Table of Contents
The faith of the believers rests in Christ
The faith of the early church rested on the solid truth that Christ died for the sins of the world and he was buried and rose on the third day according to the Scriptures. Paul tells us:
“But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept… For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.” 1 Cor. 15:20-23.
And just like Jesus was resurrected from the dead, so the righteous ones believed that they shall be resurrected also, to share His glory in the mansions above.
“Behold, I shew you a mystery; we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.” 1 Cor. 15:51-53.
The hope that the righteous looked forward to
All the righteous men from the Old Testament believed that even if they died, they would be resurrected in the Coming of the Son of God and be clothed in immortality. Job says:
“So man lieth down, and riseth not: till the heavens be no more, they shall not awake, nor be raised out of their sleep.” Job 14:12.
This righteous man compared death to sleep (John 11:11-14). And God revealed to him that the dead are not lost, but they shall rise again when the heavens shall pass away on the last day. Rev. 6:14-17. In the time of his sufferings, he said:
“For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God…” Job 19:25, 26.
The Psalmist expressed a similar thought in the Psalms when he said:
“As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness.” Psalms 17:15.
“Thou, which hast shewed me great and sore troubles, shalt quicken me again, and shalt bring me up again from the depths of the earth.” Psalm 71:20.
And to Daniel God said:
“But go thou thy way till the end be: for thou shalt rest, and stand in thy lot at the end of the days.” Dan. 12:13.
Have the righteous men of the Bible received the promise?
According to the clear accounts of the books of the Bible, all the Old Testament patriarchs, prophets, apostles, and the early Christians, who died in the faith, are not in heaven now, but they are resting in their graves, waiting for the day of the resurrection. Paul assures us as he says the following in his epistle to the Hebrews:
“They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented; (Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth. And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise: God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.” Heb. 11:37-40.
The living righteous who are going to live until the Second Coming of Jesus shall be rewarded together with the righteous dead who will rise up on the last day. This plain truth is described in Paul’s Epistle to the church of Thessalonica:
“But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.” 1 Thess. 4:13-17.
Therefore, the dead do not go to heaven immediately, as many suppose, but they are resting in their graves. Jesus is going to come down from heaven and resurrect them from their graves. The Savior assures us of the resurrection of the dead, as he says in the gospel:
“Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.” John 5:28, 29.
Here the Savior assures us that until His Coming all the dead – both good and evil – shall remain in their graves and he shall call them out of their graves when he shall come to take them to heaven, that where he is they may be also.
The two resurrections
According to his promises, there are going to be two major resurrections. The first one will give immortality to the righteous. The second one will give eternal destruction to the wicked. These two resurrections are separated by a 1000-year period when the earth shall be void and without form (Isaiah 24:1-6; Jer. 4:23-26; Zeph. 1:2-3). In the Revelation, we are told:
“Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.” Rev. 20:6.
And the rest of the dead shall not live again until the thousand years shall be finished (verse 5).
The righteous shall be clothed in immortality
How shall the righteous be clothed in immortality at the first resurrection? Paul explains this when he says:
“Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.” 1 Cor. 15:51-53.
The apostle himself rests in the grave, waiting to be resurrected at the Second Coming, and gifted with eternal life. In his epistle to the Philippians, he said:
“For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.” Phil. 3:20, 21.
And close to the end of his life, the apostle wrote to Timothy:
“I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day [the Second Coming]: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.” 2 Tim. 4:7-8.
Jesus is the resurrection, and the life, and he that believes in him, “though he were dead, yet shall he live”. John 11:25.
“And this is the Father’s will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.” John 6:39, 40.
Where are the dead now?
1. The dead are not in heaven. John 7:33-34; John 8:21; John 13:33; Acts 2:34; Isa. 57:2.
2. The dead rest – they sleep in their graves. John 5:28-29; Gen. 3:19; Job 3:11-19; Job 7:21; Job 10:18-22; Job 14:10-19; Job 17:13-16; Ps. 88:10-12; Eccl. 3:20; Eccl. 9:10; Ezek. 37:12-13; Dan. 12:2; Acts 2:20.
a) They sleep. 2 Sam. 7:12; 1 Kings 1:21; 1 Kings 2:10; 2 Kings 20:21; 2 Chron. 26:23; Job 3:13; Job 14:12; Matt. 9:24; Matt. 27:52; John 11:11-13; Acts. 7:59; 1 Cor. 15:6, 18, 20, 51; 1 Thess. 4:13-15; 1 Thess. 5:10.
b) They don’t praise the Lord. Job 14:20-21; Ps. 6:6; Ps. 88:11-13; Ps. 115:17; Ps. 146:4; Eccl. 9:5-6, 10; Isa. 38:18-19; Isa. 63:16; Jer. 31:16; 1 Cor. 15:26; 1 Cor. 15:17-20; Job 19:25-26; Ps. 17:15; Dan. 12:13; John 11:24; 2 Cor. 4:14; 2 Tim. 4:8; 2 Pet. 5:4.
The nature of man
“LORD, what is man?” Ps. 144:3.
1. Man was made out of the dust of the earth. Gen. 2:7; Gen. 3:19; Gen. 18:27; Job 10:9; Job 34:15; Ps. 103:14; Eccl. 3:20; Eccl. 12:7; Isa. 64:8; 1 Cor. 15:47.
2. When he was given the breath of life, man became a living soul. Gen. 2:7; Gen. 7:15, 22; Job 12:10; Job 27:3; Job 33:4; Isa. 2:22; Isa. 42:5; Ezek. 37:5-6; Ezek. 37:8-10.
3. Man is finite and mortal. Acts 17:25; Jacob 2:26; Acts 14:15; Rom. 1:2-3.
4. Only God possesses immortality and he has promised that he will give it to the righteous ones through Christ at the Second Coming. 2 Tim. 6:16; John 5:26; Rom. 2:7; Rom. 6:23; 1 Cor. 25:50-55.
Articles for further study:
“O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?“