Luke 20:36, commentary and pictures

Those raised in the resurrection of the just will never die again but will live immortal life eternally secure beyond the power of death. They will be made equal to the angels in dignity and privilege as their associates, and as children of the resurrection they will be children of God in close relationship with Him as members of His royal family. That life does not restore earthly marriage or mortal frailty, for there will be no marrying or giving in marriage and no birth of children in the renewed earth. Only those found worthy in judgment are raised to that life, so they are not present when their own cases are decided. This exalted, immortal state is what God intended for obedient humanity, and it is received through Christ as the redeemed are cleansed by His blood, changed into His likeness, and made partakers of the divine nature.

Life in the Resurrection

Those counted worthy to share in the resurrection of the just are raised to immortal life and can die no more, eternally secure beyond the reach of death. They cannot die again in the world to come because they have been raised to life, made like the angels in this undying existence. This deathlessness is God's purpose in raising the dead, to bring them into immortal life and keep them alive forever.

They are equal to the angels, sharing their dignity and privileges as associates of sinless angels. Those raised to eternal life are like the angels in that they live again without dying, lifted to converse with angels and to stand among them. This equality is the exalted state of the redeemed in the world to come.

They are the children of God because they are the children of the resurrection, raised to life as His people and His children. By belonging to the resurrection they are brought into close relationship with Him, living again as members of God's royal family.

Resurrection life does not restore earthly marriage or continue the frailties, passions, and former arrangements of mortal life. Those raised from the dead, and those translated without dying, will not marry or be given in marriage. The marriage relation will not exist in Paradise, and children will not be born in the new earth, and imagining families and raising children in the world to come has no basis in Christ's teaching.

God's Purpose and Judgment

Immortality and equality with the angels was the exalted state intended for humanity, which was made to inhabit the earth. Had Adam and Eve remained obedient through the first test appointed to prove loyalty, the human race would after a time have been made equal to the angels. Those who endured that test would have received the favor of God, would converse with angels, and would no longer face continual temptation. As children of the resurrection they would be unable to die anymore.

Humanity was first placed on probation to test loyalty before being rendered eternally secure. People were not made beyond the power of disobedience from the beginning. Adam and Eve's failure of the test ended that original prospect of exaltation without continual temptation. Christ then became a voluntary offering for humanity.

The righteous dead are raised only after the judgment has found them worthy of the resurrection of life. Those accounted worthy to share in the resurrection of the just become children of God, are equal to the angels, and can die no more. They are therefore not personally present when their records are examined and their cases are decided.

Receiving the Promised Life

The promise of the verse reaches into the present, holding out that mortal people may become sons of God and associates of sinless angels, with the hope of a future life set before them. Those raised to immortal life are children of God and belong among the sinless angels, and that coming standing is already anticipated in the offer to be numbered with them now.

That elevation comes only through Christ, for by receiving His righteousness and beholding His character the redeemed are changed into His likeness and perfected through His sinless merits. United with Him they receive His grace and become partakers of the divine nature, and so attain the sonship and angelic equality the verse describes. They are cleansed of every sinful tendency and imperfection by His blood, receive the brightness of His glory, and reflect the perfection of His character. Thus purified they stand faultless around the great white throne, beyond death and sharing the dignity and privileges of angels.

A person blessed with superior light and knowledge and endowed with great capacity for good may by a life of obedience and fidelity to God become equal with angels, with life measured with the life of God. Those who establish a spotless, pure, holy character and keep an untarnished name recorded in the Lamb's book of life will live among the heavenly angels and be made immortal, able to die no more. To pervert God-given powers to serve lust, such as coveting the wife of another, is to reject that purpose and dishonor Christ.

The verse also stands as warning about the results of rejecting the Son of God, a warning that applies in every age to those who refuse to receive Him as Redeemer. To refuse sin and honor God's law is to accept the hope of immortal inheritance and equality with the heavenly angels, for the redeemed will no longer die but will be equal to the angels and children of God through the resurrection. To choose sin is to reject these blessings and bring doom, and the judgment foreshadowed for the rejected leaders will come upon every sinner who does not repent.