The Watchtower, April 15, 1944
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“WATCHTOWER” STUDIES
Week of May 21: “Power of the Resurrection Hope,” 1-19 inclusive, The Watchtower April 15, 1944.
Week of May 28: “Power of the Resurrection Hope,” 20-40 inclusive, The Watchtower April 15, 1944.
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Vol. LXV
April 15, 1944
No. 8
POWER OF THE RESURRECTION HOPE
"So also is the resurrection of the dead. . . . Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord."—1 Cor. 15:42,58.
JEHOVAH startled and surprised the entire enemy camp when he revealed his purpose to resurrect the dead. Jehovah is the God of resurrection. To his faithful, only begotten Son he has given the privilege of co-operating with him in resurrecting the dead, but only after he had first raised this beloved Son himself from among the dead. Therefore the Son says: “I am the resurrection, and the life; he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die.”—John 11:25,26.
2 The enemy is the god of death. He cannot perform a resurrection of the dead, nor does he favor such a miracle for others. His wicked purpose is to hide the truth and possibility of a resurrection from humankind, whom he has blinded. According to the false teaching that he uses to deceive it is not necessary that there should be a raising of the dead to life, because, so the enemy teaches, there are no dead, for the dead are more alive and intelligent than ever as immortal souls in an invisible world. For persons blinded with such doctrine it is difficult to believe that God will actually raise those who are really dead, that is, non-existent except for God’s precise memory of them. They think resurrection applies simply to the physical body, but that there must be some essential inward part of man that is immortal and survives the death of the body, and that such essential part continues disembodied somewhere until the body is resurrected for it to re-enter and reunite with the body. The great enemy, who is Satan the Devil, and also his invisible demons know that man himself is the human soul, and that there is no essential part of man that survives and enters into the realm of the spirits at death. For this reason it has been a favorite trick of the demons to impersonate the dead and, as such, to communicate through spiritualist mediums with the living relatives and friends and thereby deceive them into believing in disembodied souls of the dead. Especially does a wave of such demon trickery sweep over the land in time of warfare with its huge human mortality, as at the close of World War I and now also during this global war.
1. Of what great miracle is Jehovah the God, and to whom has he given the privilege of cooperating with him therein?
2. (a) Of what is the enemy the god, and by what doctrines has he hid from men the truth and possibility of resurrection? (b) To what favorite trick do the demons now resort to bolster up such doctrines?
3 Religion plays directly into the hands of the demons, by not instructing concerning the resurrection of the dead, but filling men with the idea that immediately at death they are hurtled into an eternity of immortality by the escape of an undying soul from the dead body. Religion claims thus to give comfort to the dying and the survivors, and to strengthen those proceeding in the line of their human duties to face dangers against their life or even sure death. It was under the enticement, “Ye shall not surely die,” that the first woman marched directly into death. Such expectation of deathlessness Satan the enemy held out to her, not through the hope of a resurrection from the dead, but by disregard of the word and commandment of Jehovah God. When her husband Adam decided to join her in the descent to death, he did so, but also without any hope of a resurrection out of death. Such a thing was then unknown. Nor did the Supreme Judge hold out to this human pair any hope of resurrection after their commission of willful sin.—Gen. 3:15.
4 In the unanswerable argument of the apostle of Jesus Christ in his first epistle to the Corinthians, chapter fifteen, belief in any “inherent immortality of the human soul” finds no expression. Altogether different therefrom is the hope which the apostle Paul holds forth as that which sustains a Christian to undergo the most extreme hardships and to face violent death confidently and without flinching while he carries on as a witness in the service of Jehovah God. Rather than human immortality, this apostle stoutly contended for the resurrection of the dead as the true Christian hope for future life. That is the point he makes, at verse 29, saying: “Else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all? why are they then baptized for the dead?”
3. (a) How does religion play directly into the bands of the demons? (b) What part did resurrection hope play in the actions of Adam and Eve in Eden?
4. In 1 Corinthians 15 what faith and sustaining hope are expressed for future life?
5 From this strange statement of the apostle religionists are wrongly led to think that in apostolic times there were Christians who got themselves baptized for unbaptized dead friends in the belief that it would benefit them. Such a belief is unscriptural, for the apostle is not suggesting the fitness of being baptized for such dead ones as Adam and Eve. It is impossible for one to be baptized for another and have it avail before God for the unbaptized one. Who, then, are these dead ones, and how is it possible to be baptized for such? The dead ones and the ones baptized are the same individuals. Also the baptism here referred to is not water baptism, but is baptism into that which Christ Jesus himself experienced, namely, into a sacrificial death.
6 Keep in mind that in this fifteenth chapter the apostle is discussing the Christians’ hope and future, and not that of humankind in general. (1 Cor. 1:2-9) Such Christians indeed have been baptized in water. (1 Cor. 1:13-16) Thereby they publicly gave a symbolic testimony of their consecration of themselves to Jehovah through Christ Jesus, to do God’s will as exampled by his Son. God accepting their consecrations and justifying them from their sins through the sacrificial merit of Jesus Christ, he accepted them for sacrifice with their Head and Leader. As Jesus died the death of faithfulness for the righteous vindication of Jehovah’s name, so these too must be “faithful unto death”. In that behalf Jehovah God baptized them into the “body of Christ”, to be his body-members and to follow him their Head in integrity and service toward God down to the very death, by whatever means it came. For no other earthly end, therefore, were these Christians baptized into Christ than for eventual death in faithfulness, to be “dead ones". Thus they were “baptized for the dead”, not, of course, in the expectation of remaining dead for eternity, but in the hope of being raised from the dead in God’s due time as Christ Jesus was raised from death.
7 That such is the true and proper understanding of the apostle’s expression, his own words at Romans 6: 3-11 show: “Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection.”
5. On tbe basis of 1 Corinthians 15:29 what unscriptural practice has been carried on by some religionists? and who are “the dead’’ here referred to and what is the baptism?
6. Whose hope and future is tbe apostle here discussing? and in what way have they been “baptized for the dead”?
7. In his epistle to the Romans, how does the same apostle confirm that understanding of the baptism?
8 It was such an earthly outcome that the Lord Jesus pictured before his disciples for consideration when he discussed the requirements for being with him in the kingdom of heaven. “Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of, and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? They say unto him, We are able. And he saith unto them, Ye shall drink indeed of my cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with.” (Matt. 20: 22, 23; Mark 10: 38, 39; Luke 12: 50) At Pentecost after Jesus’ resurrection and ascension, those disciples were “baptized for the dead” by being baptized into Christ, the holy spirit of God then being poured out upon them and anointing them as body-members. (Acts 2:1-18) The Christians at Corinth and at Rome, and other Christians since being likewise anointed with the Kingdom spirit of God, are or have been thus “baptized for the dead”. If there were no resurrection of such Christians out of death at the time of the establishment of God’s kingdom, what would be the sense of their being thus baptized? A Christian may be sincere in saying, ‘Well, even if there were nothing more to it than just this earthly life, the privilege and joy of serving God is so great and blessed that I would be satisfied with just this.’ But the apostle Paul says to fellow Christians: “If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.” (1 Cor. 15:19) This shows that the Word of God is expressly written for us to entertain the hope of resurrection as a comforting and staying power in this life.
9 That the ‘baptism for the dead’ means a baptism for a certain course and end as to this life the apostle illustrates by referring to himself, saying: “And why stand we in jeopardy every hour? I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.” (1 Cor. 15:30,31) Everywhere are the enemies of those Christians who are members of the “body of Christ”. Satan the Devil and his demons would use his religious agents and other earthly instruments to goring about the destruction of every one of such Christians, if they could, to prevent them from acting as Jehovah’s witnesses and preaching the Kingdom gospel publicly and from house to house. Satan thinks he can frighten the remnant of such Christian bodymembers on earth today by threatening them with death; but these are willing to stand hourly in jeopardy, and to risk their lives and to face death daily by keeping on in the work Satan hates. Why? Because they know God can resurrect them out of death if He permits the Devil and his minions to kill their bodies. The Devil cannot destroy their souls, that is, their life through a resurrection from the dead into the New World. They know that only God can destroy their souls or life privileges in Gehenna, symbolic of everlasting destruction. (Matt. 10: 28; Luke 12: 4, 5) By going down eventually into their baptism into death in blamelessness and integrity toward God, they maintain their conditional right to life in the New World. That right to everlasting life is made permanent at their resurrection from the dead and into the kingdom of heaven.
8. How did Jesus set such a prospect before his disciples, when first were they “baptised for the dead”, and of what benefit to such ones is the resurrection hope?
9. How and why do we stand in jeopardy hourly and die dally, and what hope and prospect aids us to do so?
DANGERS OF BAD COMPANY
10 It is not with safety to one’s faith in God and his purpose for a Christian to keep regular company with religionists who do not believe that the dead rise to life in a resurrection, but who have selfish motives of worldly glory, fame and honor for what brave exploits they do with an unconcern for death. To face perils with such motives as the religionists of this world have would be of no advantage and would end up in loss of faith. So the apostle warns, saying: “If after the manner of men I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what advantageth it me, if the dead rise not? let us eat and drink; for to morrow we die. Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners. Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak this to your shame.” (1 Cor. 15: 32-34) There is no reason to think other than that during the years that the apostle Paul spent in Ephesus he was taken by his enemies and put in the arena to fight with wild beasts and was miraculously delivered by the Lord, just as Daniel was saved from the lions. But if he encountered such perils and exposed himself to death from purely the motives of a natural man, and without love for God and belief in resurrection, what would it avail him?
11 Modern translation brings out better today the sense of the apostle’s words: “If from merely human motives I have fought with wild beasts in Ephesus, what profit is it to me? If the dead do not rise, let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we are to die. Do not deceive yourselves: ‘Bad companionships spoil good morals.’ Return to a truly sober mind, and cease to sin; for some have no knowledge of God. I say this to your shame.”—Weymouth; also Emphatic Diaglott.
12 In the above statement the apostle quoted from Isaiah 22:13, according to the Greek Septuagint Version, which describes the conduct of religionists of Israel despite Jehovah’s call for their repentance: “And behold joy and gladness, slaying oxen, and killing sheep, eating flesh, and drinking wine: let us eat and drink; for to morrow we shall die.” Such religionists revealed that they had no knowledge of Jehovah and his truth. The religionists of modern “Christendom”, in giving themselves over to eating, drinking, marriages, and material and commercial pursuits, rather than to God’s kingdom now established, betray that they are just as ignorant of God as were the religionists in the days of Noah before the flood came and destroyed them all. (Matt. 24:37-39; Luke 17:26,27) Mingling with such company for diversion and enjoyment is certain to corrupt one’s belief and one’s Christian course. It throws one off guard, so that the day of the Lord’s final reckoning with this world comes upon one like a snare.(Luke 21:34-36) Let no true Christian be deceived as to the dire outcome of such companionships.—Prov. 6: 27,28.
10 To what does it tend if one keeps regular company with religionists who do dangerous exploits from human motives, and how does Paul illustrate It by reference to himself?
11 How does modern translation bring out better the sense of the apostle’s original words?
12 . What topical instance does the apostle Paul here quote, and to what outcome does companionship with suchlike in modern "Christendom" lead?
13 The natural man does not believe in the resurrection of the dead in the day of judgment, and hence the course of self-indulgence in this life appears to be the most reasonable to his natural mind. He has no knowledge of the divine purpose, and hence is insensible to Jehovah God and feels no responsibility before him and that no accounting is to be made to him. At Corinth there were certain ones mingling with the Christian company who had slumped back into such natural-mindedness and were skeptically saying there is no resurrection of the dead. The apostle Paul undertook to answer their argument and wrote these pointed things to their shame. It was time for them, and is time for any suchlike today, to awake as it is right to do, or to awake to sobriety, to a sound-minded, reasonable and Christian view of matters. It is time to cease from the sin of compromise with this world and fellowship with unbelievers and conforming their course of life to this world of selfish eating, drinking and other indulgences. It is life eternal to know the true God and his Christ and to live according to such knowledge. (John 17:3) Companying with this world does not aid to such knowledge.
WHAT BODY?
14 Proceeding with his exposition concerning the resurrection, Paul continues: “But some man will say, How are the dead raised up? and with what body do they come?” (1 Cor. 15:35) The inquirer was a Christian or an associate with the Corinthian brethren. He was not asking regarding the resurrection of humankind in general, for it is self-evident that those of humankind participating in the resurrection to life on earth would all come forth from the graves in human or fleshly bodies. The inquirer’s concern was as to the Christian dead, to whom Paul referred, saying: “Some are fallen asleep.” (1 Cor. 15: 6) Hence in this chapter, and in what he has yet to say, the apostle does not discuss and describe the resurrection hopes of mankind, but of those whom Jehovah God has taken out from among the nations to be a “people for His name”. As it is written: “These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb.” (Acts 15:14; Rev. 14:4) Hence these have a resurrection that is separate and distinct from that of humankind who are not called to a place in the Kingdom with Christ Jesus. At the Lord’s coming and establishment of the New World Government their resurrection precedes that of any of the rest of humanity; and those having part therein are blessed. “Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.” (Rev. 20:5,6) Their awakening out of death being unto life and glory in the kingdom of heaven with Christ, the question would suggest itself to the searching mind as to their condition in the resurrection.
13. Why does the self-indulgent course appear most reasonable to the natural-minded person, but what is it the right thing for doubting Christians now to do?
14. With reference to whom does the inquirer raise the question respecting the resurrection body, and why with respect to them?
15 It appears that the one putting the question was doing so to cast doubt upon the entire subject and was advancing the question for which he thought there could be no reasonable answer. Just so today, men scoff and say: Where is Christ, if he is now present? Where are those of his disciples who have died if he has resurrected them? We see nothing of it with our natural eyes.’ To those of this cast of mind the apostle replies: “Thou fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die: and that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some other grain: but God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed his own body.” (1 Cor. 15: 36-38) It is foolish to think that Christians should not die, but that their bodies should be transformed and be refined from material flesh into some fine, invisible substance and thus they be joined with Christ Jesus in heaven without dying. It is likewise unreasonable and also unscriptural to think that for them to join him in the heavens they must have some immortal quality or germ within them, and that the human soul is immortal and finally casts off the fleshly body and later returns to join the same body. The apostle argues that what is planted is not what shall be. If the fleshly body was to be raised at the resurrection and reunited with the departed soul, it is unlikely that the question would have been posed as to how the Christian dead are raised and with what body they are raised.
15. (a) With what motive was such question put then, as some put related questions today? (b) Since what is sown is not the body to be, what thoughts concerning resurrection and union with Christ are manifestly foolish?
16 Christ Jesus, a few days before his death, said: “The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abidetb alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.” (John 12: 23, 24) Christ Jesus was in a covenant of sacrifice with his heavenly Father, and it was only by finishing his earthly course faithful unto death that he could be raised from the dead to life in the spirit with Jehovah God. If he had not died, he would have failed to provide the ransom sacrifice for humankind, and his disciples would be without redemption and hence would die and remain dead. But by dying and then being raised from the dead, Christ Jesus procured redemption for them and opened the way for them to be with him in the heavenly kingdom, that thus he should not be alone in the kingdom. “If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honour.” Hence, to show that his disciples must follow his course and die like him, Jesus said: “He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.” (John 12: 25, 26) To be quickened to life eternal the members of Christ’s “body” must know the “fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death”. Then they shall “know him, and the power of his resurrection”, and shall “attain unto the resurrection of the dead”.—Phil. 3: 10, 11.
17 The apostle’s discussion deals with classes or classifications. Grain is one class of plant life. There are also several classifications of grains, the apostle mentioning wheat as an example, besides which there are maize, oats, rice, millet, flax, etc. In the case of any class of grain, the seed grains that are sown are not the grain bodies that appear in due time above the ground and that mature ready for harvesting. God has arranged for the development of the plant from the seed, and it has pleased him that there should be no variation in the class of grain produced from the seed sown. If wheat is sown, then grain of the same class is produced therefrom. Thus there is “to every seed his own body”. Likewise as to the members of Christ’s body. They have been begotten by the spirit of God to be his spiritual children and are called with a heavenly calling. Then it must follow that when this class or body of Christians is brought forth to life in the “first resurrection” it would be a body realizing the hope unto which it was begotten and developed of God, namely, heavenly life in the spirit. It could never be an earthly body, and it would be perfectly inconsistent to think that the flesh which crumbled in death would be re-created and rejoined with an immortal soul and be borne to heaven. Such a thing it has not pleased God to do, according to his Word.
16 (a) How did Jesus illustrate and show the necessity of his own death in his disciples' behalf? (b) Why mast his disciples take the course like his, ending up in death?
17. (a) By what reference to plant life does the apostle show he is not referring to individual bodies In the resurrection? (b) As to Christians, why could not the resurrection ‘body' of them be earthly?
18 The resurrection argument continues: “All flesh is not the same flesh: but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, and another of birds.” (1 Cor. 15:39) Here further classifications are mentioned, that is, of fleshly creatures. Man is in a superior class by himself, and hence of different flesh from all other animal creatures on earth. But even the flesh of the numerous classes of lower animal creation differ one from another in the three general classifications of beasts, fishes and birds. In each of these three generalizations, there are many lesser classes, many being the varieties of beasts, and varieties of fishes, and varieties of birds. Hence, when eaten, the flesh of each variety tastes different, to the pleasure of man’s palate. But each classification holds to its own marked features, and reproduces its kind, for it has pleased God to so determine.
19 “There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another.” (1 Cor. 15:40) Here the apostle discusses other classifications on a wider scope, including heaven and earth. By celestial bodies he does not mean inanimate bodies in the skies, such as the stars and planets that we see. These are all material bodies like our terrestrial globe, containing elements that are in our earth. The apostle refers, rather, to the various heavenly classes of spirit creatures, such as cherubim, seraphim and angels. These groups have each a God-given glory that distinguishes its own particular group or body of creatures. Such celestial glory likewise distinguishes them from visible, material creatures. The angel that descended from heaven and rolled away the sepulcher stone at the time of Jesus’ resurrection had a countenance like lightning and his raiment was of snowy whiteness. The angels who showed themselves at the sepulcher when the faithful women arrived “stood by them in shining garments”. (Matt. 28: 2, 3; Luke 24: 4) The glory of the seraphim is described for us at Isaiah, chapter six, and their name means fiery or burning ones. At Ezekiel, chapter 28, verses 12-15, is symbolically pictured the glory of the cherub Lucifer, and of other cherubim at chapters 1 and 10. (Ezek. 43: 2-4; Heb. 9:5) The glory of the highly exalted Head of the “church, which is his body”, appeared to Saul of Tarsus unbearably dazzling, like a “light from heaven, above the brightness of the sun” at midday, and blinding him for three days. (Acts 9:3; 26:13-15) Such is the variety of glory of celestial (heavenly) bodies or classes of creatures.
18. What further earthly classifications does the apostle mention, and what essential facts does he show regarding them?
19 What does the apostle mean by the expression “celestial bodies", and what are some Scriptural instances describing such?
20 “But the glory of the heavenly, indeed, is one; and of the earthly [ones], another.” (Emphatic Diaglott) The members of the “body of Christ” are, while on earth, in the flesh made from the elements of the earth. As long as its members are in such condition, the “body of Christ”, which is his church, is earthly. It has its glory, nonetheless. It does not glorify itself, but God glorifies it while on earth by conferring upon it the honor and privilege of possessing the glorious gospel of his Kingdom and of acting as his ambassadors to preach this Kingdom gospel to all nations. (1 Tim. 1:11; 2 Cor. 5:18-20; Rom. 8: 30) The body or company of faithful Jews who lived before Christ was also marked by the glory of covenant relationship with Jehovah God and by the knowledge and keeping of his laws, promises, and arrangements, something no other people on earth then enjoyed. Today the Good Shepherd Christ Jesus is gathering out from all nations, kindreds, people and tongues his “other sheep”. The glory of this organized body of consecrated “men of goodwill” is also discernible as they receive the light of truth and let it shine to others by taking part in the witness work with the remnant of Christ’s bodymembers. Such are the glories respectively of the “bodies terrestrial”, or “earthly bodies”, quite different, indeed, from the glories of the “bodies celestial”.
21 Then, to illustrate, the apostle refers to the material bodies in the skies which we see, saying: “There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for one star differeth from another star in glory.” (1 Cor. 15: 41) There are other suns besides our own, which have planets revolving in orbits about them. There are other moons, besides that one revolving about our earth, such as the eleven moons of Jupiter and the nine moons of Saturn. There are star clusters, also, which, because of distance away, appear to the naked human eye as but one luminous body above. Even such inanimate bodies have their particular glories. In the case of the body of Christ, it shall have a celestial glory surpassing anything that is displayed by those visible bodies in space.
RAISING OF THE BODY OF CHRIST
22 “So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption: it is sown in dishonour; 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. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.” (1 Cor. 15:42-44) Besides the preceding discussion, the apostle’s description now of this resurrection proves that the expression, “So also is the resurrection of the dead,” does not mean the general resurrection of humankind. It does not include other humans who “have done good” and who “shall come forth unto a resurrection of life” on earth. It means exclusively “the first resurrection”, that resurrection which is in the class of Jesus’ resurrection, and which therefore has the “likeness of his resurrection”. So the apostle is not discussing the subject of resurrection as a whole, as at Acts 24:15, where he says, “There shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust.” The resurrection set out in detail in 1 Corinthians 15 includes no unjust ones. Neither could it embrace others who are destined to everlasting life on a paradise earth. It takes in solely those who are members of the “body of Christ”, and who are “partakers of the heavenly calling”. — Heb. 3:1.
20. What are some of the "bodies terrestrial" and their respective glories?
21. What are some of the bodies visible in the skies above and how do they compare in radiance with the glorified “body of Christ"?
22. To whom does the expression, “So also is the resurrection of the dead,” apply, and what “dead” ones are excluded?
23 Minutely examined, this resurrection account also is not a description of individual members and their individual bodies in the awakening to life. The apostle is not discussing individuals, but a class, as a unit, because they all share in the same grade of resurrection. The first fourteen chapters of Paul’s epistle discuss the “body of Christ”, in which epistle more is said about such “body” than in any other of his epistles. He brings the discussion to a high point, saying to the Christians whom he addresses: “Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular.” (See 1 Corinthians 6:13,19,20; 10:16, 17; 11:24,27,29; 12:12-27.) It is the resurrection of this “body” that he now describes in chapter 15, and in that resurrection everyone who on earth remains faithful as a member of the “body” or church shall duly share in God’s due time. Because the apostle treats of the bringing forth of a class, the church, he does not say, 'They are sown, they are raised, they are sown natural bodies, they are raised spiritual bodies.’ He treats of all members of the “body” together, as one unit under Christ Jesus the Head.
24 Being called from among Adam’s descendants, who are sinful men under the condemnation of death and needing redemption, the “body of Christ” here on the earth is in the flesh that is corrupting. Hence it, the “body of Christ”, when dying, is sown in corruption. In the first resurrection it is raised free from inherited sin and beyond being “hurt of the second death”. This is the reward of those who, “by perseverance in good works, are seeking for glory and honor and incorruptibility.” (Rev. 2:11; Rom. 2:7, Diaglott) The members of the body here on earth are weak in themselves, and weak as respects having political power and other influence in this world; but they trust for God’s grace to be sufficient for them. They are resurrected in the power of the Kingdom, The Theocracy, with power far exceeding that of God’s “mighty angels”. (2 Thess. 1: 7) While in the flesh they are held in great dishonor by this world, and they suffer shame for Christ’s name. (2 Cor. 6:8; Acts 5:41) But in being awakened to everlasting life, they enter into the glories which God has prepared for them that love him and they appear with the Son of God in glory. (Col. 3:3,4) Finishing their course in the flesh, the members are sown a “natural body”, and, being raised to life in the spirit, they are raised a “spiritual body”. At Christ’s coming to the temple in 1918 all those who had died down till then were raised together in a body.
23. What preliminary discussion shows which body it is whose resurrection the apostle describes, and how does his wording of the description also show that?
24. How or in what conditions Is this body sown, and how is it raised?
25 This fulfills to the members of Christ’s body that which was spoken at Philippians 3: 20, 21: “For our citizenship is in heaven; whence also we wait for a Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: who shall fashion anew the body of our humiliation, that it may be conformed to the body of his glory, according to the working whereby he is able even to subject all things unto himself.” — Am. Stan. Ver.
26 Why is there thus a transformation from a natural to a spiritual body? The apostle replies, saying: “And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit. Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual. The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven. As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly. And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.” (1 Cor. 15: 45-49) The transformation is because the “body of Christ” must be conformed to its Head, Christ Jesus, in heavenly glory since his own resurrection from the dead.
27 The first Adam, in Eden, did not have an immortal soul, separate and detachable from his body. He was made or became a living soul. (Gen. 2:7) He was a soul. All his descendants were born as human souls, including those who become members of the “body of Christ”. To become the Ransomer of all believing humankind it was necessary for Jesus to come down from heaven and himself become a human soul. His human nature he laid down at Calvary as a ransom, and after his resurrection and ascension he presented the merit of it in the presence of God, first, in behalf of those who should become members of his body. Thereafter he extends the benefits of his ransom sacrifice to those who will attain to everlasting life on the earth underneath his kingdom. So then, in the flesh, the members of Christ’s body form a “natural body”. This state comes first.
25. How does this fulfill what is spokes of nt Philippians 3:20, 21?
26. Why is or must there be a transformation from a natural to a spiritual body?
27. Why is it that that which is natural comes first, as respects this body?
28 Afterwards, in the resurrection, the “body of Christ” becomes a spiritual one. This fact absolutely disproves the religious claim that the fleshly body which was nailed to the tree was the body that was raised at Jesus’ resurrection, and that he has his human body in heaven with never-healing wounds. Since the church, his “body”, is raised “in the likeness of his resurrection”, and since “it is raised a spiritual body”, then, too, Jesus was raised from the dead a spirit person, “in incorruption,” “in glory,” “in power.” That was why he had been begotten of God’s spirit and acknowledged as the spiritual Son of God after his baptism in Jordan river. (Matt. 3:16, 17) Hence Christ Jesus, “the last Adam,” was made a “life-giving spirit”. He was “put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit”. (1 Cor. 15: 45, Diaglott; 1 Pet. 3:18, Am. Stan. Ver.) Those who have never been begotten of the spirit of God to a heavenly hope of life will never experience such a transformation in the resurrection. They will be raised from the dead human, natural. They were never transferred from Adam into the “body of Christ”.
29 “The first man was from the ground, earthy, the second man is from heaven.” (Diaglott) Adam in Eden was made from the dust of the ground, and at death returned to the dust out of which he was taken. Christ Jesus, when on earth, was known and spoke of himself as “The Son of man”, and, being born a perfect human by the miraculous power of God his Father, he was the perfect equivalent of Adam in the garden before his transgression. At 1 Corinthians 15: 27, 28 the apostle Paul quotes from Psalm 8: 4-6 and applies it to Christ Jesus the Lord, namely: “What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him? . . . Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet.” The Lord Jesus having by his ransom sacrifice redeemed all that which Adam forfeited by his disobedience in Eden, it is true that “the second man is from heaven”. Hence the body-members of Christ, who were once earthly like Adam and who therefore bore the image of the earthy, will in the resurrection become heavenly ones like the second Adam, “the second man,” and will bear a heavenly image.
28 What does the expression “And afterward that which is spiritual” prove regarding Jesus own resurrection and also that of those never begotten of God’s spirit?
29 How is it true that “the second man is from heaven”? and what “image”, therefore, will Christ’s followers bear in the resurrection?
WHY NO HUMANS IN HEAVEN?
30 It was needful for Christ Jesus to die, and it is equally necessary for his body-members to die and thereby dispense with the flesh. The apostle emphasizes why, saying: “Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.” (1 Cor. 15: 50) It is purely a devil-inspired, religious imagination that the resurrection of the dead means the reassembling of the human body and the uniting of the immortal soul with it and that then the soul returns to heaven with the body of flesh and blood, which body, they say, becomes spiritualized, refined, or etherealized. Flesh cannot go to heaven, says Paul, and the fleshly body of corruption cannot be etherealized or spiritualized to inherit incorruption. It is therefore a religious falsehood to claim that the descent of the Lord from heaven at his second coming must be in flesh, the body from the tree, and that the natural eyes of man will literally see him. Only with the eye of understanding will everyone then living see, discern or perceive his invisible presence, and that only by means of the visible signs then betokening his return and second presence in the spirit.—Rev. 1:7; Matt. 24: 30; John 14: 19.
31 In agreement with the fact that flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom, which it is the Father’s good pleasure to give to the “little flock” of Christ’s body-members, must be understood the mystery or sacred secret which the Lord next reveals by his apostle: “Behold, I shew you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.” (1 Cor. 15:51,52) The apostle was showing this mystery to fellow Christians, and so his expression “we” cannot be broadened out by religionists to include humankind in general. He means only the members of Christ’s body, of which he also was and is a member. At verse 20 he shows that all the dead in the graves sleep, and at verse 6 he announces that already some of the members of the “body of Christ” have “fallen asleep” in death. Their sleep is because they must await the sounding of the “last trump” in the day of resurrection after God’s kingdom is set up through Christ Jesus the Lord.
32 Such “last trump” is not literal, but is symbolic, and denotes a mighty proclamation at the end of this world. The proclamation which is trumpeted forth is that Satan’s lease of power, his uninterrupted rule, has ended, and that the Kingdom of God through Christ has been established. This proclamation began to go forth in A.D. 1914 among the angels in heaven, but was sounded with special volume and emphasis after Satan and his demons were defeated in the "war in heaven” and flung down to the earth. Then the Lord Jesus came to the temple for judgment, amid the sounding of the trumpet by the angels. First then it was, beginning at his arrival in 1918, that the sleeping ones, “the dead in Christ,” were raised first, “raised incorruptible.” (See Revelation 12:1-11; Malachi 3:1-4; 1 Peter 4:17; 1 Thessalonians 4:14-16.) It is then that all the members of the “body of Christ”, those invisibly risen from the dead to life in the spirit and those of the remnant of body-members still in the “natural body”, worship God and say: "We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come; because thou hast taken to thee thy great power, and hast reigned. And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great.”—Rev. 11:16-18.
30. Why, then, is it necessary for Christ’s faithful followers to die in the flesh? and what does this prove also as to the manner of Christ’s return?
31. What is the “mystery” that the apostle then shows us, and whom does he mean by “we” and by them that “sleep”?
32. What is “the last trump , what takes place during its sounding, and what, therefore, do all body-members of Christ now say?
33 Who, then, are those who do not sleep and yet are changed instantaneously, and how? They are the remnant of Christ’s body-members, who remain alive as his “natural body” on the earth until he comes to the temple in 1918 for judgment of the “house of God”. Again religion drops to the ridiculous by interpreting the Scriptures to mean that members of religious denominations will be caught up in their bodies of flesh and blood to meet Christ in our earth’s atmosphere and will suddenly be changed invisible, their human bodies becoming spiritualized. On the contrary, the Scripture truth is this: Inasmuch as flesh and blood cannot be spiritualized to inherit God’s kingdom nor corruptible flesh inherit incorruptible spirit existence, it is necessary for the remnant to die, whether by violence due to Satan or in natural ways; for “that which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die”. They must be faithful even unto death. (1 Cor. 15:36; Rev. 2:10) They must be buried in the likeness of Christ's death, fulfilling to the final end their covenant with Jehovah God by sacrifice. (Ps. 50: 5) Ah, but when so dying, while the “last trump” is sounding out its glorious message, these faithful finishers of their earthly course do not sleep in the tombs as their fellow members were obliged to do. The Lord Jesus having come to the temple and having judged them faithful unto death, he raises them to life as in a moment or twinkling of an eye. Thereby they are changed instantaneously, without a moment of death's sleep, to life in the spirit, in incorruption, glory, power.
33. Who are those that do not “sleep”, and how are they changed instantaneously?
34 Since corruption does not inherit incorruption, it is plain that the apostle’s further words could not apply to the individual human bodies of Christians. He must be designating the “body of Christ”, the church, when he unveils further the glorious mystery, saying: “For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.” (1 Cor. 15: 53) Here is one of the apostle’s strongest arguments against the religious doctrine of the inherent immortality of the human soul. How so? Because, when sleeping in death, the members of Christ’s “body” were not immortal. Immortality is not inherent, but “put on”, first at the resurrection, and put on only by the glorified members of Christ’s “body”. Incorruptibility is the companion of immortality, as also stated at 2 Timothy 1: 10: “Christ Jesus, who indeed hath abolished death, and hath thrown light upon life and incorruptibility through means of the glad-message.” (Rotherham) (Rom. 2:7) By such miracle of God’s power the members of Christ’s body become like him “who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see”.—1 Timothy 6:15, 16.
35 Here, now, is what Christ Jesus, the Rock of the members of his body, meant when he said: “And upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell [Hades, the grave] shall not prevail against it.” (Matt. 16:18) The resurrecting of his church represents a glorious victory by him who has the “keys of death and of hell” over the stubborn gates of hell (the grave). It represents also a decided setback, a cause for chagrin, to Satan the Devil, who even opposed Jesus’ resurrection. With what a thrill of triumph could the inspired apostle pen the next words: “So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. 0 death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” —1 Cor. 15:54-57.
36 In this sublime expression of exultation in the Lord God, the apostle catches up the words of Isaiah 25: 7,8, which apply at the time that the “mountain” or kingdom of Jehovah God is exalted above the tops of all other governments and his hand of power rests in it while he beats the entire enemy organization down to the dust. As it is written: “And he will destroy in this mountain the face of the covering cast over all people, and the veil that is spread over all nations. He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth.” With the quotation from this prophecy the apostle conjoins words from Hosea 13:14, which read according to the Greek Septuagint Version that Paul used: “Him will I deliver from the power of the grave, and from death I will redeem them. O death, where is thy punishment? Where thy sting, 0 grave? Is comfort hid from mine eyes?”—Pells.
34. What mortal and corruptible thing is it that puts on immortality and incorruption? and what does thia prove as regards the religious doctrine on “human immortality"?
35 . How does such resurrection fulfill what Jesus said concerning his church at Matthew 16:18, and what triumphant words does the apostle pen on account of it?
36 . From what prophecies does the apostle here quote, and at what time is the fulfillment of such?
37 The oldest and most authoritative Greek manuscripts hurl the apostle's challenge at death in these words: “O death, where is thy victory? O death, where is thy sting?” (1 Cor. 15: 55, Am. Stan. Ver.) Death has been like a monster that has prodded all humankind with a death-dealing sting. That sting is sin; for “the wages of sin is death”. (Rom. 6: 23) Sin’s strength has been the law of the Lord God which condemned sinners to death and called for execution of those infected with sin, thus causing a payment of sin's wages. But where, now, as respects the “body of Christ”, is that sting and that victory of death, in view of the redemptive death and the resurrection of Christ Jesus? They are completely nullified, counteracted! And where is any cause for death’s boasting in view of the resurrection of the “body of Christ” which has already begun? As for the remnant of the “body” yet alive on earth and vigorously engaged in Jehovah’s service as His witnesses, the death that may come upon them in concentration camps, dungeons, torture chambers, mobs, or through natural causes, such death can only stop this remnant momentarily, for at death they are changed instantaneously: “and their works do follow them,” in glory, in the Kingdom! — Rev. 14: 13.
38 Such resurrection of Christ’s body is not of interest exclusively to the remnant who share therein, but also to all the persons of good-will who now become companions with them in God’s service. Why? Because the remnant’s change is a part only of the “first” resurrection. It is weighty evidence that the Kingdom is here and that the resurrection of other dead ones, yet sleeping in the graves, shall come about in God’s appointed time by the exercise of the power of the King with the “keys of hell and of death”. (Rev. 1:18) It is proof also that the King’s word is near at hand to be fulfilled upon the earthly survivors of Armageddon: “And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die.”—John 11: 26.
37 (a) What is death's sting, and sin’s strength, and how has death’s boasting been counteracted? (b) How far will death affect the activity of the remnant yet alive on earth?
38 Why is such resurrection of Christ’s body also of special interest to the companions of the remnant?
39 What a power this resurrection hope should exercise upon us! “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.” (1 Cor. 15:58) Even for a person of good-will to die now before Armageddon does not mean his labors in Jehovah’s witness work have been thrown away. An earthly ‘resurrection unto life’ for them “that have done good” most truly awaits such a faithful one, according to God's Word. (John 5: 28, 29) The resurrection hope was not given as merely an incidental hope, which can be viewed with indifference. It is an important feature of God’s all-excelling purpose. It bespeaks an astounding miracle of His almighty power, a triumph over his great enemy Satan and over death, and a vindication of God's holy name and infallible Word. Facing death daily as we do, for the gospel’s sake, we should “comfort one another with these words” regarding the resurrection hope. (1 Thess. 4:13, 18) The enemy’s use of the weapon of death against us shall be defeated, by Jehovah’s power in resurrection!
40 Every reason, then, we have to stand firm and hold our ground in behalf of God’s kingdom as the only hope of the peoples. With unbreakable grip on the anchor of the resurrection hope we can abide unmovable, permitting nothing to lure or sweep us away from The Theocratic Government, for which we have taken our stand. And instead of slacking the hand and letting down on Jehovah’s work through fear of what the enemy may do, who threaten us with death if we do not stop, we have every incentive to ‘abound in the work of the Lord’. Abound here means to overflow, to increase our work, and not be satisfied with the measure of work we have done in the past, but to exceed ourselves. (Acts 16:5; 1 Thess. 4:10) And this we will do, for God’s invincible power assures to us total victory over the worst that all the enemies can or may do toward his faithful ones of unbreakable integrity and unabating zeal.
39 Why, then, is none of our labor in the Lord in vain? and of what power and importance is the resurrection hope as given to us?
40 To what course of action, then, do we have the best of reasons and incentives? and what does it mean to “abound” as respects the Lord’s work?
JEHOVAH is righteous in all his ways, and gracious in all his works. Jehovah is nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth. Jehovah preserveth all them that love him; but all the wicked will he destroy. - Psalm 145:17, 18, 20, A.S.V.
THE ORIGIN OF OUR FOES
THE existence of creatures implies that there is a Creator. The Creator is the Immortal One, who is “from everlasting to everlasting", and he is God. (See Psalm 90:2 and 1 Timothy 6:15, 16.) “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” (Gen. 1:1) Here God designates the Almighty One. He reveals himself as “Almighty God”, which means the Creator whose power is unlimited; and as “Lord”, which means the Supreme Ruler; and as “Jehovah”, which bespeaks his purpose toward his creatures; and as “Father”, which means the Giver of life; and as “Host High”, which means the One that is over and above all.
According to what is said at Revelation 4:11, God created all things for His pleasure. The beginning of His creation was his beloved One, his only begotten Son, the Word or Logos. Thereafter God used the Word or Logos as his active agent in the creating of all other things that are created. (Concerning this see John 1:1-3; Proverbs 8:22-24; Revelation 3:14; Colossians 1:15-17.) God the Almighty is that great Spirit whom no man has seen and human eyes can never see. (1 Tim. 6:16) He is the only Being, that is to say, the self-existing One, and is therefore properly spoken of as “The Spirit Being”.
God brought into existence many spirit creatures. A spirit creature is one that is invisible to human eyes. A spirit creature has a spirit body or organism. God “maketh his angels spirits; his ministers a flaming fire”. (Ps. 104: 4) All the host of heaven are spirit creatures and are invisible to human eyes. Such spirit creatures are designated under the names of cherubim, seraphim, and angels. Among the spirit or angelic creation was one whom God named Lucifer. The universal organization of Jehovah God from the beginning of creation consisted of his spirit creatures, and over it Jehovah God was and is Supreme Lord and Ruler.
In due time it pleased God to create the earth, and he created it for his creature man. Thereafter man was created upon it. “For thus saith the Lord that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited; I am the Lord; and there is none else. I have made the earth, and created man upon it: I, even my hands, have stretched out the heavens, and all their host have I commanded.”—Isa. 45:18, 12.
God created man in his own due time, and called his name Adam, and placed him in Eden. “And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. And the Lord God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.” (Gen. 2:7, 15) God created the woman and gave her to Adam for his wife. Adam and his wife Eve were made a part of God’s organization, and the man was given dominion over the creatures of earth that were of an order lower than he was. Lucifer, the spirit creature, was the overseer of man and of a certain portion of the spirit creation, and was made so by God’s appointment. He was an officer in the organization of Jehovah, which universal organization of Jehovah God is symbolized under the figure of “mountain”. Expressly to Lucifer it is written in the Bible: “Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; . . . Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God: thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.” —Ezek. 28:13, 14.
Lucifer, when made to be the overlord of man, was anointed, or commissioned, he receiving authority from God over man; and it was Lucifer’s duty to see that man performed his obligation to God according to His law. The universal organization of Jehovah God then consisted of the only begotten Son, and all the angelic or spirit creatures, and humankind on the earth; and all of that organization was in harmony with God and obedient to Him the Creator. Everything in the universe was in complete harmony.
The Almighty God Jehovah is the Unselfish One. Therefore, as it is written at 1 John 4:16, “God is love.” That means that God does nothing selfishly, but always for the good of his creatures. God is righteous and holy. “For righteous is Jehovah, righteousness he lovcth, the upright shall behold his face.” “O Jehovah! in the heavens is thy lovingkindness, thy faithfulness as far as the fleecy clouds: thy righteousness is like mighty mountains, and thy just decrees are a great resounding deep,—man and beast thou savest, O Jehovah! How precious thy lovingkindness, O God! therefore the sons of men under the shadow of thy wings seek refuge.” (Psalms 11: 7 and 36: 5-7, Rotherham’s translation) “Righteous art thou, O Lord, and upright are thy judgments.” “The Lord is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works.” “Thy righteousness is like the great mountains; thy judgments are a great deep: O Lord, thou preserves! man and beast.” “Thy righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, and thy law is the truth.” (Pss. 119:137; 145:17; 36:6; 119:142) “God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.” (1 John 1:5) Viewed from these scriptures, God can not and will not look with approval upon anything that is unrighteous. As created by him, all parts of Jehovah’s organization were necessarily in harmony with him, and anything or any creature that got out of harmony with God would be expelled from his organization, sueh inharmonious creature becoming God’s adversary.
Every unrighteous or wicked creature is God's adversary or enemy. Before enmity toward God arose, Lucifer beheld that every creature in the universe gave honor and praise to the Almighty God. Lucifer fell to coveting that honor and praise for himself. To covet means to desire and to seek that which one has no right to have. “Thou shalt not covet.” (Rom. 13:9) Lucifer presumptuously regarded himself as equal to the Almighty God. Concerning this it is written: “O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the Most High.” (Isa. 14:12-14) In Rotherham’s translation this text reads: “How hast thou fallen from heaven, 0 Shining One, Son of the Dawn! Hewn down to the earth, 0 crusher of nations! Yet thou didst say in thy heart, The heavens will I ascend, above the stars of God will I lift up my throne, that I may sit in theMount of Assembly, in the Recesses of the North: I will mount on the hills of the clouds, I will match the Most High!”
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