Can the promises to Abraham be fulfilled? We think so – let us see. We read (Gen 12:1-3), “Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country [Chaldea] and from thy kindred and from thy father’s house, unto a land which I will shew thee, and I will make of thee a great nation, (we believe the Lord here speaks not simply of the nation or people of Israel, but of all the peoples of the world…
THE NEW JERUSALEM is a figure of the coming kingdom of God. It represents, we believe, both spiritual and earthly beings. When first seen (Rev 21:2.) it contains only the bride, it has not reached earth yet – it is “coming down from God out of heaven,” (Coming into power and control). From the commencement of the reign of Christ, the kingdom or dominion of God will commence; it will continue to overthrow evil and establish right, until in the end of…
“Art thou greater than our father Abraham which is dead and the prophets are dead? Whom makes thou thyself?” John 8:53. In being born of a virgin, Jesus had taken “the seed of Abraham” and so continued until he was 30 years of age when, in baptism he consecrated his being to God a living sacrifice. He was accepted, and from that moment, being begotten of the Spirit and sealed as a new creature, he is a partaker of the divine nature, the human nature…
What will be raised up, in the resurrection? The body says someone. Not so I answer, it is the BEING that God promises to raise up. It once existed, and lost existence and is to be raised up to existence or being again. Men, can resurrect a body from the tomb (that is, bring a body out of a tomb to the surface); but only God’s power can resurrect or bring to existence again a being who has died. We see then that resurrection means the restoring of being. Now, “with what…
The death and resurrection of a human body as a thing distinct and separate from the intelligent being, is never mentioned in the Scriptures. We never read that Abraham’s body died, nor that Jesus’ body died, nor that any one’s body died. Being signifies existence, and there can be no being or existence without both life and body. Withdraw life and the being or existence ceases, for life is but a power or principle, the same in the lower animals as in man; the difference in qualities between man and the brute, consisting not in…
Is it true that the Greek word anastasis always means a resurrection to spiritual life? Answer: Our English word resurrection signifies to raise up again and it does not indicate whether the body or thing raised has any life. For instance, Lazarus was raised by our Lord after having died, but not soon after he returned to the grave as all men do. His was not a resurrection in the fullest since of the word, but rather a resuscitation. He was raised (awoken from the…
Paul in 1 Cor 15 has given us the clearest and most explicit account of the resurrection to be found anywhere in scripture. He commences with Jesus and His resurrection and shows that we have many and reliable witnesses “that Christ died for our sins, and that he was buried and was raised the third day, (after his death,) and etc. He thus proves Christ’s resurrection as evidence of the power of God to raise the dead in general, for remember this was the general proclamation of…
Question: Please give me your explanation of the text, “He that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by His spirit that dwelleth in you.” Does it refer to the resurrection of the saints at the coming of Christ referred to in 1 Cor 15? If so, how shall we harmonize this statement with the one there made, viz.: “It is sown a natural body; raised a spiritual body.” “It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption.” Now, if…
“A SPIRIT HATH NOT FLESH” But some, perhaps, may say, Did not Jesus contradict the thought that he was a spirit when he used the words, A spirit hath not flesh and bones as you see me have? The two thoughts are quite in harmony: they were not seeing the spirit Jesus, they were merely seeing the flesh and bones which the spirit Jesus assumed (or manifested himself) for the purpose of conversing with them, just as the angels assumed…
MARY THE FIRST WITNESS The honor of being the first witness to whom our Lord manifested himself after his resurrection came to Mary Magdalene, who at one time was possessed by evil spirits, but who, being freed from their domination became a faithful and loyal follower of Jesus. This was not the Mary, sister of Lazarus and Martha, neither was it Mary the “sinner,” who washed our Lord’s feet with her tears in the Pharisee’s house. She is called Mary…