Resurrection Ground
Feb 25, 2025 by Caitlyn Crissone
But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are live, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore encourage one another with these words.
-1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
-1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
These verses offer a living hope to all who are walking the roads of grief. They state that Christ, as the first fruit, was the first to rise. And at His second coming, all those who belong to Him will receive resurrected bodies.
Graveyards will one day be resurrection grounds.
Resurrection is not merely life after death: it is the continuation of life after death in glorified bodies- our old bodies, but completely perfect.
Many, myself included, have wondered why God allows Christians to die even though Jesus took death's sting away (1 Corinthians 15:55).
This is my best shot at answering that question: our bodies must change before we can enter heaven. "Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit in corruption," (1 Corinthians 15:50).
Wouldn't it be a disappointment if in heaven we had the same weak, fleshly bodies we have now? But in heaven, there will be no cancer or disease, no car accidents or tragedies. The glorified body shall never die.
"Death" is a must for the Christians' destiny, but is not the Christians's destination.
As Charles Spurgeon once said,
Graveyards will one day be resurrection grounds.
Resurrection is not merely life after death: it is the continuation of life after death in glorified bodies- our old bodies, but completely perfect.
Many, myself included, have wondered why God allows Christians to die even though Jesus took death's sting away (1 Corinthians 15:55).
This is my best shot at answering that question: our bodies must change before we can enter heaven. "Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit in corruption," (1 Corinthians 15:50).
Wouldn't it be a disappointment if in heaven we had the same weak, fleshly bodies we have now? But in heaven, there will be no cancer or disease, no car accidents or tragedies. The glorified body shall never die.
"Death" is a must for the Christians' destiny, but is not the Christians's destination.
As Charles Spurgeon once said,
"Truly it is never a pleasant sound, that rattle of the clay upon the coffin lid, earth to earth, dust to dust, ashes to ashes.
Nor to the farmer, for its own sake, would it be a pleasant thing to put his grain into the cold dull earth;
yet I trow no farmer ever weeps when he sows his seed."
Nor to the farmer, for its own sake, would it be a pleasant thing to put his grain into the cold dull earth;
yet I trow no farmer ever weeps when he sows his seed."
When we bury the body of a believing loved one, we are not 'burying' them at all. Burying would mean that we will never see them again, that we will just have to forget about them. Rather, we are sowing a seed that will rise up out of the grave as a resurrected body.
A few weeks ago, Addison and I planted nearly 200 hundred tulip bulbs.
You plant tulip bulbs in the fall/winter and they lie dormant till late winter. Then slowly they start to break the ground. Then, before long they are in full blood.
it's the same as when we 'plant' the body of a believing loved one. Their bodies lie in the grave for a period of time (however, that doesn't mean they lie in the grave, only their bodies. Paul made it clear that to be 'absent from the body is to be present with the Lord,"). Then one day they rise. They rise with glorified bodies. They will not be weary and worn like the last time we saw them.
Chances are high that the last time you saw your gone-on loved one they were in a sad state to look upon; but that will not be the case in heaven. They will wake up in beauty and glory. Much more glorious than you ever saw them before.
When I plant bulbs, roots, or seeds of any kind, I do so with anticipation of the beautiful blooms (or fruit) that are to come. We can do the same when we 'plant' the body of a believer. In Christ we have hope.
Because Christ arose, so will all who have died in Him.
A few weeks ago, Addison and I planted nearly 200 hundred tulip bulbs.
You plant tulip bulbs in the fall/winter and they lie dormant till late winter. Then slowly they start to break the ground. Then, before long they are in full blood.
it's the same as when we 'plant' the body of a believing loved one. Their bodies lie in the grave for a period of time (however, that doesn't mean they lie in the grave, only their bodies. Paul made it clear that to be 'absent from the body is to be present with the Lord,"). Then one day they rise. They rise with glorified bodies. They will not be weary and worn like the last time we saw them.
Chances are high that the last time you saw your gone-on loved one they were in a sad state to look upon; but that will not be the case in heaven. They will wake up in beauty and glory. Much more glorious than you ever saw them before.
When I plant bulbs, roots, or seeds of any kind, I do so with anticipation of the beautiful blooms (or fruit) that are to come. We can do the same when we 'plant' the body of a believer. In Christ we have hope.
Because Christ arose, so will all who have died in Him.
It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power: it is sown in natural body;
it is raised as a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.
- 1 Corinthians 15:42-44
it is raised as a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.
- 1 Corinthians 15:42-44
