Can I Ask That? – Part Twenty Seven – What is the Bodily Resurrection of the Dead?
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John%2011%3A1-27&version=NLT
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Today, I want to be up front with you about what I’m trying to do. I’m here to persuade you. I am trying to convince you of something that I believe with all my heart. I want to convince you that God loves this world. He loves not just the idea of it, not just the souls within it, but this very world with all its mess, its beauty, its brokenness, and its promise. I want you to hear for maybe for the first time, or maybe in a way you’ve never heard before. God has not given up on this world, and he has no intention of abandoning it.
Instead, God has a plan to redeem it. And the centerpiece of that plan is Jesus. Jesus is not just a teacher or moral example, but the risen Son of God who conquered sin and death by dying for us and rising in a real, bodily resurrection. The resurrection isn’t just a promise of life after death. It’s a declaration that God’s future for this world has already begun in Jesus.
And so I want to invite you, whether you’re uncertain, skeptical, hopeful, or hurting, to take that step of trust. To believe that Jesus really is who he says he is. To receive him in faith. To be baptized into his life, death, and resurrection. To become part of his church. Not just to be an audience, but a community of people living with courage, hope, and purpose in the power of the risen Christ.
That’s what this morning is about. That’s where we’re headed. And I hope you’ll come with me.
Let’s begin.
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This morning I want to start by making a claim that some might find surprising. Christianity is not primarily about going to heaven after we die. We believe in heaven. We believe in life beyond death. But we believe in a lot more than that. Using our outline of head, heart, and hands, I want to talk to you about the bodily resurrection of the dead.
Head/Mind – Helpful information about today’ passage.
New Testament scholar, N.T. Wright, makes the following observation. We in the 21st century have essentially the same religions choices as people living in the Roman Empire during the 1st century. Basically, there are five choices.
One is Epicureanism – which is the belief that all that exists is the physical universe. There is no spiritual reality that undergirds it and there is no promise of eternity. The best one can do is a live a balanced, healthy life, in order to enjoy the one life we each have. Now, Christians Jews have no qualms with enjoying the good gifts God gives us, yet every choice we make we weigh in the light of eternity. According to worldview of the epicurean, the material universe is the sum total of all that exists and the scientific method can tell us everything we need to know about its existence. Obviously, we take exception to this idea. We believe there is more to reality than what can be measured and weighed.
The second is Paganism – paganism is the idea that the universe is filled with competing spiritual forces. These forces struggle and fight for dominance, but there is no superior force that rules over it all. The best one can do is to not get caught in crosshairs of any of these forces, or get tangled up in any two of these forces, as they fight each other. If you want, you can try to align yourself with one or more of those forces, but otherwise, it may be just as well to stay neutral and out of the way.
The third is Gnosticism – Gnosticism locates the source of truth within our own experience. The be enlightened is to be in touch with one’s own spirit, which is the best way to discover the truth. The best one can do is to know one’s true self and be true to what one finds within. After all, you and I are the epicenter and source of the universe’s consciousness.
The fourth is Platonism – Biblical scholar, N. T. Wright, in a recent podcast, says, “If you go back to the first century looking for somebody who taught that we have souls which are in exile from our true home, which is heaven, and that we are looking forward to going back there some day; then there is someone who says that very clearly. His name in Plutarch and he’s a pagan priest at the shrine of Delphi. He’s a philosopher. He’s a biographer. He’s one of the great intellectuals of the first century; but he’s a Platonist. He is in technical terms what we call a middle-Platonist, between early Platonism and neo-Platonism, that was going on in the 4th and 5th centuries. It is a straight forward set of beliefs and what many 21st century western Christians believe is the Gospel. But it is not. In order to get at the heart of the Gospel, we need to start our understanding of Christianity with Jesus’ resurrection and work out from there what it is we believe.”
The fifth is Biblical Monotheism – Which makes a radically different set of claims about the nature of our word, the purpose and destiny of humankind, and about what God is doing to rescue the world he loves from sin, death, and destruction.
Heart – The Nature of Biblical Faith
The Biblical story tells us of a Creator God who loves the world he made. It is a good world which pleases him very much (see Genesis 1:31). He made it good and plans for what it might become. But the Bible also tells us of how sin and death have corrupted this world and broken the good creation of this Creator God.
This same God has been involved in his creation from the very dawning of time up until this very present moment. He is not distant from his world, but neither does he overwhelm with it his presence. His primary way of working in this world is through his image bearing creation, humans. Humans were created to participate in God’s reign over and care for creation. But, these same image bearers chose the path of sin and death, further fracturing the world and breaking themselves in the process, making it necessary for God to move in decisive action in the world.
This decisive action included God’s own Son becoming human and facing the forces of sin and death. God took this step, so that he could redeem the world from the inside out, so that all of creation could one day be set free from the law of sin and death.
And we believe that someday all of creation will be renewed. This is what we mean by the bodily resurrection of the dead. Let me give you just two passages, one from the Old Testament and the other from the New Testament that articulate what we mean.
The Resurrection of the Body and the Afterlife
Isaiah 65:17-25
“See, I will create
new heavens and a new earth.
The former things will not be remembered,
nor will they come to mind.
But be glad and rejoice forever
in what I will create,
for I will create Jerusalem to be a delight
and its people a joy.
I will rejoice over Jerusalem
and take delight in my people;
the sound of weeping and of crying
will be heard in it no more.
“Never again will there be in it
an infant who lives but a few days,
or an old man who does not live out his years;
the one who dies at a hundred
will be thought a mere child;
the one who fails to reach[a] a hundred
will be considered accursed.
They will build houses and dwell in them;
they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
No longer will they build houses and others live in them,
or plant and others eat.
For as the days of a tree,
so will be the days of my people;
my chosen ones will long enjoy
the work of their hands.
They will not labor in vain,
nor will they bear children doomed to misfortune;
for they will be a people blessed by the Lord,
they and their descendants with them.
Before they call I will answer;
while they are still speaking I will hear.
The wolf and the lamb will feed together,
and the lion will eat straw like the ox,
and dust will be the serpent’s food.
They will neither harm nor destroy
on all my holy mountain,”
says the Lord.
Revelation 21
Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,”for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”
He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”
He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life.
Revelation 22
Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever.
Hands – The Practical Application
The practical application of this doctrine is so rich, so broad and wide, that we could spend our whole lives declaring its practicality. But let me try to be brief. Belief in the resurrection means that the arts and a pursuit of beauty are worthy of our highest patronage. We create art and beauty, we imitate the original Artist. Science and technology can bring glory to God, and reflect the glory of the Divine Logos (Proverbs chapters 3 & 8, and John 1). Exploration and discovery are an expression of our spiritual vitality. Conservation and environmental preservation are rooted in Genesis chapters 1 & 2. The practice of medicine and the advancement of medical knowledge are a way of participating in the restoration of creation (Matthew 10 and Luke 9). Peace making and mutual understanding of people from different cultures is a way of celebrating the creativity of God (Matthew 5). Working toward the common good, including more just economic structures, the design of healthier communities, investments in education and local schools, the enrichment of building pubic parks, and beautiful public buildings are ways of participating in God’s good work in the world(Micah 6).
Acts of mercy, random acts of kindness, and friendship are ways of imitating God (Matthew 25).
Being courageous in face violence and uncertainty, being hopeful in the face of despair long odds, being kind and good in face of evil and degeneracy, being stubbornly excellent in the face of mediocrity, being holy in face of debauchery and sloth, being unflinching in an age of moral compromise, that is what it means to live out a belief in the bodily resurrection.
Now, you may think all of this talk of hope for us and world to be delusional. How can we possibly think that God still cares about this world? Surely he has given up on this planet and its people. But, I want to ask you, have you ever started something that didn’t’ quite go the way you had hoped, but which you loved too much to abandon or scrap?
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Invitation
Friends, let me close by returning to what I said at the beginning.
I’ve been trying to persuade you of something simple, but profound: that God loves this world—not just as an idea, but this actual world, with its mountains and rivers, its art and music, its pain and promise. And God has not given up on it. He has a plan to renew and restore it, and at the very center of that plan is Jesus Christ—the crucified and risen Lord.
His resurrection isn’t just about life after death—it’s about the beginning of God’s new creation. And it’s already underway. He invites you to be part of it.
So I want to ask you—have you placed your trust in him?
Have you said yes to the One who defeated death and offers new life?
Have you been baptized—not just as a ritual, but as a way of entering into the death and resurrection of Jesus?
Are you part of a community—a church—where that resurrection hope is lived out in real ways?
If not, today can be the day.
Don’t wait until you have it all figured out. Don’t wait until you feel worthy.
Jesus calls you now.
He is making all things new—and that includes you.
Come. Trust him. Be baptized. Join his people. And live as a sign of the world that is coming.
Let’s pray
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Closing Prayer:
Gracious and Living God,
You are the Maker of heaven and earth,
the One who called all things into being and declared them good.
We praise You for Your unshakable love—
a love so deep, so committed,
that You entered into the brokenness of creation
to redeem it from the inside out.
Thank You for the hope of resurrection—
not just for our souls,
but for our bodies, for our world, for all of creation.
Thank You for the promise that one day
You will make all things new.
As we go from this place,
teach us to live as resurrection people.
Make us bold in hope,
creative in love,
and persistent in doing good.
Help us to build, plant, heal, and serve,
trusting that none of it is in vain.
For every graduate unsure of their next step,
and every retiree wondering what comes next—
remind us that Your call is not limited to a season,
but continues as long as breath fills our lungs.
In beauty and in justice,
in kindness and in courage,
may we be signs of Your coming kingdom.
May our lives bear witness
that death is not the end,
that despair does not have the last word,
and that Jesus Christ—crucified, risen, and reigning—
is Lord of all.
And it is in His name that we pray,
Amen.