Posted by Ray Kidder on 7/2/2009, 8:19 pm, in reply to "Re: Turning to Ephesians 2"
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Searcher,
You wrote:
"The resurrection spoken of in Ephesians 2:5,6 is so sure that in God's eyes we are already considered to be raised up together and made to sit together in heavenly places in Christ. Does this mean we do not die, but are immediately raised to life? No. We are not told the actual timing of our resurrection except that when He appears, we will appear with Him. The only One Who has ascended to the highest of heavens at this time is Christ Himself. When is our resurrection? All we know is it will be 'in His times'. 2Tim 15,16. At present, only the Lord has immortality."
You make is sound as though the only resurrection from the dead is in the future at Christ's second coming. This sounds like the sort of thing that Martha voiced in this passage from John 11 (NKJV):
20 Now Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met Him, but Mary was sitting in the house.
21 Now Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.
22 But even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You.”
23 Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”
24 Martha said to Him, “I know that 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, though he may die, he shall live.
26 And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?”
27 She said to Him, “Yes, Lord, I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.”
38 Then Jesus, again groaning in Himself, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it.
39 Jesus said, “Take away the stone.”
Martha, the sister of him who was dead, said to Him, “Lord, by this time there is a stench, for he has been dead four days.”
40 Jesus said to her, “Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?”
41 Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead man was lying. And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me.
42 And I know that You always hear Me, but because of the people who are standing by I said this, that they may believe that You sent Me.”
43 Now when He had said these things, He cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth!”
44 And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with graveclothes, and his face was wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Loose him, and let him go.”
Right after this, Jesus brought Lazarus back to life again, but Jesus had to correct Martha for not believing in resurrection from the dead within our earthy life time; right?
Do you believe the power of the resurrection (Phillipians 3:10 & Romans 6:4) pertains to our own life times?
Can this power be manifest through a spiritual resurrection from a spiritual death that does not yet involve physical death?
Ray Kidder
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