The Resurrection by A. SMITH

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Jul 8, 1875

The Resurrection.

By A. SMITH

“In the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” Gen. 2: 17.

“And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die.” Gen. 3: 4.

Thus the statement of the devil stands opposed to the word of God, and the record of six thousand years attests the truthfulness of the former assertion and the falsehood of the latter. Modern theology has taken up the strain, and opposed the immortality of the soul to the Bible doctrine of the sleep of the dead as necessary to preserve the identity of the individual in the resurrection.

To make the position tenable, metaphysical reasoning is resorted to with some show of plausibility, were it not opposed to the omnipotence of God. It is claimed that the constituents of some dead bodies are absorbed by the plants, and, in turn, enter into the constituents of man, beast, and fowl; or, being resolved into their original gases and elements, sparkle in the dew, glow in the rainbow, or form a portion of the dust of the ground. It is also claimed that every successive period during man's life witnesses an entire change in his physical organization. Allowing this latter position to be correct in the main, it is evident that the new particles that, from time to time, enter into the constituents of the body become so incorporated with the old as to occasion no break in his individual existence.

But, says one, will the same individual who falls under the dominion of death be brought up in the resurrection? We reply, Yes. To create a new race of beings exactly like certain others who once lived and died, and reward them for virtues they never possessed, or punish them for sins they never committed, would, we think, be a sublime piece of deception such as none but an enemy could perpetrate.

The resurrection of Jesus is a pledge of the resurrection of all mankind. And how was Jesus raised? Was a new being created exactly like Jesus, bearing the marks of the crucifixion, while he who suffered the agonies of Gethsemane and the cross for us remained forever in the tomb? “I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive forevermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.” Rev. 1:18.

The resurrection of Lazarus and others while Christ was on earth, though not to immortality, was in kind like that which will take place at the last day. It was a re-organization and a reanimation of the partly disorganized and inanimate body. “Thy brother shall rise again,” said Jesus to the sorrowing Martha. “Martha saith unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day. Jesus saith unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life; he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live.” John 11: 23–25.

Had Jesus been present on the day of Lazarus' death, no one would question his ability to restore him to life. Would it have been a little more difficult on the second or third day, and was it still more difficult on the fourth day, when corruption had evidently begun its work? And how would it have been at the end of a week, or a year, or a thousand years?

Did Jesus deceive the mourning sisters by creating a being exactly like Lazarus while he who had died still remained in the tomb? In the resurrection at the last day, will Martha's faith prove to have been misplaced?

In all examples of the resurrection that we have on record, the same persons that had died were brought up again from the dead; and all the promises of eternal life for the dead are based upon this principle. See John 6: 39, 40, 44, 54; 1 Cor. 15: 16–18. In the midst of the desolation that sin has wrought in our earth, this hope has cheered the faithful in all time. It was the hope of Abraham, of Jacob, and of David. In sublime terms Job thus anticipates that day: “For I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth. And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God; whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another; though my reins be consumed within me.” Job 19: 25–27. When amid afflictions the hope of Israel had nearly died out, God, by the mouth of his prophet, gave unmistakable assurance of a resurrection from the dead, and final possession of the promised inheritance. See Eze. 37: 1–14.

It is the hope upon which the Christian's faith is based. 1 Cor. 15: 16–18. It is that which cheered the martyr at the stake; and, though his ashes should be scattered to the winds, he knew that his persecutors could not scatter his dust beyond the mighty power of God to re-organize.

“Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust; for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead.” Isa. 26: 19. “Why should it be thought a thing incredible with you, that God should raise the dead?” Acts 26: 8.

A. SMITH.