Session 27: The Four Forms of Resurrection

In this session, I discuss the current state of the world and how God plans to redeem fallen man. Nature communicates two basic messages: (1) Because of the incredible natural beauty and complexity of this world, there must be a Creator of this creation. (2) Because nature can be so cruel and cause so much misery and death, this Creator must be angry toward mankind. Fortunately, through the Scriptures, God has revealed to mankind what went wrong. Because of Adam and Eve’s rebellion against him, God altered nature to cause death and destruction. We are alienated from God, who is Life. Some of us may live a pleasant life for a limited time, but at some point, we will all experience a great deal of misery and ultimately death. Many of our deepest human aspirations go unfulfilled. We all long for a life of paradise that would have no end.

God’s divine power of resurrection is the key to God’s plan of redemption. There are four forms of resurrection: two are of the spirit, and two are of the body.
(1) Through the first resurrection of the spirit, we are born again and become the living children of God while we walk with God on this earth.
(2) Through the second resurrection of the spirit when our mortal bodies die, our individual spirits are raised up to join Christ in heaven while our bodies sleep in the earth.
(3) Through the first resurrection of the natural body at the beginning of the millennium, the spirits of the departed saints will reenter regenerated Adamic bodies to experience an Edenic paradise for a thousand years.
(4) And through the final resurrection of the natural body on the last day, our natural Adamic bodies will be transformed into eternal bodies so that we can inherit an eternal paradise in heaven.