Ofttimes, when the proposition is made that our biological bodies will not play a part in the Resurrection, the accusation may be made that the one who made the proposal has been 'poisoned' by Gnosticism! That one then might be encouraged to remember that when Adam was created, he was pronounced 'good'. We read, in Genesis 2:7, 'And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being'. If our Heavenly Father created biology & called it 'good', who are we to say that this biology will perish someday; isn't that flying in the face of the promises of an Almighty God?!
Several problems may be confronted immediately when assaulted with such reasoning! First of all, the accuser assumes that the Resurrection of the Dead has not yet occurred! Secondly, such an accusation presumes to say that Adam was the first ( human ) biological body to inhabit planet earth. The question of whether the creation account in Genesis 1 & 2 is about the creation of biological life, or simply about the introduction or revelation of covenantal life into that creation might be superceded by the gnawing question of whether the latter purports that Yahweh is not the Creator after all, but simply a tribal god!
If Yahweh was simply a tribal god ( God ) who decided to reveal Himself to His Creation, to initiate a Covenant Relationship with His People, then we might well acknowledge the claims of Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, Krishna, etc! If, however, Genesis 1 & 2 are the beginning parts of the Story of the Creator of the Universe & all life that exists, who humbled Himself to enter into a covenant relationship with His Creation, then we have a completely different Story! This Story tells us of the Love of a Father who sent His only begotten Son to redeem His Creation that had distanced itself from Him by their disobedience & lust for power!
The Resurrection, we have found to be verifiably true, was not only personified by Jesus who was the Christ; it is inextricably bound up with the promised redemption! If the Resurrection has not yet occurred, the neither have God's People been redeemed! Again, if the Redemption of Israel has occurred, so has the Resurrection! Jesus, as we have seen ( John 14:6 ), embodied the Resurrection; it was those who looked upon Him with the eyes of faith ( Numbers 21:8 ) who experienced this Resurrection, while those who refused to do so were destroyed & annihilated!
We have found, relatively recently & through much new study & inquiry, that the creation accounts related in the early parts of Genesis, though traditionally assumed to chronicle the Beginning of Time itself, are not a History necessarily of the Dawn of Creation, but the Beginning of the Revelation of Jesus the Christ! A closer & more honest study of the original language of creation reveals the beginning of a Creation within Creation; the creation of covenant between Creature & Creator, Father & Son!
So, you may ask then, what is the use of this biology; for what purpose did our Creator form it, and why, if it was never meant to live forever, did He pronounce it 'good', so much so that He sent His own Divine Essence in that form to redeem it back to Himself? Did man, through His disobedience, so thwart His Creator's Divine Purpose, that he has become worthless in the eyes of his Heavenly Father!
The Body of Christ, the Only Begotten Son of God, was sent to the Land for One Purpose & and that Purpose was to do the will of His Heavenly Father; that is still our Purpose! Whether through death or life, biologically speaking, we serve His Purpose! This is why He created our biology, that become His Instruments of mercy & grace, His Ministers of Reconcilliation!
Charles Haddon Shank
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