Resurrection, part 1: Let’s get physical!
by Pastor Stephen Abraham
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But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead (1 Corinthians 15:12)?
Popular culture is absolutely rife with resurrections. Mr Spock is resurrected in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, Neo dies and comes back to life in The Matrix, Superman comes back to life in Zack Schneider’s Justice League, and Gandalf the Grey transforms into Gandalf the White in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. Even here on Australian TV, the award-winning fictional ABC series Glitch follows seven people from different eras who mysteriously burst out of their graves in perfect health in rural Victoria but only have some of their memories and must recover them. Resurrection is an accepted trope in science fiction. Director James Cameron famously said when asked about bringing back characters who had died for the sequel to his film, Avatar, ‘In science fiction, nobody’s ever really dead!’
I find the preoccupation that secular culture has with resurrection and the afterlife fascinating. For Hollywood writers, ‘Christian faith might not be in vogue, but we sure won’t let go of our firm hope in the afterlife!’ Resurrection is the in thing! As the people of the Resurrected One, I think this is a point of connection we have with popular culture – something we can connect with and use as an example as we share our faith with others. At some point in our lives, we will find ourselves sharing one of the primal tenets of Christianity: we will rise again from the dead just like Jesus did!
Over the next few devotions, we will examine what Paul says to the Corinthian church (and indeed all of us) about bodily resurrection. Obviously, some in this church community were wrestling with this issue, and Paul tackles it head-on here!
Paul is firm on this point throughout the chapter; it’s not just the soul that goes into heaven or a person’s disembodied spirit released from the body. We don’t die and become Casper the Friendly Ghost floating around! It is the resurrection of the dead – nekros – a lifeless corpse coming alive again. Resurrection is a physical life being restored. And Paul underscores it with that beautiful symmetry: bodily death came through Adam, and bodily resurrection through Christ Jesus.
So next time you are at a worship service and say the Apostles’ Creed, take note of the second to last phrase we say: ‘I believe in … the resurrection of the body.’
Risen Lord Jesus, firstborn of the dead, we celebrate your resurrection – your victory over death and the sign that we, too, will rise to life with you when we die. Thank you for my salvation. Help me share this joy with others. Amen.
Stephen Abraham is a retired Lutheran pastor and musician who served as a school pastor and church planter in Mawson Lakes, South Australia. Stephen retired early due to a spinal injury, leaving him largely housebound with chronic pain (documented by Lutheran Media on its Messages of Hope YouTube channel and radio program). As his condition allows, Stephen still preaches, takes chapel and serves his local church and school. He also writes and records personal songs, worship songs and Christian meditations, which he shares on his YouTube channel (youtube.com/StephenAbrahamMusic).
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