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The Persecuted Church

 

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Did Jesus have a physical body when He resurrected and will He return in this body?

In the Old Testament The Angel of The Lord (known as the covenant maker) appeared as a Christophany, as a man. Jesus took up a actual human body of man in the New Testament through the virgin conception. He, the Son of God became a man. He took up a human nature to house His deity, the Son of God became the son of man.

Jesus rose with the same body but it is glorified, He is unable to die now (Rev. 1:18). This will be the body we will have, as he is the firstfruits to eternal life in the body (1 Cor.15:20). He is now as Scriptures states in his high priestly ministry in his body making intercession (1 Tim.2:5). And He will return in this body with Gods glory, as Scripture states every eye will see him (Rev.1:7) “ they will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with great power and glory” (Mark 13:26; Mt.24:30;26:64)

He does not return as spirit, nor does He exist only as Spirit but He has added a human nature to His deity since He was incarnated on earth. Thus God became man but is not limited to the body. So Jesus keeps His humanity and at no time discarded it, either in death or in resurrection.

Jesus took up the very same body, that is why it is called a resurrection. It was not a new body or a spirit body as the Jehovah Witnesses teach. Jehovah Witnesses teach His body ceased to exist along with His spirit and he was completely recreated as a spirit being (Michael the archangel). There is no a re-enfleshment of Jesus into another body, it was transformed. Oneness Pentecostals teach that Jesus is the Holy Spirit therefore He already returned, not in a body but as the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. These are what we classify as Christological heresies. And there are many variations on these. The body He was born with a body, He was raised in a body and this is the same body He will return with, glorified.

In the New Testament Jesus appeared in his ministry as an normal man, in His resurrection he bears the same crucifixion marks, after He resurrected he assured his disciples he was real, physical. Luke 24:39-40 "Behold My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself. Handle Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have." When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His feet.” Meaning, He presented the marks of the crucifixion in the same body thus confirming he was raised to life.

John 20:24-25 Now Thomas, called the Twin, one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came.

other disciples therefore said to him, "We have seen the Lord." So he said to them, "Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe." 8 days later we read in v: 27-28 Then He said to Thomas, "Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing." And Thomas answered and said to Him, "My Lord and my God!" He said this to the one that was in flesh.

1 Cor. 15:20-22 “But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep (those who have died). For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive.” What is made alive is the body that goes into the ground. The spirit gives life to the body when it is united.

Every appearance is a physical appearance of Christ in his body. Some see 11 or 12 appearances

The First Appearance: Mary Magdalene- Mark 16:9-11; John 20:11-18

The Second Appearance: The Other Women- Matthew 28:9,10

The Report of the Guard: Matthew 28:11-15

The Third Appearance: The Two Disciples on the Emmaus Road - Mark 16:12,13; Luke 24:13-32

The Fourth Appearance: Simon Peter- Luke 24:33-35; 1 Corinthians 15:5

The Fifth Appearance: The Ten- Mark 16:14; Luke 24:36-43; John 20:19-25

The Sixth Appearance: The Eleven- John 20:26-31; I Corinthians 15:5

The Seventh Appearance: The Seven John 21

The Eighth Appearance: The Five Hundred- 1 Corinthians 15:6, Mark 16:15~18; Matthew 28:16-20;

The Ninth Appearance: James; I Corinthians 15:7

The Tenth Appearance: The Eleven- Luke 24:44-49; Acts 1:3-8

The Eleventh: Ascension- Mark 16:19, 20; Luke 24:50-53; Acts 1:9-12

Rom 6:5 “For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection.”

But when the time comes for us to be transformed, we are told in I Jn. 3:2 “know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.”

1Thes 3:13: “the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints.” We come back with him. Resurrected ready to be co - ruling under him on earth over the nations.

Jude 1:14-15 “Now Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men also, saying, "Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of His saints, "to execute judgment on all”

The physical incarnation continues

2 John 1:7 "For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the antichrist." John uses the present tense in Greek which focuses specifically on the future coming of the Lord. People who deny that Jesus rose in the flesh or is not coming back in the flesh; that he is coming back as a Spirit or in some other form other than his body, are of the spirit of anti-christ.

The perfect participle is used (eleluthota). This means, according to John, not only that Jesus Christ once came in the fullness of time as one clothed with flesh, but that thus He is still present. What happened at the incarnation has not been undone. He is a Christ who 'is come, who came and who abides in the flesh."' The last 10 words are quoted from A. Ross in the New, International Commentary. (Schep, The Nature of the Resurrection Body, pp. 71, 72).

If he no longer has flesh, we have no true mediator between God and man 1 Tim. 2:5. For en sarki in flesh 2 Tim. 3:16).and became flesh (Jn. 1:14) means complete human nature. In other words he came in the flesh and rose in the same flesh, yet it was transformed to an eternal flesh body. Without the resurrection, Christianity has no meaning for humanity—its founder would be proven a liar for he told them he was to be raised, and the followers would have no hope. Thus the importance of the resurrection to Christian faith cannot be overestimated1 Cor.15:14 3rd point of the Gospel which if denied is as if not accepting the gospel to be saved.

Rom.1:3 "...and declared the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection of the dead.

In Jesus’ incarnation he came in humility, in His resurrection he was glorified, exalted to his former position. In his return to end the tribulation it is in glory as the king of kings.

The return

Rev 1:7 “Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. Even so, Amen.”

This is the very same thing said from Jesus Mt, 24:30 "Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.”

Clouds are often associated with glory, Hebrews 12 also speaks of a great cloud of witnesses; it certainly can mean both.

Scripture explains with clarity, Jesus will return physically just as He left, in the same manner and same place (Acts 1:11). He left from the Mount of Olives in His resurrected glorified body (still having the crucifixion marks on his body John 20:24-26). He will return in the same way to the same Mount of Olives and be identified by the same literal crucifixion marks (Zechariah 12:10).

Zech 14:4 And in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which faces Jerusalem on the east. And the Mount of Olives shall be split in two”

In the Millennium Jesus will dwell on the earth physically, He will be seen and interact with man as He reigns from Jerusalem. The whole world will be a theocracy, not just Israel. Jesus will be present physically with mankind as He walked in the Garden with Adam each afternoon.

God appeared on earth in a human enfleshment of Christ, hiding his deity. There was one time at the Mt of Transfiguration that he revealed the glory that was really Him. In Revelation1 John is translated to heaven Jesus appeared to John in His glorified deity revealing even more than he saw at the transfiguration.

 

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