Introduction
We’ve reached the end of the Nicene Creed and the last line which is about the last things: the resurrection of the dead and the life of the age to come.
The Creed says we look for these things. And we look for them because these things have not yet happened. Everything else we’ve confessed in the Creed has already happened or is happening. There’s the Father’s work of creation in the beginning. There’s the Son’s work of redemption in the past and his present reign at God’s right hand. There’s the Spirit’s work of revelation through the prophets and biblical writers. There’s the church, which exists throughout the generations, and there’s baptism which is a sign of the forgiveness of sins which we receive through faith in Christ. Those things have already happened or they are happening. But we have to wait for the resurrection and for the life of the age to come.
When the Creed refers to the resurrection, it means the resurrection of our bodies. Just as the Lord Jesus was raised bodily or physically from the dead, so his people who have died will be raised bodily or physically from the dead when Christ comes again. At death, body and soul are separated. At the resurrection, they are re-united.
And when the Creed refers to the life of the age to come, it means eternal life. We believe that there’s this age and there’s the age to come. This age will come to an end on the last day when Christ returns. And afterwards, in the age to come, God will dwell with his people for ever and for ever.
Biblical witness
The Lord spoke of the resurrection in John 11. Standing outside the grave of Lazarus, the Lord declared himself to be the resurrection and the life and he who believes in him will live even though he dies. And earlier in John 5 he said that the time is coming when the all who are in their graves will hear his voice and come out. And in Matthew and Mark and Luke, we read how the Lord disputed with the Sadducees who did not believe in the resurrection. He made plain to them that the resurrection will happen.
In Acts 17, when Paul was in Athens, he preached to them the good news about Jesus and the resurrection. And the whole of 1 Corinthians 15 is about the resurrection. Some people were saying that there’s no such thing as the resurrection of the dead. The dead will not rise. And so, Paul wrote to the believers in Corinth to reassure them that the dead will rise. And we know that the dead will rise, because the Lord Jesus has risen from the dead and he is the firstfruits of the dead. That is to say, he was the first to rise, but he will not be the last. And Paul went on to explain that the body that is sown, or the body that dies and is buried, is perishable, but the body that is raised is imperishable. It is sown in dishonour, but it will be raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, but it will be raised in power. It is sown a natural body, but it will be raised a spiritual body. That doesn’t mean we’ll be ghosts or spirits only. After all, think of the Lord Jesus after his resurrection, who was able to eat food. And his disciples were able to touch him because he possessed a real, physical body. In the same way, when we’re raised from the dead, we’ll possess a real, physical body. But Paul calls it a spiritual body because it will be a body which is renewed — and therefore made imperishable and glorious and powerful — by the Holy Spirit. And so, when Christ comes again, we will all be changed: in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. Those who are alive at his coming will be made imperishable and immortal. Those who have died will be raised imperishable and immortal.
Paul also wrote about the resurrection in 1 Thessalonians 4. He says that the Lord 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. And then those who are alive will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord for ever.
But we don’t just read about the resurrection in the New Testament, because the Old Testament testifies to it as well. In Daniel 12, we read about those who sleep in the dust of the earth who will awake: some to everlasting life and some to shame and everlasting contempt. So, there are two sides to the resurrection. Everyone who has died will be raised: but the wicked will be raised to be condemned and punished, whereas the Lord’s people will be raised to enjoy everlasting life. And in Isaiah 26, we read that the dead will rise: those who dwell in the dust will awake and shout for joy. And in Job 19 Job says: ‘And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God; I myself will see him with my own eyes — I and not another.’ And so, both Testaments of the Bible bear witness to the hope of the resurrection.
In Mark 10:32 the Lord distinguishes between this age and the age to come, where the righteous will enjoy eternal life. And in the book of Revelation we read that this order of things — the things that belong to this age — will pass away and there will be a new heaven and earth, or a renewed heaven and earth. And it will be a world without death or mourning or crying or pain. And there will be no temple in the new creation, because God will no longer meet with his people in one particular place. Instead the whole of creation will be filled with his presence and God will dwell with his people for ever.
The psalmist writes in Psalm 27: ‘One thing I ask of the Lord, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple.’ The psalmist did not know that there would be no need for a temple in the life to come. But his words encapsulate the hope of the believer. What we want, what we long for, what we were made for, is to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord for ever.
Explanation
In the ancient world, people known as the Gnostics regarded the body as evil and it was a kind of prison for the soul. And they longed for the time when their spirit would leave the body and be free. But the Scriptures make clear that the physical world around us is good and so are our bodies. And they are good because God made them. Yes, our bodies have been spoiled by sin. Nevertheless our bodies are still good, because God made them.
And instead of abandoning his good creation, God sent his only begotten Son into the world to restore us to himself and to recreate us in body and soul. And so, the Christian hope is the hope of the resurrection of our bodies when Christ comes again. When he comes, our bodies will be raised and reunited with our souls. And that’s how we will be for ever.
Christian sometimes say about a believer who has died that he has been called home. However, believers who have died are not yet home. That is to say, they have not yet entered the final state. They are in what the theologians call the intermediate state. The intermediate state is wonderful, of course, because the souls of believers who die are made perfect in holiness and they’re received into the highest heavens to be with the Lord. And that is truly wonderful. But it’s not their final state, because we will only enter our final state when Christ comes again to raise the bodies of believers from the dead.
And when he comes, his people will be set apart from the wicked and we’ll be openly acknowledged and acquitted at the judgment. Since God has promised to remember our sins no more, he won’t bring up our sins and shortcomings on that day and he won’t make us ashamed by mentioning our many failures. Instead he’ll declare only those good things which we have done by his grace. And we’ll be brought into the presence of God, where we’ll be fully and for ever freed from all sin and misery; and where we’ll be filled with inconceivable joys; and we’ll be made perfectly holy and happy in body and soul in the presence of the saints and the angels and especially as we gaze upon the beauty of the Lord.
The Tree of Life in the Garden of Eden held out to Adam the hope of everlasting life in the presence of God for himself and his descendants. But by his disobedience, Adam forfeited the right to eat from the Tree and to live with God for ever. He lost that right for himself and for us. But Christ, by his perfect obedience, even to the point of death on the cross for sinners, has won for us the right to eat from the Tree and to live with God for ever.
And when we come into his presence in the age to come, we will see God. Some theologians say we will see God with our physical eyes by seeing the risen Lord Jesus. And 1 John 3 speaks about seeing the Lord as he is when he comes again. Others say we will see God mentally. That is to say, God will enable us to see what he is like and to know him like never before. We’ll never know God comprehensively or fully, because he’s infinite and there’s no end to his perfection. But we’ll know him truly and we’ll know him far better than we know him now.
God will enable us to see what he’s like and to know him. And we’ll never grow tired or weary as we gaze upon his beauty. We’ll never want to go off and do something else. We’ll be perfectly happy as we gaze upon him for ever. So, think of two people who love one another and they’re thrilled to look at one another face to face. Think of someone who is transfixed by a beautiful landscape. Think of someone who is absorbed in his work and doesn’t feel the time passing. Those are but poor imitations of what it will be like for all of God’s people when we come into his presence in the age to come and we get to see God and to gaze upon his glorious beauty. We’ll be transfixed. We’ll be completely absorbed. We’ll be perfectly happy. And it will go on and on and on and on for ever.
God made us for himself. He made us to know and to love him and to be known and loved by him. Sin separated us from him. But through Christ we are restored to God and we can look forward to the age to come where God will love us for ever and for ever and we’ll experience fullness of joy and pleasures for evermore at his right hand.’
Sermons and Stuff 