T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
351
th e resurrection takes place at death. F u rth e r, we have not th e slightest reason to suppose th a t th e New Testa m ent w riters attached any other mean ing to th e resurrection than the re viving of dead bodies. T h e ; term “R esurrection” cannot be Scripturally used if app lied -on ly to the' sp irit of man, yet th is is the only sense in which the new theology uses it. They say th a t it is the sp irit of man and hot his body th a t is raised up a t death, not th a t th e spirit dies, bu t th a t it passes on or is raised up, having been clothed w ith th e new body or organism a t the moment of its departu re from th e hu man body. But the New Testament w riters never speak of th e resurrec tion of a living sp irit at death; w ith them it is always th e “resurrection of th e dead,” som ething’jthat is dead, and not something th a t nevdr dies. More over, it is' always presented as an event th a t occurs, not a t death, but th a t shall tak e place a t some fu tu re time; If th e resurrection takes place at death; as' the new theology affirms, then it is an ever-recurring event, a past, present, and fu tu re event of per petual occurrence, tak ing place as often as a human' 'sp irit' passes out d eath .” The only possible conclusion from th e Apostle’s words is, th a t the resurrection had not taken place up to th a t time, th a t it is an event of the future. It m ight be added here, if God .decreed th e resurrection to tak e place at death, why did He make an excep tion to His universal plan as seen by the tim e of the Resurrection of C h rist’ R esurrection and Second Coming Simultaneous Note fu rth er, th a t th e Resurrection and the Second Coming of Christ aro. simultaneous occurrences in New Tes tam en t teaching. The new theology so views them in assigning these events to th e hour of death. But we have seen th a t these events do not occur at death, hence we must look tó the fu tu re for both the R esurrection and th e Sec ond Coining of Christ. And here the Scriptures b la z e 'th e way. The Apostle P aul associates them together in his first le tte r to the Church a t Corinth. He says: “But every man in his own order; Christ the first.fru its (from the d e a d ); afterw ard s they th a t a re Christ’s at His Coming. Then conusth th e end.” (1 Cor. 15:23,. 24). Here are th re e events occurring simultaneoiisl}., Jr, The Second Coming of Christ; T h e Resurrection of the Saihts; The. End of the Gospel Age.. And this is in keeping w ith the Scrip tu res throughout. New Testam ent Position What does th e New T estam ent teach as to th e5 resurrection Of,, the body? Have we ámplé reason for believing .that God will raise th e dead? Well, God h as' already raised soriie from among th e dead,. , He raised up Jesus Christ arid others. But do the Scrip tu r e s teach th a t th ere is a, resurrection ■for all men? To th is our Bord, replies. He: was affirming a general» resurrec tion , - and; th e men of His day . mar- : veiled;: -they • shook : th eir w is e ... heads
Made with FlippingBook - professional solution for displaying marketing and sales documents online