THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD

Apostle Paul, when making his defense before Felix, governor of the Roman province of Judea, between the years 52 and 60, said, "...I have the same hope in God as these men themselves have, that there will be a resurrection of both the righteous and the wickedt..." (Acts 24:15). The Apostle says that there will be a general resurrection for both Christians and non-Christians. Apostle John thinks also in the same way. He says: "...do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and come out—those who have done what is good will rise to live, and those who have done what is evil will rise to be condemned" (John 5:29).

Still, with the same understanding, there is also the Apostle Matthew, who says: "When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. 34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world... Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels" (25:31-34,41).

Although this is a universal event, Apostle Paul, in some of his texts, gives details of how the "harvest" of Christians will be for this final event. In a very detailed description in chapter 15 of his first letter to the Corinthians, he says: "Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— 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. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality" (1 Corinthians 15: 51-53). "We will not all sleep," that is, we shall not all die, according to the understandings of the Jews of that time. 

The Apostle is talking about the transformation that man's body, which was corrupted by original sin and could no longer bear the presence of God, will undergo. Writing to the Philippians, he says: "But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body" (3:20,21). Man's spirit that died at the moment of original sin is brought to life when man is reunited with God in the new birth (Ephesians 2:1-6 and John 3:1-8), still in this life. But the body will only be restored at the resurrection of the dead.

Writing to the Thessalonians, Paul states that at the time of the resurrection of the dead, "the dead in Christ will rise first." Then Christians who are alive will be caught up and transformed, in the twinkling of an eye, and meet the Lord in the air (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18). Regarding the non-God-fearing, "the sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what they had done" (Revelation 20:13). Here it can be understood that the living people of the nations, at the time of Jesus' coming, will be killed and directed to the "great white throne" to be judged, as well as those who died in past ages. 

From these texts, we can see that the resurrection of the dead will take place at the end of time (1 Corinthians 15.22,23), with the second coming of Christ. It is associated with the judgment of people and it will be general, that is, it will be for both the righteous and the unrighteous. It will take place at a time when there will be no more humanity on earth, because everyone will be dead because of the divine judgments, poured out during the great tribulation. Creation, as it exists today, will no longer exist. It will be restored with "new heavens and a new earth", where those who walk with God will live (Revelation 21:1). But those who have rejected God in this life will be cast into a godless existence marked by a state of eternal suffering (Revelation 20:11-15). It is in these terms that sacred Scripture bears witness to the final events of mankind.   

Antônio Maia – M.Div.

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