Catechism Class: Other Consequences of the Resurrection of the Dead
Catechism Class. Lord’s Day 22C Q57 The Resurrection of the Dead
Other Consequences of that Day
In Lord’s Day 22, Q57 the catechist deals with the glorious day of resurrection, and he’s asking is a very personal and subjective question. Here it is again, in Q57, “What comfort does the resurrection of the body offer you?” The answer we are expected to give is, “Not only shall my soul after this life immediately be taken up to Christ, my Head, but also this my flesh, raised by the power of Christ, shall be reunited with my soul and made like Christ’s glorious body.”
That same power of Christ which raised Him from the grave, and which will raise us too, will have other astounding and momentous repercussions on that day. In this supplementary lesson we shall find out what they are!
Please READ, 1 Corinthians 15:24-28 Now, in these verses we see the risen Lord, marching forth, coming against evil, the first in the battle, the protagonist of righteousness and truth! And Paul here is outlining some of what we might call the ‘secondary consequences’ of the power of God being displayed on the Last Day:-
- The Lord and His People Will be Vindicated. For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. He IS reigning right now, and the battle is on-going, but there will come a victory day when the wrongs of this world will finally be put right! Sin and misery are rampant throughout this world. Internet pornography, child prostitution, drug addiction, terrorism, crime and extortion are all rampant in society. They were in Corinth, and they are today. Many look around them and fear for society, and fear for the future. For the believer there is victory There is a day coming when Christ shall put all things under His feet. All sin and shame, all lying and deceit, all violence and murder, all crime and injustice will be ended when Christ comes, and puts all His enemies under His feet.
- The Day of Judgement Will Have Come. Of course the victory of Christ on that day implies and requires a sorting out, a differentiation – a JUDGMENT. Jesus said this would happen, John 5:28-29 On the resurrection day, the final judgement will also take place.
For the one who does not know Him, who is still living in the darkness of this world, Jesus will come as a thief in the night and His return shall be an unexpected, unwelcome event, leading to judgement and eternal death! That day has not yet come, and there is still time for sinners to repent of their sins, and trust Christ, who died on the cross, to pay the fine for the sins and iniquities we have committed before God. God is being patient with us. 2 Peter, 3:9, But that day will come
There are other consequences of the return of Christ, on that resurrection day.
- The Final Defeat of Death.The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. Death shall be no more, from that day onwards. The great enemy of man will be stopped forever! Death will be swallowed up in victory! Rev. 21:4
- The Subjection of the Universe. For he hath put all things under his feet. But when he saith, all things are put under him, it is manifest that he is excepted, which did put all things under him. The whole of the universe will be subjected to Christ on the Resurrection Day. We seem to return here to the subject of true headship. The Doctrine of Headship decrees that God is the head of all things, that Christ, being made equal with God, did not consider that equality something to be grasped, as Paul states in Philippians 2, but nevertheless became obedient unto death. So Christ is the Head of man, and man is the head of his home. That is the divine order, given in the Scriptures. But mankind is also the head of nature! Remember that Adam was given the task of subduing and cultivating the earth. He was to exercise DOMINION over all the earth!Psalm 8:4-8 At Resurrection Day, God’s created order shall be truly restored!
- The Ultimate Glorification of God!And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all. Now we must not think that this implies some form of ‘subordination’ of Christ. We believe what the Bible teaches, that the Three Persons of the Trinity are both co-equal and co-eternal. God gave a great task to His wonderful Son. His task was to be the protagonist. To go forth and to conquer sin and death and hell, and present all things, the redeemed universe, to His Father. On Resurrection Day, Christ shall present not only all the universe, but even Himself as the mighty conqueror – to God,
The Resurrection of Christ proclaims loudly that Jesus is the Victor, and the Coming Day of Resurrection gives us a portion and a share in Christ’s victory! Will you be there? The Resurrection of the dead will precipitate the Great Judgement Day of the Lord. Only those who know the Lord as Saviour will be part of His victory.
So what have we learned in this lesson? Our Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ will return to this earth, visibly and physically, to judge the world, and on that day, our human remains, our bodies, long buried in dust, will be resurrected to be reunited with our souls, and to dwell with Him in a new heaven and earth. That re-creation of the universe will have far reaching consequences, beyond the physical resurrection of the redeemed, but the most important of all, is that in all things, all the glory and praise will go to God, our creator and redeemer. In our next lesson we move on, and we see what our catechist has to say about heaven.
The Salty Scrivener 