate use of the phrase then perhaps it can refer to some in the line of the godly that behaved in an ungodly fashion. Note again Genesis 4:23

No one's sure about the derivation of “Nephilim”. Some say it is “the fallen (ones)” and have fallen angels in mind but the passage doesn't call the sons of God Nephilim, that's the name given to the alleged offspring. I say “alleged” because the text doesn't expressly say the Nephilim were the offspring; it says the offspring were “the heroes of old, men of renown” (6:4). It's perhaps an open question whether these two groups are to be identified or perhaps I'm being too cautious and missing the obvious.

In any case, there's this interesting sidelight. This was all pre-flood behavior and presumably (since all humans died but eight) the Nephilim were dead. But Israel came across the Nephilim (Numbers 13:33)  in Canaan and we're given their tribal connections. If we're to take the stance that Nephilim are the offspring of satanic angels and women we'd have to suppose that these marauding predators (who believed in marriage!) must have been active more than once. And on we go like a string of Hollywood movies.

It's possible that the Nephilim were the mighty men of renown in Genesis 6:4. It may even be likely. If this is true, the Nephilim were men and men who gained for themselves a great reputation as heroic (whether good or bad we aren't told). There is the suggestion in Numbers 13:32-33 that the Nephilim may have been very tall men. See Deuteronomy 1:28. Joshua 11:21 says Joshua defeated the Anakites and the record makes no big deal about it. Apparently they were simply tall men rather than half angel/half human aliens.

Whatever the truth about Genesis 6:2, if we make “the sons of God” angels we need to talk of marriage rather than mere sexual intercourse. Furthermore, there's a lot of angelic activity in the book of Genesis but—aside from this disputed text—all the angels are good. In light of our discussion, I think we need more than 6:2 to make a case for satanic angels operating overtly within the human realm.

I've taken a fair amount of space on this question mainly, I think, to suggest how tricky texts like these can be. To read them, make sweeping assertions and then use them to build a far-reaching theology of Satan and satanic angels is precarious indeed. You might be interested in reading some more in this section on SATAN.

©2004 Jim McGuiggan. All materials are free to be copied and used as long as money is not being made.

Many thanks to brother Ed Healy, for allowing me to post from his website, theabidingword.com.

God and Human Sexuality by Dave Miller, Ph.D.

http://apologeticspress.org/APContent.aspx?category=11&article=1185

God and Human Sexuality

by  Dave Miller, Ph.D.

Does God exist? Sufficient evidence exists to warrant the conclusion: “Yes, I know that God exists.” Has He spoken to us? Again, sufficient evidence exists to prove that the book we call the Bible is the inspired, infallible, inerrant, authoritative Word of God. Since God exists, and since He has given to us His divine will in written form, moral choices and human behavior are to be governed by that revealed will.
What is God’s will concerning human sexuality? That will was demonstrated originally in the creation of the first human beings: “Male and female created He them” (Genesis 1:27). God’s decision to create a female counterpart to the male was not coincidental. The female uniquely met three essential criteria: (1) “It’s not good for man to be alone” (Genesis 2:18); (2) a helper suitable to him was needed (Genesis 2:18,20); and (3) the human race was to be perpetuated through sexual union (Genesis 1:28). Both Jesus and Paul reiterated this same understanding (Matthew 19:4-6; 1 Corinthians 7:2). So the woman was: (a) the divine antidote to Adam’s loneliness; (b) a helper fit for him; and (c) the means of the propagation of the human race. Here we see the divine arrangement for the human species.
Not long after God set into motion the created order—which He had pronounced as “very good” (Genesis 1:31)—man began to tamper with the divine will, and altered God’s original intentions concerning human sexuality. Polygamy was introduced into the world by Lamech (Genesis 4:19). God could have created two women for Adam. But He did not. Rather, He made one man for one woman for life. That is the divine will.
The next recorded departure from the divine will regarding human sexuality was Abraham’s foolish scheme to allow his wife Sarah to be taken by Pharoah (Genesis 12:10-12). That incident was followed by the determination by Sarah to offer Hagar as the means by which an heir might be secured (Genesis 16:1-16). Both of these actions obviously were contrary to God’s ideal of healthy, normal sexual behavior.
Genesis 19 now comes into view:
Now the two angels came to Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he rose to meet them, and he bowed himself with his face toward the ground. And he said, “Here now, my lords, please turn in to your servant’s house and spend the night, and wash your feet; then you may rise early and go on your way,” And they said, “No, but we will spend the night in the open square.” But he insisted strongly; so they turned in to him and entered his house. Then he made them a feast, and baked unleavened bread, and they ate. Now before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, both young and old, all the people from every quarter, surrounded the house. And they called to Lot and said to him, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us that we may know them carnally.” So Lot went out to them through the doorway, shut the door behind him, and said, “Please, my brethren, do not do so wickedly! See now, I have two daughters who have not known a man; please, let me bring them out to you, and you may do to them as you wish; only do nothing to these men, since this is the reason they have come under the shadow of my roof.” And they said, “Stand back!” Then they said, “This one came in to sojourn, and he keeps acting as a judge; now we will deal worse with you than with them.” So they pressed hard against the man Lot, and came near to break down the door. But the men reached out their hands and pulled Lot into the house with them, and shut the door. And they struck the men who were at the doorway of the house with blindness, both small and great, so that they became weary trying to find the door (Genesis 19:1-11, NKJV).
Moses already had described the spiritual condition of Sodom’s inhabitants as being “wicked and sinners against Jehovah exceedingly” (Genesis 13:13). God Himself stated that their sin was “great” and “grievous” (Genesis 18:20). The specific activity described in Genesis 19 involved the desire on the part of the males of Sodom to “know” Lot’s two visitors. The Hebrew term yada is used euphemistically to denote sexual intercourse (cf. Genesis 4:1; 19:8; Numbers 31:17, 35; Judges 11:39; 21:11).
Notice that the crime that was condemned in this passage was not the fact that the Sodomites were being violent and forcing someone to do something against his will (see Miller, 2002). Jude made that clear when he identified their sin as “giving themselves over to fornication and going after strange flesh” (vs. 7). Peter echoed the same thought:
[A]nd turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemning them to destruction, making them an example to those who afterward would live ungodly; and delivered righteous Lot, who was oppressed with the filthy conduct of the wicked (for that righteous man, dwelling among them, tormented his righteous soul from day to day by seeing and hearing their lawless deeds)—then the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust under punishment for day of judgment, and especially those who walk according to the flesh in the lust of uncleanness and despise authority. They are presumptuous, self-willed; they are not afraid to speak evil of dignitaries (2 Peter 2:6-10, NKJV; cf. Jeremiah 23:14).
The term “sodomy” has come into the English language because of the sexual activity practiced in Sodom. A standard English dictionary defines “sodomy” as “[a]ny of various forms of sexual intercourse held to be unnatural or abnormal, especially anal intercourse or bestiality” (American Heritage Dictionary, 2000, p. 1651). It surely is reminiscent of our day to observe that when Lot urged the sodomites not to do “so wickedly,” the men accused Lot of being judgmental (Genesis 19:9; cf. Deuteronomy 23:17-18).
In addition to the pre-Mosaic period of history, God made clear His will on this matter when He handed down the Law of Moses. In a chapter dealing almost exclusively with sexual regulations, His words are explicit and unmistakable.
You shall not lie with a male as with a woman. It is an abomination. Nor shall you mate with any beast, to defile yourself with it. Nor shall any woman stand before a beast to mate with it. It is perversion. Do not defile yourselves with any of these things; for by all these the nations are defiled, which I am casting out before you. For the land is defiled; therefore I visit the punishment of its iniquity upon it, and the land vomits out its inhabitants. You shall therefore keep My statutes and My judgments, and shall not commit any of these abominations, either any of your own nation or any stranger who sojourns among you (for all these abominations the men of the land have done, who were before you, and thus the land is defiled), lest the land vomit you out also when you defile it, as it vomited out the nations that were before you. For whoever commits any of these abominations, the persons who commit them shall be cut off from among their people. Therefore you shall keep My ordinance, so that you do not commit any of these abominable customs which were committed before you, and that you do not defile yourselves by them: I am the Lord your God (Leviticus 18:22-30, NKJV)…. If a man lies with a male as he lies with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination. They shall surely be put to death. Their blood shall be upon them (Leviticus 20:13, NKJV).
A person would need help to misunderstand these injunctions.
Another graphic account is given in Judges 19, during the period of the judges, which was a time of spiritual and moral depravity and decay—the “Dark Ages” of Jewish history. “Sons of Belial” (i.e., wicked scoundrels) surrounded a house where travelers had taken refuge for the night. As in Sodom, they desired to “know” the male guest (Judges 19:22). The host, like Lot, knew exactly what they meant, as is evident from the fact that, like Lot, he offered them a sexual alternative (which, of course, God did not approve). Their sexual desire was labeled as “wickedness,” “outrage,” “vileness,” “lewdness,” and “evil” (Judges 19:23,24; 20:3,6,10,12,13, NKJV).
During the period of the kings, Josiah instituted sweeping moral and religious reforms. These included tearing down the homes of the Sodomites (2 Kings 23:7).
The New Testament is equally definitive in its uncompromising and unquestioned condemnation of illicit sexual activity. Paul summarized the “unrighteous” and “ungodly” behavior of the Gentile nations and declared:
For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due. And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting; being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful; who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them (Romans 1:26-32, NKJV).
This passage uses Greek terms that linguistic scholars define as “forbidden desire,” “impurity,” “unnatural vice,” “shameful passions,” “not in accordance with nature,” and “individuals of the same sex being inflamed with sensual, sexual desire for each other” (Arndt and Gingrich, 1957, pp. 28,118,119,240,583,877). Not only is God displeased with those who participate in such behavior, but verse 32 indicates that He is equally displeased with those who are merely supportive of such conduct—though they themselves do not engage in the activity. To the Corinthian church, Paul asked:
Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God (1 Corinthians 6:9-11, NKJV).
The Greek word translated “homosexual” is a metaphorical use of a term that literally means “soft” and, when referring to people, refers to males allowing themselves to be used sexually by other males. Again, lexicographers apply the term to the person who is a “catamite,” i.e., a male who submits his body to another male for unnatural lewdness, i.e., homosexually (Thayer, 1977, p. 387; Arndt and Gingrich, p. 489).
The term “sodomites,” (“abusers of themselves with mankind” in the KJV) is a translation of the term arsenokoitai. It comes from two words: arsein (a male) and koitei (a bed), and refers to one who engages in sex with a male as with a female (Thayer, p. 75). Paul used the same term when he wrote to Timothy, and identified some behaviors that are both “contrary to sound doctrine” and characteristic of the one who is not “a righteous man” (1 Timothy 1:9-10).
When Paul said, “such were some of you,” he proved not only that those involved may be forgiven, but that they can cease such activity. We are forced to conclude that sexual activity between persons of the same sex is not a matter of genetics; it is a behavioral phenomenon associated largely with environmental factors.
Illicit sex is just one more departure from God’s will that American civilization is facing. God identified all departures from His will pertaining to sexual intercourse as “fornication.” The underlying Greek term, porneia, is a broad term that covers every form of illicit sexual intercourse, including adultery, incest, bestiality, bigamy, polygamy, bisexuality, necrophilia, and more. Our sex-crazed society is so promiscuous, and so estranged from God’s view of human sexuality, that our public schools consider it appropriate to teach children to simply “take precautions” when they engage in sexual escapades outside of marriage. But God never encouraged people to practice “safe sex.” Rather, He instructed people to exercise self-control, self-discipline, and moral responsibility. The Bible teaches that we are not to be self-indulgent. We are to put restraints on ourselves, and control our sexual urges and desires according to God’s will.
Encouraging young people simply to “take precautions” only encourages additional illicit behavior. It encourages more promiscuity. It contributes to an increase—not a decrease—in the number of pregnancies, and sexually transmitted diseases. Despite several decades of inundating our schools with sex education, and the promotion of so-called “safe sex,” the statisticians inform us that in the next thirty days, 83,850 unwed girls will become pregnant in this country (“Teens in Crisis,” 2001, p. 1). The handling of the issue by the social liberal has not worked. In fact, the problem has greatly worsened.
The Bible definition of “safe sex” is sex that is confined to a divinely authorized, scriptural marriage. The depths to which our country has slumped morally is seen in the fact that it is legal for public school officials to distribute condoms to students, but it is illegal to distribute Bibles or to teach Bible principles. The time has come for our nation to wake up. The time has come to face the fact that freedom requires restraint. Rights require personal responsibility. People must take responsibility for their choices, and accept the consequences of their own actions. Paul declared, “flee fornication” (1 Corinthians 6:18). He did not say, “engage in ‘safe’ fornication!” There is no such thing as “safe” sin or “safe” immorality. God said a person must run away from it, resist it, and reject it. To a youth, Paul said, “Keep yourself pure” (1 Timothy 5:22). The writer of Hebrews insisted that the marriage bed is to be kept “undefiled.” “[F]ornicators and adulterers God will judge” (Hebrews 13:4). Paul said there should not be so much as a hint of sexual immorality among Christians (Ephesians 5:3).
Please understand: God loves all sinners—regardless of the specific sins they have committed. The faithful Christian will do the same. But it is imperative that we be about the business of alerting those who are engaged in sexual sin regarding God’s will, in an effort to “snatch them out of the fire” (Jude 23), and to “save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins” (James 5:20).

CONCLUSION

Sexual sin undoubtedly will go down in history as one of the major contributors to the moral and spiritual deterioration, decline, and downfall of American society. One wonders how much longer such widespread unchastity can go on in our land before God will “visit the punishment of its iniquity upon it, and the land vomits out its inhabitants” (Leviticus 18:25). Every society in human history that has followed this course toward moral and spiritual depravity has eventually been destroyed by God. Indeed, in light of such moral confusion, our society cannot continue to survive indefinitely into the future—unless, of course, God is prepared to apologize to Sodom and Gomorrah.

REFERENCES

American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), (Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin), fourth edition.
Arndt, William and F.W. Gingrich (1957), A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press).
Miller, Dave (2002), “Sodom—Inhospitality or Homosexuality?,” Reason & Revelation, 22:41-42, November.
Thayer, J.H. (1962 reprint), A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker).
“Teens in Crisis” (2001), Teen Help (Las Vegas, NV: World Wide Association of Specialty Programs and Schools).

From Mark Copeland... The Resurrection Of The Dead (Mark 12:18-27)

                          "THE GOSPEL OF MARK"

                The Resurrection Of The Dead (12:18-27)

INTRODUCTION

1. After the Pharisees and Herodians, the Sadducees make their attempt
   to confound Jesus...
   a. A sect of the Jews who did not believe in the resurrection - Mk 12:18; Ac 23:8
   b. Who thought they had an unanswerable argument - Mk 12:19-23

2. Jesus quickly answered their supposed dilemma...
   a. Charging them with being mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures or
      God’s power - Mk 12:24
   b. Explaining first that marital relations do not continue in the
      resurrection - Mk 12:25
   c. Proving the resurrection by the words of God to Moses at burning
      bush - Mk 12:26-27

[The Sadducees were "greatly mistaken" regarding the resurrection (Mk
12:27).  The same might be said of many people today.  Lest we be
mistaken about the resurrection of the dead, let’s review what is
revealed in the Scriptures concerning this wonderful event.  Beginning
with...]

I. THE FACT OF THE RESURRECTION

   A. JESUS TAUGHT THERE WILL BE A RESURRECTION...
      1. In which both those good and evil will come forth from the
         grave - Jn 5:28-29
      2. Jesus assures those who believe in Him will be raised at the
         last day - Jn 6:39-40,44,54

   B. HIS APOSTLES PROCLAIMED A RESURRECTION...
      1. Peter and John preached in Jesus the resurrection from the dead
         - Ac 4:1-2
      2. Before the Sanhedrin and Felix, Paul confessed his hope in the
         resurrection - Ac 23:6; 24:15
      3. To the church at Corinth, Paul asserted the necessity of the
         resurrection - 1Co 15:12-23
      4. To the church at Thessalonica, Paul taught the doctrine of the
         resurrection - 1Th 4:16-18

[Unless one questions the authority of Christ and His apostles, the fact
of the resurrection is undeniable.  But how can such a thing happen?  It
helps to remember...]

II. THE AGENT OF THE RESURRECTION

   A. CHRIST ATTRIBUTED IT TO THE POWER OF GOD...
      1. As He reminded the Sadducees, who denied the resurrection - Mk 12:24
      2. And of course, "with God nothing will be impossible" - cf. Lk 1:37

   B. PAUL ALSO EMPHASIZED THE POWER OF GOD...
      1. The same power that raised Jesus from the dead - 1Co 6:14
      2. He who can raise Jesus from the dead can certainly raise us up
         at the last day - 2Co 4:14

[While it may be difficult for us to comprehend how the dead can be
raised, it is not difficult for God to do it (unless "your" God is too
small)!  Another question to be addressed concerning the resurrection
pertains to who will be raised.  Therefore we note...]

III. THE UNIVERSALITY OF THE RESURRECTION

   A. JESUS TAUGHT ALL WILL BE RAISED...
      1. "All who are in the graves will...come forth" - Jn 5:28
      2. Both "those who have done good" and "those who have done evil"
         - Jn 5:29
      3. One to experience a "resurrection of life", the other a
         "resurrection of condemnation"

   B. PAUL TAUGHT ALL WILL BE RAISED...
      1. There will be a resurrection "both of the just and the unjust"
         - Ac 24:15
      2. "for as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made
         alive" - 1Co 15:21-22

[While there may be a difference in the nature of the resurrected bodies
(see below), in some way everyone will be raised from the dead!   What
about the timing of the resurrection...?]

IV. THE TIME OF THE RESURRECTION

   A. AT "THE LAST DAY," WHEN THE LORD COMES AGAIN...
      1. Jesus spoke again and again of raising the dead at "the last
         day" - Jn 6:39-40,44,54
      2. Paul wrote of it occurring when Jesus comes again, to deliver
         the kingdom to the Father, having destroyed the last enemy,
         death itself - 1Co 15:22-26
      3. He later says that it will occur at "the last trumpet" - 1Co 15:52

   B. WHAT ABOUT DOCTRINES OF SEPARATE RESURRECTIONS...?
      1. Premillennialists (and others) teach that there will be more
         than just one resurrection
         a. All Premillennialists teach at least two resurrections:
            1) The resurrection of believers at the beginning of the
               millennium
            2) The resurrection of unbelievers at the end of the
               millennium
         b. Dispensational Premillennialists add two more:
            1) The resurrection of tribulation saints at the end of the
               seven-year tribulation
            2) The resurrection of millennial saints at the end of the
               millennium
      2. There are several reasons why the doctrines of several
         resurrections are found wanting...
         a. The Bible presents the resurrection of believers and
            unbelievers as occurring together - Dan 12:2; Jn 5:28-29;
            Ac 24:14-15; Re 20:11-15
         b. The Bible teaches that believers will be raised at "the last
            day", not several times (and therefore several days, years,
            or millennium) before the last day! - Jn 6:39-40,44,54
         c. Passages offered in support of several resurrections do not
            necessarily teach what Premillennialists say they do
            1) 1Th 4:13-16 concerns itself with the resurrection of the
               righteous, but that does not demand that the wicked are
               not being raised at the same time
            2) Re 20:4-6 describes a resurrection of "souls", not
               bodies, and the reigning with Christ is likely to occur
               in heaven, not on earth - cf. Re 2:26-27; 3:21

[One more subject to be considered in this study, and that pertains
to...]

V. THE BODY OF THE RESURRECTION

   A. THE RESURRECTION BODY OF THE RIGHTEOUS...
      1. Will be our physical bodies, but gloriously changed and
         different! - 1Co 15:35-55
         a. By the power of God (Mk 12:24), our bodies will serve as the
            "kernel" from which comes incorruptible and immortal bodies
            in which to house our souls - 1Co 15:35-37
         b. Our physical bodies...
            1) Sown in corruption, will be raised in incorruption! - 1Co 15:42
            2) Sown in dishonor, will be raised in glory! - 1Co 15:43
            3) Sown in weakness, will be raised in power! - 1Co 15:43
            4) Sown as natural bodies, will be raised as spiritual
               bodies! - 1Co 15:44-49
         c. Even those alive at Christ’s coming will undergo this
            "change", in which that which is corruptible and mortal will
            "put on" incorruption and immortality - 1Co 15:50-55
      2. Will be conformed to the glorious body of our Lord! - Php 3:20-21
         a. That which is "lowly" will be transformed to be like that
            which "glorious"
         b. How?  "...according to the working by which He is able even
            to subdue all things to Himself" - i.e., by the power of
            God! - cf. Mk 12:24

   B. THE RESURRECTION BODY OF THE WICKED...
      1. Very little is revealed, other than the wicked will indeed be
         raised from the dead
      2. Though the Scriptures only apply the terms "incorruption" and
         "immortality" to the bodies of the righteous, most understand
         that the resurrection body of the wicked...
         a. Is not subject again to death
         b. Is capable of experiencing eternal suffering
      3. There are some, however, who understand that the "second death"
         will be literal...
         a. After the resurrection and judgment, the wicked will "die"
            again (a separation of resurrected "body" and spirit)
         b. Not that the wicked will be annihilated, but that they will
            spend eternity as "disembodied spirits" in the lake of fire
         c. This is not to be confused with those who don't believe in a
            resurrection of the wicked, or who believe the wicked will
            be annihilated
      4. Since the Bible is relatively silent on this subject perhaps
         "the best course seems to be simply leave the problem where it
         was left by the writers of the New Testament." - Ray Summers,
         The Life Beyond, p.93

CONCLUSION

1. There is probably more about the resurrection we would like to
   know...
   a. But we can know more than the Sadducees knew or believed!
   b. If we are willing to accept both the Scriptures and the power of
      God!

2. From the Scriptures we can know...
   a. The fact of the resurrection
   b. The agent of the resurrection
   c. The universality of the resurrection
   d. The time of the resurrection
   e. The body of the resurrection

3. Which is certainly enough to motivate those who...
   a. Desire whatever God has planned for those who love and obey Him!
   b. Are making it their aim to be ready for whatever God has prepared!

Does the hope of the resurrection motivate you to abound in the work of
the Lord...? - cf. 1Co 15:54-58

Executable Outlines, Copyright © Mark A. Copeland, 2011


From Gary... Of ducks, cuneiform and eternality

Press any key to continue
This past week, I posted this picture (without the caption) in one of my blog posts. As I mentioned earlier, this picture was taped to my computer at work and reminded me of the times when I was so frustrated with the machine that I wanted to BE THAT DUCK!!! Why? Because the early computer operating systems presented an almost blank screen with very little (if any) help. Sometimes, when the "press any key to continue" would appear, I honestly didn't know WHAT TO DO- AND SO- FRUSTRATION. But, frustration is nothing new, for I am quite sure that among the pictures that follow you will have experienced frustration as well....

"Printing" wall chart      
Cursive wall chart

My first Typewriter (really!!!)

Slide rule (similar to what I used to carry in the early 70's)

Circular Slide Rule (used by the "real geeks")

Depending on your age, some of the above will be a mystery to you.  Since I am told that they no long teach cursive in schools or typewriting, these will be ancient history to many of you.  The same is true for the two slide rules at the bottom- some of these things just as well might as well be cuneiform...

Sumerian Cuneiform writing (on a clay tablet)

Well, things have changed- and changed rapidly in the span of my short lifetime. We may use different tools than in previous generations, but inside, we are the same human beings, with the same generic needs.  Among them is the need to to pass on what we think and feel during our lives. Job is a good example of one such person....


Job, Chapter 19 (WEB [World English Bible] )
 23 “Oh that my words were now written!
Oh that they were inscribed in a book!
  24 That with an iron pen and lead
they were engraved in the rock forever!
  25 But as for me, I know that my Redeemer lives.
In the end, he will stand upon the earth.

Now matter how sophisticated mankind becomes, there will always be the need for a redeemer, because will all will eventually die, not matter what the date on the calendar. And who knows, some day we may actually go back to writing with pen and ink...
 



And before you ask- 

I was NOT ALIVE WHEN THIS WAS WRITTEN!!!!