The 5th elementary teaching in Hebrews 6 is, “the resurrection of the dead”. This resurrection is for those who have died in Jesus and their dead body being resurrected like Jesus and be with Him forever.
The resurrection of the dead is something Marth believed when she told Jesus that she believed that to her dead brother Lazarus will resurrect in the last day.
John 11: 23 Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise again." 24 Martha answered, "I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day." 25 Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; 26 and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?" 27 "Yes, Lord," she told him, "I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world."
Martha’s belief in the resurrection of the dead was taught to her by the Pharisee’s teaching of the resurrection of the dead which they believed in.
Acts 23: 8 (The Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, and that there are neither angels nor spirits, but the Pharisees acknowledge them all.)
Pharisee’s belief in the resurrection is not the same resurrection that Jesus promises to give those who believe in Him.
The Pharisees affirmed the doctrine of a literal resurrection of dead Jews physical body on the last day when their messiah returns and be reunited with their spirit.
Jesus tells Martha that he is the resurrection and the life for all who believes in him even though they die will live and those who are alive and believe in Him will never die because he is the Messiah.
This is the elementary teaching Jesus wants us to understand and believe in as the resurrection of the dead and is not just for the Jews but for all who believes he is the Messiah, our Savior. And it will not be a literal body of flesh resurrection but a resurrection into a new transformed spiritual body.
1 Corinthians 15: 42 So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; 43 it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; 44 it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. 45 So it is written: "The first man Adam became a living being"; the last Adam, a lifegiving spirit. 46 The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual. 47 The first man was of the dust of the
earth, the second man from heaven. 48 As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the man from heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. 49 And just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, so shall we bear the likeness of the man from heaven. 50 I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 51 Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed 52 in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 53 For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. 54 When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: "Death has been swallowed up in victory."
At the resurrection our body will no longer be of flesh but transformed instantly into a new imperishable spiritual body like our Lord Jesus because flesh and blood can never inherit the Kingdom of God.
Our new spiritual body being like Jesus we will no longer desire the thing our flesh desired it will only want to love and please our Father and be in his love forever.
Jesus teaches what will happen at the resurrection.
Matthew 24: 30"At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory. 31 And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.
Jesus will return the same way he left this time with his angels and gather God’s elect from all over the world.
Acts 1:11 "Men of Galilee," they said, "why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven."
Everyone will see Jesus coming down from the sky with his angels to gather and take all his elect home and the wicked will be left behind.
Matthew 24: 39 and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 40 Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. 41Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left. 42 "Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come.
I heard a pastor say that those taken in this story are the wicked people because the wicked were taken away in the flood and those left are the elect. This story is about Jesus coming to take his elect by his angels and gather them with the other elect. If the wicked are taken, where are they taken to and if the elect is left when are they taken by the angels. Jesus mentions the flood as an analogy of no one knowing when he will return to take the elect away and not the wicked. So, Jesus teaches in Matthew 24: 42-51 to keep watch and be ready for his return.
Revelations 20:11-15, tell what will happen to those who are left behind because their name was not written in the book of life. The wicked dead will appear not in flesh and blood but in spirit on the last day before Jesus sitting on his throne to be judged by him and sentence to suffer 2nd death.
Jesus teaches in Matthew 25 who are his elect in his parables of the faithful wise servant, the 5 wise virgins and his sheep. So, as disciples we have no excuse for not knowing what God’s chosen elect should be doing.
Paul teaches the order of how God’s elect will be resurrected.
1 Thessalonians 4: 14 We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him.15 According to the Lord's own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.
Those who died in Christ their spirit will return with Jesus and their dead body will resurrect first before living believers and be transformed into a new spiritual body and join their spirit in the sky. This is the gathering of all God’s elect who will be with Him forever. This also confirms that when you die your spirit goes home to Jesus and comes back at the resurrection.
We need a new spiritual body for our spirit and not just remain as a spirit. Paul explains why in:
2 Corinthians 5: Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands.
2 Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, 3 because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. 4 For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. 5 Now it is God who has made us for this very purpose and has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come. 6 Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. 7 We live by faith, not by sight. 8 We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. 9 So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it.
Our spirit longs to be with its new heavenly dwelling it’s spiritual body with God in heaven. Because in our earthly body our spirit groans and is burdened as our body dies making our spirit long to be clothed with our spiritual body that will never die guaranteed by the Holy Spirit presence in us. And to be away from your body your spirit is at home with the Lord.
Jesus has given us signs we must watch for before he returns. He also gave Paul other prophetic signs we need to look out for before the coming of the Lord Jesus to gather his elect.
2 Thessalonians 2: 1 Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him, we ask you, brothers, 2 not to become easily unsettled or
alarmed by some prophecy, report or letter supposed to have come from us,
saying that the day of the Lord has already come. 3 Don't let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of
lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction.
There are 2 events those who long for Jesus’s return should be watching out for, the rebellion within the church and the appearance of the man of lawlessness, the anti-Christ.
The rebellion will be the increase of false teaching and the pursuit of things not taught by the apostles for Christ church. It is when the church no longer obeys Jesus to go make disciples by teaching them to obey his teaching so that they completely know the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
The 2nd event is the appearance of the anti-Christ which will be made known to all believers before Jesus returns which we see in Revelations 13-14 happening to the Saints.
We need to know all this to understand the resurrection of the dead when Jesus returns. Paul teaches who are those that will be saved and resurrected when Jesus comes.
2 Thessalonians 2: 13 But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers loved by the Lord, because from the beginning God chose you to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth. 14 He called you to this through our gospel, that you might share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ
God’s elects are those he has chosen before creation because he foreknew who would believe in the truth of his Son’s gospel which teaches the truth of these elementary teachings, so that we will not go astray by false teaching and be saved and ready to resurrect with a new spiritual body for our spirit when Jesus returns to gather his elect and be with him forever.
Be safe in Jesus,
Ps. Glenn