THE RESURRECTION AND THE SOUL.
By George C. Tenney
THE resurrection of the just will be the final victory of God's people over their last enemy. “The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.” 1 Cor. 15: 26. Death is not yet destroyed; he is still the cruel foe to human happiness. The doctrine of the immortality of the soul, originating with the great deceiver (Gen. 3: 4), has been used as a gloss with which to paint the gruesome features of death. Poets have sung, orators declaimed that death is a friend, that there is no death, that death is the gate to endless joy, etc.; but no coloring or mask can hide his hideousness or conceal the awful chill of his relentless grasp. Death is an enemy, one whose strike we cannot resist, and from whose power we cannot flee. In his awful presence human philosophers and heroes stand mute with awe and dread, having no words of comfort, courage, or hope to offer. But the Christian meets death with a serene fortitude, and assurance and confidence that carry a conviction to those who behold the genuine value of the Christian's hope. Why is this? Because the word of God sheds a glorious light that pierces the dark regions of death. Christ has stood upon the farther brink of the tomb and declared himself to be “the resurrection and the life.” He demonstrated his power over death by breaking his chains right there. He went further, even entering the valley of the shadow, and was laid low in death. His pulse was still, his breath and spirit departed; the Son of God was dead. But he rose again; and his resurrection becomes the pledge of eternal life to all who believe on him. So surely as Jesus died and rose again will his people live again. The glorious truth of the resurrection opens up the path, the only path of life to those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. It is placed as the very primary consideration of the Christian's hope. See 1 Cor. 15. But in our day its importance has been largely eclipsed by the error of man's natural immortality. If, as some say, the essential principle of men continues to live after death, if death is the door to an infinite existence, untrammeled by the body, then what need have we of resurrection?—None. Thus the truth loses its luster. But to the careful student of the Bible it is most precious. In answer to the skeptical query, “How are the dead raised up? and with what body do they come?” Paul refers to the sowing of grain, and says, “Thou sowest not that body that shall be, . . . but God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed his own body.” 1 Cor. 15: 37, 38. The character of the seed sown determines the character of the growing grain. So is the resurrection; the people of God are not buried promiscuously and raised without reference to the burying. Every seed sown will be represented in the resurrection; they that have done good will appear in glorified bodies. The apostle further illustrates the truth thus: “It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption; it is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body.” The perishable elements of mortal life have no place in the immortal body. But in order to have a resurrection, it is necessary to preserve the identity of the individual, and to do this it will be necessary to restore his consciousness. The thread of experience must be taken up where it was dropped, and a complete connection made with the new life. The two lives must unite in one history. In order that this may be so, the principles, character, the mental and moral organization, must be restored. Friends from whom we have long been separated may have so altered in their outward appearance as to be unrecognizable in this life; but that is a small matter if we are able at once to discern the same disposition, the same graces and beauty of heart and soul that once attracted us so strongly. The books of God preserve the negative of each person from which to reproduce in every minute particular the very individual which went into the grave. If the soul or character be developed in harmony with heavenly principles, it will be clothed upon with a heavenly, a spiritual body, and shine forth forever in the kingdom of God. If it be defiled by sin, unsubdued by grace, it will still be restored to the individual, but with the body will perish in hell. Matt. 10: 28. Man cannot blot the individual out of existence. He may kill the body, but God retains the negative, and that individual will live again. Each one comes forth in the resurrection with the very record he has wrought out on earth. The records of God's people have by faith in Jesus been cleansed from every sin and defect. But that work will have been done while here, and the individual will be able to forget his sins and to remember with eternal gratitude the fact that he was washed in Jesus' precious blood. We are now forming characters which will have to pass the test of the judgment. A heart or soul fashioned after the divine model becomes a most precious object. It will be reproduced beyond the grave and “clothed upon with our house, which is from heaven.” A Christlike character in a heavenly, glorified body, like Christ's own body—such will be the happy and eternal state of those “who by patient continuance in welldoing seek for glory, honor, and immortality.”