The First Principles of the Oracles of God

The Resurrection of the Dead – Sermon Notes

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Resurrection: A reuniting of Spirit and Body after death.

Dead: Never referred to as a cessation of life but instead a separation of something from that which it belongs. The physical body without the spirit suffers death.

The resurrection of the departed souls occurs from two distinct places – Paradise (Heaven) and Hades (hell). The unrighteous depart to Hades and the righteous dead depart to Paradise, the two realms are clearly identified within Scripture.

(Luke 16:19-31) “…and it came to pass that the beggar died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom (heaven): the rich man also died and was buried.  And in hell, he lifted up his eyes, being in torments, and saw Abraham afar off and Lazarus in his bosom…”

These are the two realms in which the dead shall be resurrected. There are only two types of resurrection which occur over three phases in history, a resurrection unto life for the saved and a resurrection unto death for unsaved.

To fully understand the doctrine of the Resurrection of the Dead we look at the illustration of the harvest of wheat contained in the Scriptures (the resurrection of the dead being a harvest of souls). The harvest begins with a feast of the first fruits, this is where the High Priest would take a small sheaf of wheat from the field and present it before God, waving it up and down vertically and then side to side.

This signified the beginning of the harvest, waved to thank the Lord for his blessings and His laborers to glean the harvest. Then came the busy time of the harvest gathering the wheat into the barns, afterwards there would be a separating of the grain (good seed) from the chaff (the unusable). The grain was kept for food and the chaff was swept up and then burned. In a like manner, the Resurrection of the Dead occurs over three distinct phases…

The First Fruits – The Wave Offering

(Math 27:52) “…and the graves were opened and many of the bodies which slept arose and came out of the graves AFTER his (Jesus) resurrection…”

(Lev 23) “…and ye shall reap a harvest thereof and ye shall bring a sheaf of the first fruits of the harvest…”

(1 Cor 15:20) “…but now Christ has risen from the dead and become the first fruits of them that slept…”

Christ the first fruits, an event which happened 2000 years ago. In the same manner as the harvest, Christ rose from the dead and rose with a handful of saints, presenting them as a wave offering before God Almighty in heaven. Christ was buried alone, a single grain that fell but rose up no longer a single grain but a handful, a sheaf of the first fruits. Fulfilling his priestly role, Christ showed the beginning of the harvest, an event which will never happen again but opened the way for others to be resurrected.

The Harvest – The Righteous Dead

(1 Cor 15:23) “…but every man in his own order, Christ the first fruits then they that are His at His Coming…”

(1 Thess 4:15-17) “..and the dead in Christ shall rise first…”

(1 Cor 15:52) “……and the dead shall be raised incorruptible and we shall be changed….”

The harvest – Christ having opened the way, this event will occur and take place at an unknown date in the future, the resurrection of the righteous dead. All of the righteous souls raised from the dead shall rise for their judgment and reward in Heaven. This time is referred to as “they who are His at His coming”

The Chaff – The Unrighteous Dead

(Rev 20:5) “…but the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished…”

(Math 3:12) “…whose fan is in his hand (Jesus) and he will thoroughly purge his floor and he will gather the wheat (righteous) into the garner. But he will burn the chaff (unrighteous) with an unquenchable fire…”

(Rev 20:12) “…and I saw the dead small and great stand before God…and the sea gave up its dead…”

Every man and woman who died in unrighteousness will be raised on this day to face the terrible judgment of God. The Word tells us that the righteous will not stand with the unrighteous, that they will be separated, unto death and unto life eternal.