On Easter, we remember that the Lord, the Savior of all people, broke the power of death and rose again. We learn the spiritual meaning of the resurrection.
Reading Verse: John 11:25–26 (NASB)
Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?”
Easter is a blessed feast in which believers celebrate the Lord’s resurrection and give glory to God. Because the Lord rose again, anyone who believes can receive eternal life and hope for Heaven. So the blessing of resurrection is the greatest gift God has given to believers. Then what is the spiritual meaning of the resurrection?
1. The Resurrection Shows the “Power” Only God Can Do
Today, science and medicine are highly developed. Some people think that life and death are also under human control. A person may stop breathing for a short time and then come back. But no medical skill or high-tech machine can bring back a person who has completely died.
But Jesus raised Lazarus, who had been dead for four days. Jesus called out, “Lazarus, come out.” Then Lazarus came out, still wrapped with strips of cloth. His body had stopped all life activity, and his cells had already begun to rot. But Jesus restored every cell and gave him life again. Humans cannot do this, but for God it is completely possible.
When the Lord comes in the air, something even greater will happen.
1 Thessalonians 4:16–17 (NASB) says that the dead in Christ will rise first, and then the living will be caught up together with them to meet the Lord in the air.
The “dead in Christ” are believers who died after finishing their life on earth. Since the beginning of human history, some believers have been dead for hundreds or thousands of years. After a few decades, a human body completely decays and loses its shape. But when the Lord comes, even bodies that have turned to dust will rise again. The shape of the body will be restored and will join with the person’s spirit and soul.
Even more amazing is this: the resurrected body can rise into the air and stay in the spiritual space where the seven-year wedding banquet takes place. In other words, a body made from dust becomes a spiritual body that can exist in the space of spirit.
God will do these works by the same power with which He created the heavens and the earth. God also raised Jesus from the dead by this power. The Bible records what the resurrected Lord did so that we can understand the nature of a spiritual resurrection body. God gave these proofs so that believers can surely believe the resurrection will truly happen.
Even today, God shows works of power so that people can believe the resurrection.
For example, third-degree burns have been healed with new skin formed again. Completely dead nerves have regained life. Many people have regained eyesight and hearing. Some who stopped breathing and whose bodies became stiff have risen again. God has shown countless clear works that no one can deny.
2. The Resurrection Shows the “Glory” God Gives Us
1 Timothy 6:16 (NASB) says, “who alone possesses immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see. To Him be honor and eternal dominion.”
The Lord God lives in the space of spirit and rules the universe. He is worthy of all glory. But He did not want to enjoy this glory alone. He wanted to share it with His children. So He cultivates human beings so that we may live forever and dwell in the beautiful space of light.
God first created Adam as a living spirit and placed him in the Garden of Eden, which is a space of spirit. But that life was not the final glory God desired to give. God wanted Adam to dwell together with Him in the space of light where God Himself lives.
While Adam lived in Eden, he did not know “relativity.” So he did not realize how precious and happy Eden really was. Only after he disobeyed the Word of God and was driven to this earth—where he tasted tears, sorrow, sickness, and pain—did he understand the happiness he once had. Only after experiencing relativity did he realize the true value of the freedom and abundance he enjoyed in God.
After Adam experienced relativity and became a child who understood God’s love, he entered Heaven and enjoyed eternal happiness. Heaven is on a completely different level from Eden. It has Paradise, the First Heaven, the Second Heaven, the Third Heaven, and the New Jerusalem. Each place has different levels of glory.
The glory God ultimately wants to give us is the glory of the New Jerusalem.
Because He wanted to bring us into the most beautiful and glorious place, God did not spare His only begotten Son. Through the blood of Jesus, our sins were forgiven. Through faith, we gained eternal life and will never die. Even if our physical life ends, He gave us the glory of rising again.
While we live on this earth, God also lets us taste a part of this glory. As we live in the light, in the truth, He lets us understand and experience things that can happen only in the space of light. He also reveals His great power through us so that He may receive glory.
The Lord God desires to share His glory with His children (John 13:32).
He desires more than we do that we will dwell in the most glorious place and shine like the sun forever.
3. The Resurrection Shows the Great “Love” of God
We were beings who could never dream of living in a beautiful and eternal Heaven. Because of sin, our destiny was eternal punishment in Hell. But God allowed Jesus to face death for us so that we may live forever in Heaven.
Jesus, who is the very nature of God, had no reason to put on flesh or suffer death. But to save us from death, He accepted all sacrifice. He died a terrible death on the cross. Yet because He had no sin, God raised Him again by His power.
John 11:25–26 (NASB) says, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die.”
Jesus died so that our bodies will not die, and even if we die, we will live again.
By His resurrection, He gave us hope that we will one day wear a spiritual body and enter eternal Heaven.
All of this is the great love of God the Father. He washed our dirty and shameful sins with the blood of His Son. He allowed us to call Him “Abba, Father,” the great, beautiful, and good God.
Anyone who believes can be saved, receive forgiveness of sins, and become the beautiful bride of the Lord by the power of the Holy Spirit. God even prepared a heavenly dwelling where we will rest forever.
The space where the Lord will come in the air and the seven-year wedding banquet will be held, and the eternal Heaven where we will live forever, are mysterious and glorious. When the time comes, God will change us into a spiritual body, dress us in fine linen, and let us enjoy the seven-year wedding banquet in the air.
After that, we will reign with the Lord for one thousand years when He returns to earth. After the Great White Throne Judgment, we will enter the heavenly dwelling prepared with great care. There we will live forever with the Triune God and share love without end.
To repay this love, we must no longer crucify the Lord again. We must work harder to become the holy and beautiful bride of the Lord. May we be changed into the brightest resurrection body when the Lord comes in the air and be embraced by Him.
**Plus
What is the difference between “spiritual resurrection” and “physical resurrection”?**
Spiritual resurrection happens when a person receives the Holy Spirit as a gift by accepting the Lord. The dead spirit becomes alive.
Physical resurrection is when the Lord comes in the air and the bodies of saved people are changed into imperishable spiritual bodies.
Memory Verse: John 11:25 (NASB)
“I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies.”
Reference Verse: 1 Thessalonians 4:16–17 (NASB)
“… and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air…”
1 Thessalonians 4:16 (NASB)
“For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God…”
