The Resurrection
Overview
The resurrection is God’s triumph over death, the vindication of the righteous, and the central confession of the Christian faith. It runs as a thread from the earliest Scriptures to the final vision of the new creation.
Canonical Development
In the Old Testament, Job confesses that his Redeemer liveth and that in his flesh he shall see God (Job 19:25-26); Isaiah promises that the dead shall live and that the earth shall cast out its dead (Isaiah 26:19); Ezekiel’s valley of dry bones declares God’s power to raise a whole nation to life (Ezekiel 37); and Daniel foretells a general resurrection to everlasting life or everlasting contempt (Daniel 12:2). In the New Testament, Jesus raises Lazarus as a sign of his own authority over death (John 11), declares himself the resurrection and the life, and then rises bodily on the third day — the firstfruits of them that slept (1 Corinthians 15:20). Acts proclaims the resurrection as the heart of apostolic preaching, and Revelation depicts the final resurrection and judgment that consummates all history.
Key Anchors
- Resurrection - Christ’s bodily rising from the tomb, the firstfruits of all who shall rise
- Resurrection of the Dead - the general resurrection at the last day declared in Daniel and 1 Corinthians 15
- Lazarus Raised - the raising of Lazarus as Christ’s sign that he is the resurrection and the life
Key Books
Notes
The resurrection is not merely a future hope but the hinge of all Scripture: without it, faith is vain and the dead are perished (1 Corinthians 15:17-18). Because Christ is risen, the resurrection of the body at the last day is certain for all who are in him.