The Resurrections of Life and Damnation

"Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God, Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment." (Hebrews 6:1-2)

We are continuing our study on the subject of "Resurrection of the Dead." In our last lesson we covered the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Notice in verse two of our text above, the Apostle Paul said, "...and of resurrection of the dead."

Paul did not say, "...and the resurrection of the dead."

The Apostle Paul used the preposition "of" and he did not use the definite article "the." This is because he is speaking of more than one resurrection.

The Word of God reveals there are three primary resurrections of the dead.

The first resurrection is the Resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The remaining two resurrections are the Resurrection of Life and the Resurrection of Damnation.

These resurrections will be the topic of this lesson.

Top
Resurrection from the Dead. The Ultimate Achievement

Almost all of the world's false religions and make-believe disciplines teach the immortality of the human spirit. However, only the Holy Scriptures teach the immortality of the human spirit, the human soul and the human body.

Ancient Greek philosophers such as Plato and Aristotle wrongly believed and taught the human body was the source of all evil. They taught their subscribers that being released from the body at death was the ultimate achievement because it released one from evil.

This is not what the Bible teaches. The Bible teaches that Satan is the source of all evil, not the human body. Certainly, sin manifests itself through the human body in many ways, but the body is not the source of sin. Satan is the source of sin.

The Prophet Ezekiel makes it perfectly clear that Lucifer, the fallen angel now known as Satan, is the origin of all that is evil.

"Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. Thou wast perfect in thy ways from day that thou was created until iniquity was found in thee. By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore, I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire." (Ezekiel 28:14-16)

The written Word of God disproves the theories of the ancient Greek philosophers. The body is not the source of evil. Satan is the source of evil. Therefore, being released from the body is not the ultimate achievement. The Bible teaches the Christian's being resurrected from the dead and their spirit being rejoined to a perfected body is the ultimate achievement.

In our last lesson we saw how Jesus Christ took upon Himself a human body that through His death, burial, resurrection and ascension He might redeem, spirit, soul and body, everyone who trusts in Him.

"But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept. For since by man [Adam] came death, by man [Jesus] came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at His coming." (1 Corinthians 15:20-23)

We looked closely at these verses in our last lesson and we saw that because Christ was raised from the dead unto perfection, all who sleep believing in Him shall also be raised to perfection.

Christ's resurrection was a bodily resurrection. Therefore, His followers' resurrection will be a bodily resurrection.

Top
The Resurrection of the Dead Is a Biblical & Historical Fact

Believing in the resurrection of the dead should not be difficult for the Christian. There are many references to the dead being raised throughout the Bible.

In the Old Testament the dead were raised. (1 Kings 17:17-24; 2 Kings 4:18-37; 2 Kings 13:20-21)

Jesus raised the dead many times while on Earth. (Mark 5:35-43; Luke 7:12-16; John 11:1-44)

Jesus Himself was raised from the dead. (Matthew 28:6)

At the time of Jesus' resurrection many Old Testament believers were raised from the dead. (Matthew 27:51-53)

Peter raised Dorcas from the dead. (Acts 9:36-43)

I believe the Apostle Paul was raised from the dead. (Acts 14:19-20)

Paul raised Eutychus from the dead. (Acts 20:8-11)

I myself have seen the dead raised.

Many modern-day Prophets of God have seen the dead raised.

With the exception of Jesus Christ, all of the above historical examples are actually "resuscitations" as opposed to permanent "resurrections" because they all died to be risen again.

Truly resurrected bodies will never die again. But these given examples do reveal the will and the ability of God to raise the dead. They are given here to show the reader that Almighty God is indeed in the resurrection business.

During the coming Tribulation Period, God's two witnesses will be murdered and they, too, shall be raised from the dead. (Revelation 11:1-13)

Top
The Prophets Job & Isaiah Prophesied Their Own Bodily Resurrections

"For I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that He shall stand at the latter day upon the Earth: and though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God." (Job 19:25)

The Prophet Job knew by revelation of the Holy Spirit, and prophesied by inspiration of the Holy Spirit, that he would get his original, only perfected, body back one day and stand in it before the Throne of God.

"Thy dead man shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew as as the dew of herbs, and the Earth shall cast out the dead." (Isaiah 26:19)

The Prophet Isaiah also knew by revelation of the Holy Spirit that he would raise from the dead and spend Eternity in the very same body, only perfected, that he once lived in before his resurrection.

Notice, he said that he would be risen in "my dead body." Isaiah made it clear that when the dead are raised, they do not get another body but their spirits are returned to their original body.

Therefore, given all of the above historical and Biblical facts and prophecies, it should not be difficult for the Christian to believe that every human being who has ever lived will one day be risen from the dead. At that time they will stand before Almighty God in either the Resurrection of Life or the Resurrection of Damnation.

Top
Two Coming Resurrections Occurring at Two Different Times

When standing trial before Ananias the High Priest, in defense of himself the Apostle Paul made an enlightening statement.

"But this I confess unto thee, that after the Way which they call heresy, so worship I the God of my fathers, believing all things which are written in the Law and in the Prophets: and have hope toward God, which they themselves also allow, that there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust." (Acts 24:14-15)

Here the Apostle Paul makes clear and definite reference to two separate resurrections. He referred to one resurrection for the just and another resurrection for the unjust.

This Paul would have learned directly by personal revelation of Jesus Christ. (Galatians 1:11-12)

"Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear His voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the Resurrection of Life; and they that have done evil, unto the Resurrection of Damnation." (John 5:28-29)

Here the Lord Jesus makes reference to two different resurrections occurring at two different times. This is what He would have personally taught the Apostle Paul during one of Paul's many visitations of Jesus. (2 Corinthians 12:1)

Jesus makes it perfectly clear here that without exception, believe it or not, every human being who ever lived will be raised from the dead. Some will come forth unto the Resurrection of Life while others shall come forth unto the Resurrection of Damnation.

We will now look at those resurrections beginning with the Resurrection of Life.

Top
Chapter 1: The Resurrection of Life

It would be greatly beneficial to read once again Jesus' clear reference to these two distinctly separate resurrections.

Jesus said that those who have done good, by accepting Him, would come forth unto the Resurrection of Life. He also said that those who have done evil, by rejecting Him, would come forth unto the Resurrection of Damnation.

The Resurrection of Life is reserved exclusively for those who belong to Jesus Christ.

We saw this in our last lesson entitled "The Resurrection of Jesus Christ." Let us look at it again.

"But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at His coming." (1 Corinthians 15:23)

Here the Apostle Paul also makes it perfectly clear that only "they that are Christ's" will come forth in the Resurrection of Life. There will be no Christ-rejecters at this glorious resurrection.

Top
The Resurrection of Life Occurs Before the Resurrection of Damnation

The Apostle John, in his Isle of Patmos revelation, wrote the following.

"Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years." (Revelation 20:6)

This is a clear declaration that the Resurrection of Life is the "first" resurrection, meaning it occurs well before the Resurrection of Damnation.

Top
The Resurrection of Life Occurs Moments Before the Rapture

"For the Lord Himself shall descend from Heaven with a shout, with a voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord." (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17)

Notice the Apostle Paul in writing to the Thessalonian Church said the resurrection of the dead in Christ shall occur first and then we which are still alive at that time shall be caught up together with them.

This proves that the Resurrection of Life occurs before the Rapture. At that time the graves will be opened, the dead in Christ shall rise with glorified bodies and those of us who are alive will go up immediately on their heels, also in our new glorified bodies. Amazing!

Although the Bible does not use the word "Rapture" it certainly covers the event which we call "The Rapture." The word "rapture" simply means "to catch away."

Paul referred to the Rapture as "that blessed hope" when writing to Titus, his son in the faith.

"Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ." (Titus 2:13)

Because the Rapture of the Church occurs at the beginning of the Tribulation Period, we can know that the Resurrection of Life also occurs before the seven-year Tribulation Period.

There are many Old and New Testament references to the fact that the New Testament Church will not go through the Tribulation Period. One of the clearest is found in Jeremiah chapter thirty.

"Alas! For that day is great, so that none is like it: It is even the time of Jacob's trouble; but he shall be saved out of it." (Jeremiah 30:7)

You will notice that the seven-year Tribulation Period is here referred to as "the time of Jacob's trouble." Jacob is a reference to the nation of Israel.

The Tribulation Period is not referred to as "the time of the Church's trouble" because the Church will not go through it. Israel and unsaved Gentiles will go through the seven-year Tribulation Period.

Both the dead in Christ and the living in Christ will have already met the Lord in the air, avoiding the seven-year period of Jacob's trouble.

Top
The Resurrection of Life Is a Grave-Opening, Bodily Resurrection

This resurrection will prove itself to be absolutely devastating to the Christ-rejecting skeptics, scoffers and mockers.

When Jesus was resurrected and appeared to His disciples, He was in the same body He had been murdered in. His hands and feet had nail holes. His side had the sword wound and His body was covered with the marks of His suffering. This was the same identical body He had died in, only it was now glorified.

Jesus' body was no longer subject to physical limitations which is proven by the fact that He suddenly appeared in the midst of His disciples in a room where the doors and windows were locked.

"Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and sayeth unto them, Peace be unto you. And when He had said so, He showed unto them His hands and his side. Then were the disciples glad, when they saw the Lord." (John 20:19-20)

Even as Jesus received His body back in a perfected state which was no longer subject to physical limitations, so shall His followers receive back their perfected bodies.

Top
The Apostle Paul Taught What Jesus Taught about Perfected Bodies

"For our conversation is in Heaven: from whence we also look for the Savior the Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto His glorious body, according to the working whereby He is able to even subdue all things to Himself." (Philippians 3:20-21)

The Apostle Paul taught that the human body is a seed with a life principle contained within itself, even as Jesus taught. When the human body is planted like a seed, it produces after its own kind, only better.

"But some men will say, How are the dead raised up? And with what body do they come? Thou fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die: and that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bear grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some other grain: But God giveth it a body as it hath pleased Him, and to every seed his own body. ... It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body." (1Corinthians 15:35-38, 44)

At the Resurrection of Life the Christian's perfected body will come forth from the natural seed of the unperfected body.

Imagine the cemeteries of the world being turned into literal harvest fields of human bodies being raised at the Resurrection of Life.

"In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed." (1 Corinthians 15:52)

Although we will all look the same as we did while sojourning on Planet Earth, we will not be the same, for we will have changed into our glorified bodies! That body you always wished you could have will now be yours!

How a decomposed human body can be raised, perfected and look identical to what it once was is beyond human understanding. Fortunately, we are not called to understand it. We are called to believe it.

Almighty God knows where everyone's DNA is and He will get the resurrection job done in the twinkling of an eye, in a fast New York minute.

The believer's resurrected body will no longer be subject to accidents, injury, sickness, pain or deformity, nor will it ever die again.

The resurrected Christian's body will never again be subject to corruption.

"So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption:" (1Corinthians 15:42)

All people, saved or unsaved, will raise from the dead. But only God's children will get the perfected model with all the options, all the bells and whistles, disease-free, pain-free, wrinkle-free and odor-free.

Top
The Believer's Resurrected Body Will Be a Powerful Body

"It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power:" (1Corinthians 15:43)

The capabilities of the incorruptible, perfected human body will be inconceivably greater than anything ever experienced while abiding within a corrupted human body.

The Sadducees rejected Christ's teachings on the resurrection. They did not believe in any type of resurrection from the dead. One day they tried to trick Jesus concerning His resurrection teachings.

They came to Him with a story of a woman who had been married seven times and smugly asked Jesus, "Okay, smart guy, whose wife will she be in the so-called resurrection of the dead?"

Jesus put them right on the spot, rebuking them for their ignorance of the Book they prided themselves on teaching.

"Jesus answered and said unto them, Ye do err, not knowing the Scriptures, nor the power of God. For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in Heaven." (Matthew 22:29-30)

In correcting the Sadducees Jesus revealed some astounding things about the Christian's perfected body. He said they are as the angels in Heaven. Angels are powerful creations indeed.

Here at the JHM Online Bible Training Centre we have prepared for the Bible student and the Minister an entire course on Angelology. There you will see how the Scripture reveals the angels of God are immortal, tireless, able to travel at inconceivable speeds, ascend and descend between the Planet Heaven and the Planet Earth.

The angels drive chariots, ride spirit horses and are unbeatable in physical strength. You will never find one sick, confused, hungry, scared angel in the Bible. They are beings of great strength and great wisdom.

In the Bible you will never find one angel who lost their job for cheating with steroids. Their inconceivable strength is a manifestation of the glory of God.

Jesus said in Heaven His resurrected followers are just like the angels.

Top
The Believer's Resurrected Body Is a Celestial Body

"There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another." (1 Corinthians 15:40)

The best bodies in this world are a corrupt bag of bones compared to the coming celestial, Heavenly body of Christ's risen followers. Their celestial bodies will be perfectly suited to operate in both the New Heaven and in the New Earth. Like the perfected body of Jesus and the body of angels, the perfected Christian's body can come and go between Heaven and Earth.

Quite possibly this will occur as we are enabled by the Holy Spirit to travel by translation as the Evangelist Philip did.

Philip took the Ethiopian Eunuch down to a pool of water to baptize him. When they came up out of the water Philip suddenly disappeared from the Eunuch's presence, instantly reappearing in Azotus over twenty-five miles away.

"And when they were come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, that the Eunuch saw him no more: and he went on his way rejoicing. But Philip was found at Azotus: and passing through he preached in all the cities, til he came to Caesarea." (Acts 8:39-40)

As Philip was supernaturally translated through an operation of God's glory in manifestation, I believe resurrected believers will be supernaturally translated from one place to another as a means of transportation while living in the New Heavens and the New Earth.

Possibly one would just think about where they want to be and suddenly they are there.

The Christian's resurrected, perfected body is as glorious and as powerful as their present body is inglorious and powerless.

The believer's perfected body will be raised recognizable, incorruptible, powerful, tireless, disease-less, painless, problem-less, perfect and glorified just like Jesus body and just like the body of angels.

We shall be raised immortal, unchangeable, wonderful and ready to be rewarded at the Bema Judgment Seat of Christ.

Top
The Implied Possibility of Additional Resurrections

There will be many others who will be saved during the seven-year Tribulation Period, after the Resurrection of Life has occurred.

Many of these individuals will be beheaded for refusing to worship the Beast or his image and refusing to receive his mark on their bodies. These individuals will have to be resurrected at Christ's Second Coming once the Tribulation Period has ended. (Revelation 20:4)

It is also possible that there may be another resurrection at the end of Christ's Millennial Reign. This is implied in Scripture but never explicitly stated.

Those who make Christ their Savior during the terrible seven-year Tribulation Period, who manage to escape beheading, will enter into Christ's 1,000 year Millennial Reign in unperfected bodies.

It is unclear whether or not these individuals will die and be resurrected in order to receive their perfected bodies, or if they will receive their perfected bodies in some other way. (Isaiah 65:20)

Now let us turn our attention to the most regrettable of the three primary resurrections from the dead.

Top
Chapter 2: The Resurrection of Damnation

Jesus told us that there are two primary resurrections apart from His own resurrection. We have seen the Resurrection of Life. Now we will see what Jesus called the "Resurrection of Damnation."

The wicked dead of all ages, those who have rejected conscience, God and Jesus, having died in their sins, will be raised again to physical eternal life.

At this time they will stand before the Great White Throne Judgment. This is a judgment reserved exclusively for the wicked dead. At this judgment they will be banished to the Lake of Fire for all of Eternity.

The Lake of Fire is a literal, not a figurative, place. The duration of the punishment of the damned in the Lake of Fire carries the same thought and meaning of endless existence, as used in denoting the duration of joy and ecstasy of Christians in the presence of God.

Nowhere in the Bible is the false doctrine of the "extinction of the wicked" or the "annihilation of the wicked" ever even referred to.

The wicked dead will be raised to live eternally in the same corrupt bodies in which they originally died.

The Resurrection of Damnation and the Great White Throne Judgment will occur at the end of Christ's Millennial Reign, one thousand years after the Resurrection of Life. (Revelation 20:1-15)

Top
The Wicked Shall Be Raised to Eternal Punishment & Suffering

Although the Scriptures do not say as much about the resurrection bodies of Christ-rejecters as it does the resurrection bodies of Christ-accepters, it does make some things perfectly clear.

One thing that is made regretfully clear is that the resurrected bodies of the wicked dead will be restored to their inglorious conditions and they will suffer in those bodies eternally.

"And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in Hell." (Matthew 10:28)

These are the words of Jesus Christ and they are words which are often twisted and distorted in an attempt to prove the unscriptural doctrine of "extinction of the wicked dead" or "annihilation of the wicked dead."

Many have used this verse to teach that Jesus said the body and soul are destroyed in Hell and that they do not suffer eternally.

However, this type of wishful thinking is easily discredited by referring to a Greek Lexicon and looking at the word "destroy." The word Jesus used here is not "destroy" at all.

The word Jesus used is actually "punish."

Jesus spoke this in Aramaic but its proper translation into Greek is "punish."

This word is a verb clearly indicating ongoing, eternal bodily punishment.

"Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you; and to you who are troubled, rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from Heaven with His mighty angels, and flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of His power;" (1 Thessalonians 1:6-9)

Here the Apostle Paul, in agreement with the teachings of Jesus, the Master, makes it perfectly clear that those who reject conscience, God and Jesus, will be punished with everlasting punishment. They will not be "annihilated" or made "extinct."

The wicked dead will be raised as surely as the righteous dead will be raised.

However, the wicked dead will not be healed, perfected or given glorified bodies. The wicked dead rejected that provision when they rejected the One Who provides it - Jehovah Jireh, the Perfected Body Provider.

One must belong to the Lord Jesus Christ to receive a perfected body at resurrection time.

Top
Don't Be an Idiot. Understand Christ's Idioms

"And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into Hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.

"And if thy foot offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter halt into life, than having two feet to be cast into Hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.

"And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out: it is better for the to enter into the Kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into Hell fire: where their worm dieth not, and the fire of Hell is not quenched." (Mark 9:43-48)

Here Jesus is speaking in what is called an "idiom." An idiom is a word or a phrase that is not to be taken literally, although it can be expressing something literal. Idioms exist in every language. There are estimated to be at least 25,000 idiomatic expressions in the English language alone.

A good example of an idiom in the English language would be "He really bought the farm this time." This expression has nothing to do with the literal purchase of real estate, but it does have a literal meaning. It means someone literally died physically.

Another well-known English idiom is "It's raining cats and dogs." It does not literally mean that cats and dogs are falling out of the sky. However, it does literally mean it is raining exceptionally heavy.

Some other popular English idioms are "Would someone please give me a hand," "This is going to cost me an arm and a leg," and "We just don't see eye-to-eye."

Jesus is not saying to literally cut off your hand, cut off your foot and poke out your eye in order to keep yourself from sinning. By using Hebrew idioms common to His day, Jesus is making the point that one must do whatever it takes to keep oneself from being banished to the Lake of Fire for all Eternity.

Although not referring to the literal maiming of one's body, Jesus is using these idioms to emphasize the importance of avoiding, at all costs, a literal Lake of Fire where the fires are literally not quenched and where the worms literally die not.

Top
Maggots Everlastingly Consuming Sick Inconsumable Bodies

Let's talk about those literal worms which Jesus emphasized will never die.

One translation of the Bible puts it quite accurately in the following way.

"Where the maggots never die and the fire never goes out."

When Jesus used the word "worms" He was literally referring to maggots that never die.

The word He chose to use is literally the word "maggots."

Jesus was making the point that those who end up in the Lake of Fire in their inglorious resurrected bodies will discover those bodies to be full of corruption, sickness, pain, weakness, disease, literal maggots and utter ruin.

It is my personal belief that whatever the unsaved individual may have died of will remain eternally festering within their bodies as well.

Jesus teaching that the wicked dead will live eternally with literal maggots eating at their body is not a very pleasant thought, but it is a very sobering thought.

Jesus was not endeavoring to speak forth delicate pleasantries here. Jesus was attempting to turn the foolish back from unnecessary eternal torment and suffering.

His awfully vivid idea of undying maggots everlastingly consuming an inconsumable sick, suffering human body is intended to wake up the wicked and the wayward.

Yes, those who come forth in the Resurrection of Damnation will spend Eternity consumed with remorse of conscience.

Yes, they will spend Eternity in keen self-reflection, all possible physical pain, hardship and self-denial.

Yes, the worldly pleasures which they engaged in for a season will indeed result in an eternity of emotional and spiritual misery.

But yes, those who come forth in the Resurrection of Damnation will spend Eternity with undying maggots attempting to consume an inconsumable, utterly ruined, sick, suffering human body.

And this is not to even mention the sufferings of the literal fires of Hell which Jesus said shall never be quenched.

We either believe Jesus or we do not believe Jesus.

Contrary to what Origen and other ancient philosophers taught, there is no redemption from the suffering of Hell in either spirit, soul or body.

To be forewarned is to be forearmed.

Jesus, Paul and other New Testament authors made themselves perfectly clear.

There are two resurrections from the dead for two separate peoples.

There is the Resurrection of Life for the believer in Jesus Christ.

There is the Resurrection of Damnation for all who refuse to believe.

Both of these resurrections will result in every human being who ever lived, at any time in all of human history, being brought forth from the grave for one purpose - Eternal Judgment.

Be Blessed ... John and Barbara Hamel

How to Be Born Again (Receive Christ as Your Savior)

How to Receive The Holy Spirit & Power

Home l Bible Training l Top l Beliefs l Contact