By the Scripture’s Own Writers
Resurrection
Definition
Resurrection is a restoration to life of the nonexistent dead. The Greek word, anastasis, means “a raising up”. It is an act of God dependent entirely upon God’s marvelous power through Christ and upon His memory of the dead. It is the reactivating of the life pattern of the creature, a transcription of which is on record with God, and is referred to as being in His memory. Resurrection does not involve the restoring of the original identical body of the creature. The life pattern is the personal life-long record of the creature built up by his thoughts and by the experiences in the life he has lived resulting from certain habits, leanings, mental abilities, memories and history. It is also a register of the individual’s intellectual growth and his characteristics, all of which make up one’s personality. Hence, according to God’s will for the creature, in a resurrection one is restored or re-created in either a human or a spirit body and yet retains his personal identity by the setting in motion again of the distinctive life pattern of that individual.
Hope of Resurrection Clearly Taught in Scriptures
Isaiah 25:8 “He has swallowed up death for ever; and the Lord Jehovah will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the reproach of His people He will take away from off all the earth: for Jehovah has spoken it.”
Hebrews 6:1, 2 “We have left the elementary doctrine … not laying a foundation again, namely… the resurrection of the dead.”
Hebrews 11:17-19 “By faith Abraham, when he was tested, as good as offered up Isaac, and the man that had gladly received the promises attempted to offer up his only-begotten son, although it had been said to him: ‘What will be called “your seed” will be through Isaac.’ But he reckoned that God was able to raise him up even from the dead; and from there he did receive him also in an illustrative way.”
Acts 24:14, 15 “In this manner I am rendering sacred service to the God of my forefathers, as I believe all the things set forth in the Law and written in the Prophets and I have hope toward God, which hope these men themselves also entertain, that there is going to be a resurrection of both the righteous and the unrighteous.”
Also: Matthew 28:5-9, 16; Luke 20:37, 38; Acts 13:29-37.
False Doctrine of Human Immortality Denies Resurrection, so Pagans Opposed Resurrection
Deuteronomy 31:16 “And Jehovah said unto Moses, Behold, you shall sleep with your fathers.”
2 Samuel 7:12 “When your days are fulfilled, and you shall sleep with your fathers, I will set up your seed after you, that shall proceed out of your bowels, and I will establish his kingdom.”
Acts 2:14, 29, 34 “But Peter stood up with the eleven and raised his voice and made this utterance to them: ‘Men of Judea and all you inhabitants of Jerusalem, let this be known to you and give ear to my sayings. Brothers, it is allowable to speak with freeness of speech to you concerning the family head David, that he both deceased and was buried and his tomb is among us to this day. Actually David did not ascend to the heavens, but he himself says, “Jehovah said to my Lord, ‘Sit at My right hand.’ “
Acts 17:18-34 “But certain ones of both the Epicurean and the Stoic philosophers took to conversing with him controversially, and some would say: ‘What is it this chatterer would like to tell?’ Others: ‘He seems to be a publisher of foreign deities.’ This was because he was declaring the good news of Jesus and the resurrection, So they laid hold of him and led him to the Areopagus, saying: ‘Can we get to know what this new teaching is which is spoken by you? For you are introducing some things that are strange to our ears.’ Paul . . . said: ‘…Because He has set a day in which He purposes to judge the inhabited earth in righteousness by a man whom He has appointed, and He has furnished a guarantee to all men in that He has resurrected Him from the dead.’ Well, when they heard of a resurrection of the dead, some began to mock, while others said: ‘We will hear you about this even another time.’ “
God’s Power of Resurrection Manifested in Resurrection Through Christ
Romans 1:4 “But who with power was declared God’s Son according to the spirit of holiness by means of resurrection from the dead—yes, Jesus Christ our Lord.”
1 Thessalonians 1:9, 10 “You turned to God… to wait for His Son from the heavens, whom He raised up from the dead, namely, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath which is coming.”
John 11:25, 26 “Jesus said to her: ‘I am the resurrection and the life. He that exercises faith in Me, even though he dies, will come to life, and everyone that is living and exercises faith in Me will never die at all.’ “
John 5:26 “For just as the Father has in Himself the gift of life, so He has granted to the Son to have also in Himself the gift of life.”
Christ the First to Be Raised, Therefore Opened Way for Others
1 Peter 3:21 “That which corresponds to this is also now saving you, namely, baptism … through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.”
Colossians 1:18 “And He is the head of the body, the congregation. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that He might become the one who is first in all things.”
1 Corinthians 15:20-22 “However, now Christ has been raised up from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep in death. For since death is through a man, resurrection of the dead is also through a man. For just as in Adam all are dying, so also in the Christ all will be made alive.”
Revelation 1:17, 18 “I am the First and the Last, and the living one; and I became dead, but, look! I am living for ever and ever, and I have the keys of death and of hades.”
More than 500 Witnesses of the Resurrected Jesus Christ
1 Corinthians 15:6, 7 “After that He appeared to upward of five hundred brothers at one time, the most of whom remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep in death. After that He appeared to James, then to all the apostles.”
Acts 2:31, 32 “He saw beforehand and spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ, that neither was He forsaken in hades nor did His flesh see corruption. This Jesus God resurrected, of which fact we are all witnesses.”
Life Pattern Is Identity of Creature That God Holds in Memory
Job 14:13-15 (mar.) “Oh that You would hide me in sheol, that You would keep me secret, until Your wrath be past, that You would appoint me a set time, and remember me! If a man dies, shall he live again? All the days of my warfare will I wait, till my release should come. You shall call, and I will answer You. You would have a desire to the work of Your hands.”
Proverbs 23:7 “For as he thinks within himself, so is he.”
Malachi 3:16 “Then they that feared Jehovah spoke one with another; and Jehovah hearkened, and heard, and a book of remembrance was written before Him, for them that feared Jehovah, and that thought upon His Name.”
Jesus’ Life Pattern (Memory, Mental Abilities, Leaning and Habits) Restored in Resurrection; Recognized by His Personality, Not by His Various Materialized Bodies
Luke 24:13-35 “Now as they were conversing and discussing, Jesus Himself approached and began traveling with them; but their eyes were kept from recognizing Him. .. . And commencing at Moses and all the Prophets, He interpreted to them things pertaining to Himself in all the Scriptures…. And as He was reclining with them at the meal, He took the loaf, blessed it, broke it and began to hand it to them. At that their eyes were fully opened and they recognized Him; and He disappeared from them. And they said to each other: ‘Were not our hearts burning as He was speaking to us on the road, as He was fully opening up the Scriptures to us?’ . . . Now they themselves described the events on the road and how He became known to them by the breaking of the loaf.”
John 21:4-7 “However, just as it was getting to be day, Jesus stood on the beach, but the disciples did not, of course, discern it was Jesus. … He said to them: ‘Cast the net on the right side of the boat and you will find something.’ Then they cast it, but they were no longer able to draw it in because of the multitude of the fishes. Therefore that disciple whom Jesus used to love said to Peter: ‘It is the Master!'”
John 20:14, 16 “After saying these things, she turned back and viewed Jesus standing, but she did not discern it was Jesus. Jesus said to her: ‘Mary!’ Upon turning around, she said to Him, in Hebrew: ‘Rabboni!’ (which means ‘Teacher!’).”
Jesus’ Resurrection Not of Same Body; He Merely Materialized Flesh and Blood to Be Seen and Believed
1 Corinthians 15:35-42, 45, 50 “Nevertheless, someone will say: ‘How are the dead to be raised up? Yes, with what kind of body are they coming?’ You unreasonable person! What you sow is not made alive unless first it dies; and as for what you sow, you sow, not the body that will develop, but a bare grain, it may be, of wheat or any one of the rest; but God gives it a body just as it has pleased Him, and to each of the seeds its own body. Not all flesh is the same flesh, but there is one of mankind, and there is another flesh of cattle, and another flesh of birds, and another of fish. And there are heavenly bodies, and earthly bodies; but the glory of the heavenly bodies is one kind, and that of the earthly bodies is a different kind. … So also is the resurrection of the dead…. It is even so written: ‘The first man Adam became a living soul.’ The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. However, this I say, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit God’s kingdom, neither does corruption inherit incorruption.”
1 Peter 3:18 “Why, even Christ died once for all time concerning sins, a righteous person for unrighteous ones, that He might lead you to God, He being put to death in the flesh, but being made alive in the spirit.”
Acts 10:40, 41 “God raised this One up on the third day and granted Him to become visible, not to all the people, but to witnesses appointed beforehand by God, to us, who ate and drank with Him after His rising from the dead.”
Luke 24:37-40 “But they were terrified, and because they became frightened they were imagining they beheld a spirit. So He said to them: ‘Why are you troubled, and why is it doubts come up in your hearts? See My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself; feel Me and see, because a spirit does not have flesh and bones just as you behold that I have.’ And as He said this, He showed them His hands and His feet.”
[Compare this appearance to the experience of the disciples while Jesus was still alive in flesh (Matthew 14:26, 27).]
Only Those in God’s Memory Have Hope
John 5:28, 29 “Do not marvel at this, because the hour is coming in which all those in the memorial tombs will hear His voice and come out.”
Acts 2:27-32 “David … saw beforehand and spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ, that neither was He forsaken in hades nor did His flesh see corruption. This Jesus God resurrected, of which fact we are all witnesses.”
Revelation 20:13 “And the sea gave up those dead in it, and death and hades gave up those dead in them, and they were judged individually according to their deeds.”
Wicked Will Never Be Remembered for Resurrection
Proverbs 21:18 “The man that wanders out of the way of understanding shall rest in the assembly of the dead.”
Proverbs 10:7 “The memory of the righteous is blessed; but the name of the wicked shall rot.”
Obadiah 16 “For as you have drunk upon My holy mountain, so shall all the nations drink continually; yea, they shall drink, and swallow down, and shall be as though they had not been.”
Jeremiah 51:57 “And they shall sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake.”
Isaiah 26:14 “They are dead, they shall not live; they are deceased, they shall not rise: therefore You have visited and destroyed them, and made all remembrance of them to perish.”
Psalm 109:15, 16 “Let them be before Jehovah continually, that He may cut off the memory of them from the earth.”
Matthew 25:41, 46 “Then He will say, in turn, to those on His left: ‘Be on your way from Me, you who have been cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels.’ And these will depart into everlasting cutting-off, but the righteous ones into everlasting life.”
Resurrection Not a Transmigration of Human Soul into Newly Born Child
John 3:4 “How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter into the womb of his mother a second time and be born, can he?”
Matthew 17:10-13 “However, the disciples put the question to Him: ‘Why, then, do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?’ In reply He [Jesus] said: ‘Elijah, indeed, is coming and will restore all things. However, I say to you that Elijah has already come and they did not recognize him but did with him the things they wanted. In this way also the Son of man is destined to suffer at their hands.’ Then the disciples perceived that He spoke to them about John the Baptist.”
Luke 1:13, 15, 17 “You are to call his name John …; for he will be great before Jehovah…. Also he will go before Him with Elijah’s spirit and power.”
144,000 Sharing in Christ’s Death Raised to Heaven to Share in First Resurrection
1 Peter 1:3, 4 “God .. . gave us a new birth to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an incorruptible and undefiled and unfading inheritance. It is reserved in the heavens for you.”
2 Corinthians 4:14 “Knowing that he who raised Jesus up will raise us up also together with Jesus and will present us together with you.”
Romans 6:5 “For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, we shall certainly also be united with Him in the likeness of His resurrection.”
Philippians 3:10, 11 “So as to know Him and the power of His resurrection and a sharing in His sufferings, submitting myself to His kind of death, to see if I may by any means attain to the earlier resurrection from the dead.”
1 Corinthians 15:42, 44, 45, 53 “So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption, it is raised up in incorruption. It is sown a physical body, it is raised up a spiritual body…. It is even so written: ‘The first man Adam became a living soul.’ The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. For this which is corruptible must put on incorruption, and this which is mortal must put on immortality.”
Luke 12:32 “Have no fear, little flock, because your Father has approved of giving you the kingdom.”
Revelation 20:4-6 “And I saw thrones, and there were those who sat down on them, and power of judging was given them. Yes, I saw the souls of those executed with the ax for the witness they bore to Jesus … And they came to life and ruled as kings with the Christ for a thousand years…. This is the first resurrection. Happy and holy is anyone having part in the first resurrection; over these the second death has no authority, but they will be priests of God and of the Christ, and will rule as kings with Him for the thousand years.”
Revelation 14:1 “And I saw, and look! the Lamb standing upon the mount Zion, and with Him a hundred and forty-four thousand having His Name and the Name of his Father written on their foreheads.”
Earlier Ones of 144,000 Sleep in Death Until Day of Christ’s Manifestation A. D. 1918
1 Corinthians 15:22-24, 52 “In the Christ all will be made alive. But each one in his own rank: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who belong to the Christ during His presence. Next, the accomplished end,… For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised up incorruptible, and we shall be changed.”
1 Thessalonians 4:14, 16 “For if our faith is that Jesus died and rose again, so, too, those who have fallen asleep in death through Jesus, God will bring with Him. Because the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a commanding call, with an archangel’s voice and with God’s trumpet, and those who are dead in union with Christ will rise first.”
John 11:23, 24 “Jesus said to her: ‘Your brother will rise.’ Martha said to Him: ‘I know he will rise in the resurrection on the last day.’ “
2 Timothy 4:7, 8 “I have fought the right fight, I have run the course to the finish, I have observed the faith. From this time on there is reserved for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me as a reward in that day, yet not only to me, but also to all those who have loved His manifestation.”
Also: John 6:33, 38-40, 53-58.
Those of This Class Dying Since 1918 Changed Immediately at Their Death
1 Corinthians 15:51, 52 “Look! I tell you a sacred secret: We shall not all fall asleep in death, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, during the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised up incorruptible, and we shall be changed.”
1 Thessalonians 4:15-17 “For this is what we tell you by Jehovah’s Word, that we the living who survive to the presence of the Lord shall in no way precede those who have fallen asleep in death, … and those who are dead in union with Christ will rise first. Afterward we the living who are surviving will together with them be caught away in clouds to meet the Lord in the air; and thus we shall always be with the Lord.”
144,000 Also Described as Having a Spiritual Awakening
Colossians 2:12 “For you were buried with Him in His baptism, and by relationship with Him you were also raised up together through your faith in the operation of God, who raised Him up from the dead.”
Colossians 3:1 “If, however, you were raised up with Christ, go on seeking the things above, where the Christ is seated at the right hand of God.”
Romans 6:11-13 “Likewise also you: reckon yourselves to be dead indeed with reference to sin but living with reference to God by Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin continue to rule as king in your mortal bodies that you should obey their desires. Neither go on presenting your members to sin as weapons of unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead.”
Ephesians 2:3-6 “Yes, among them we all at one time conducted ourselves in harmony with the desires of our flesh, doing the things the flesh and the thoughts willed, and we were naturally children of wrath even as the rest. But God, who is rich in mercy, for His great love with which He loved us, made us alive together with the Christ, even when we were dead in trespasses —by undeserved kindness you have been saved—and He raised us up together and seated us together in the heavenly places in union with Christ Jesus.”
Those Faithful Men of Old Who Proved Integrity Before Jesus Will Be Raised to Life on Earth
Hebrews 11:30-35 “Rahab … Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David as well as Samuel and the other prophets, . . . stopped the mouths of lions, stayed the force of fire, escaped the edge of the sword,. .. Women received their dead by resurrection; but other men were tortured because they would not accept release by some ransom, in order that they might attain a better resurrection.”
Isaiah 26:19 “Your dead shall live; my dead bodies shall arise. Awake and sing, you that dwell in the dust; for your dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast forth the dead.”
Hosea 13:14 “I will ransom them from the power of sheol; I will redeem them from death: O death, where are thy plagues? O sheol, where is your destruction?”
Acts 17:31 “Because He has set a day in which He purposes to judge the inhabited earth in righteousness by a man whom He has appointed, and He has furnished a guarantee to all men, in that He has resurrected Him from the dead.”
Faithful Other Sheep Dying Now Have Hope of Resurrection on Earth
John 10:16 “And I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; those also I must bring… and they will become one flock, one shepherd.”
Matthew 25:33, 34 “And He will put the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on His left. Then the King will say to those on His right: ‘Come, you who have My Father’s blessing, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the world’s foundation.’ “
Psalm 37:9-11 “For evil-doers shall be cut off; but those that wait for Jehovah, they shall inherit the land. For yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be: yea, you shall diligently consider his place, and he shall not be. But the meek shall inherit the land, and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.”
These Two Classes Likely to Be Raised Early After Armageddon
Job 14:13 “That You would keep me secret, until Your wrath be past, that You would appoint me a set time, and remember me!”
Daniel 12:13 “For you shall rest, and shall stand in your lot, at the end of the days.”
Revelation 20:11, 12 “And I saw a great white throne and the One seated on it. From before Him the earth and the heaven fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne.”
All Three Groups, Accounted Righteous, Have Resurrection of Life
John 5:25-29 “Most truly I say to you, the hour is coming, and it is now, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who have given heed will live.. .. and come out, those who did good things to a resurrection of life.”
All Others in God’s Memory, Reckoned Unrighteous, Raised for Judgment on Earth
Luke 23:40, 41, 43 “In reply the other rebuked him and said: ‘Do you not fear God at all, now that you are in the same judgment? And we, indeed, justly so, for we are receiving in full what, we deserve for things we did; but this man did nothing out of the way.’ And He [Jesus] said to him: ‘Truly I tell you today, You will be with Me in Paradise.’ “
John 5:25-30 “For just as the Father has in Himself the gift of life, so He has granted to the Son to have also in Himself the gift of life. And He has given Him authority to do judging, because He is Son of man…. those in the memorial tombs will hear His voice and come out,… those who practiced vile things to a resurrection of judgment. .. . just as I hear, I judge, and the judgment that I render is righteous.”
Awakening Must Wait Until Paradise Earth Established After Armageddon
Luke 23:42, 43 “And he went on to say: ‘Jesus, remember me when you get into Your kingdom.’ And He said to him: ‘Truly I tell you today, You will be with Me in Paradise.’ “
Revelation 20:11-13 “And I saw a great white throne and the One seated on it. From before Him the earth and the heaven fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and scrolls were opened. But another scroll was opened; it is the scroll of life. And the dead were judged out of those things written in the scrolls according to their deeds. And the sea gave up those dead in it, and death and hades gave up those dead in them, and they were judged individually according to their deeds.”
All on Earth, Though Awakened Earlier, Do Not Have Guarantee of Life Until End of 1,000-Year Reign
Revelation 20:5, 7, 8, 10, 14, 15 “The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended. . . . Now as soon as the thousand years have been ended, satan will be let loose out of his prison, and he will go out to mislead those nations in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together for the war. The number of these is as the sand of the sea. And the devil who was misleading them was hurled into the lake of fire and sulphur… And death and hades were hurled into the lake of fire. This means the second death, the lake of fire. Furthermore, whoever was not found written in the book of life was hurled into the lake of fire.”
Luke 20:35, 36 “But those who have been counted worthy of gaining that system of things and the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage. In fact, neither can they die any more, for they are like the angels, and they are God’s children by being children of the resurrection.”
1 Corinthians 15:57 “But thanks to God, for He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!”
Revelation 21:1-4 “And I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the former heaven and the former earth had passed away… And He will wipe out every tear from their eyes, and death will be no more, neither will mourning nor outcry nor pain be any more. The former things have passed away.”
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