|
|||||||
|
|
|
|||||
|
|
|||||||
Covenant Eschatology - Spirit of the Word - Introductory Note - New Stuff
A Study of the Resurrection
Part 13
by Don K. PrestonSUMMARY AND CONCLUSION
We have seen that the death for which resurrection is the cure is Biblically defined as sin-death, separation from God, and not physical death.
We have seen that Jesus' declaration of the resurrection in John 5 must be seen as moving from initiation to perfection; from the authority to give life to the authority to render judgment; from "some" to "all." John 5 does not contain two different kinds of resurrection; one spiritual and one physical. This is borne out by other NT passages.
We have shown the relationship between the passing of the Old Law, the Ministration of Death, and the full confirmation of Jesus' New Covenant of Life. Resurrection life was brought to a reality by the complete fulfillment of that Old Law, 1 Cor. 15:54-56.
We have studied Paul's trial before the various authorities and demonstrated that his hope could not have been for a physical resurrection. His resurrection hope was the Hope of Israel. The elect had begun to obtain it; Paul was already participating in it. If God cut off Israel at the Cross then He cut them off before fulfilling His promises to them!
We have examined the OT prophetic foundation for the resurrection and seen that John 5 is grounded firmly on two passages, Daniel 12 and Ezekiel 37, both of which clearly define the time and framework for the resurrection. In addition we have seen from other Old Testament prophecies that Israel's salvation would come when Israel was judged and each of those texts isolates the time of that judgment-- the fall of Jerusalem in A.D. 70.
We have noted the traditional view of John 5:24f and found it to be self-contradictory at best. In addition we have seen that John, in his gospel, anticipated the coming of the consummative "hour"; in his first epistle he emphatically declared the hour was upon them; in Revelation 14 we find that the hour of the judgment had come and it was associated with the fall of the city where the Lord was crucified.
In 1 John we find the very motif predicted in Ezekiel 37--the presence of the Holy Spirit to bring about the resurrection. The miraculous nature of the work of the Spirit and its limitation to the "last days" of Old Israel's Age places the time of the resurrection in that framework, Joel 2-3.
As suggested above, the coming critical hour was when the spiritual salvation/resurrection initiated by Jesus' resurrection would be consummated when the Old World of the Ministration of Death,
2 Cor. 3, was swept away in the fall of Jerusalem in A.D. 70.We have examined some of the constituent elements of resurrection and demonstrated that in the first century the New Testament writers positively stated the present, but not yet consummated reality of each of these elements. And not one time do the writers associate these elements with physical death and life but with the passage from sin to righteousness in Christ. This shows in the strongest possible way that the resurrection cannot be a passage from physical death.
With several examples but by no means all that could be given, we have demonstrated the Biblical time- frame and framework for the resurrection. The New Testament writers were uncompromising and unequivocal in stating that the resurrection was near at hand and would come at the "end of the age"; at the end of Israel's Age not the end of time. They were either right or wrong; there is no middle ground.
Finally, we have examined some of the objections against the view herein presented and found them to be at odds with the express statements of scripture.
What this all means is that in Christ today there is to be found true life. God through Christ has conquered sin and death and for those in Christ; "there is therefore now no condemnation" Romans 8:1. The resurrection life brought to a reality by Christ was in one sense a one time for all time event because it involved the final judgment on the Old Covenant World of Israel-- and sin. But it is because of that event that Life in Christ has become an eternal reality.
The establishment of the kingdom in the first century was a one time for all time event never to be duplicated; yet the blessings are with us today "world without end" Eph. 3:20-21. The miraculous work of the Spirit was limited "one time for all time" to the last days of Israel never to be duplicated again. Yet we today have the abiding result of that perfected work. Jesus died one time for all time, Rom. 6:8-11; yet we today have the unending blessings resulting from fulfillment of the prophecies of that death.
Just so, Christ's coming at the end of the age was not to end judgment but to establish unending judgment, Isaiah 9:6-9; it did not mean there would be no judgment after his coming! Contrary to the amillennial view, at his coming Christ would sit on the throne of his glory to judge; not surrender his throne! Christ's throne, his throne of judgment, is without end, Luke 1:32-35. Christ's eternal standard of judgment, His Word, not only judged in "the last day," but is the unmovable standard of judgment, Heb. 12:28; 13:20.
Death reigned from Adam to Moses, Rom. 5:14f. The Law entered and exacerbated man's futility making sin "exceedingly sinful" Rom. 7:13, and man aware of his state of death, Rom. 7:24, longing for deliverance. That Old Law could not give life but it promised it when Messiah would come. Jesus truly has "abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel" 2 Tim.1:9f. Man once separated from God can now, in Christ, be delivered from sin-- raised from the deadness of sin. This is true resurrection!
Our study, while necessarily involving much material, has therefore examined one of the key passages used to buttress the "two resurrection" concept and found that John 5 must be kept within the time- frame of the first century, and framework of the passing of the Old Covenant.
While our study has, in its polemic aspect focused on some of the weaknesses of the amillennial view, the implications are just as devastating against the literalistic premillennial paradigm. For if the Hope of Israel was not a physical resurrection, much more was it not a nationalistic restoration.
Much more could be said but space does not permit. Hopefully, this little book will allow the reader to appreciate the work of Christ.
Web ed. note: For more on resurrection and judgment in Revelation see
The Second DeathContents - Don Preston's site - Covenant Eschatology
Spirit of the Word - Introductory Note - New Stuff
Undivided Version
Part 1 - Resurrection From What Death?
Part 2 - Two Resurrections?
Part 3 - It Is the Last Hour
Part 4 - The Hour of His Judgment Is Come
Part 5 - The Hope of Israel
Part 6 - The Kingdom Does Not Come With Observation
Part 7 - Resurrection and the Law
Part 8 - The Prophetic Background of John 5
Part 9 - What Is Resurrection?
Part 10 - Resurrection When?
Part 11 - Problems With Tradition
Part 12 - Objections Considered
Part 13 - Summary and Conclusion