Resurrection and Amillennialism

1. Resurrection and Amillennialism The end is now!… and not yet. Realistic Hope for Everyday Christian Life Week 2 – First and Last Adams

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3. But wait there is more? • 1 Peter 1:5 • …a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. • 1 Peter 1:20 • He was foreknown before the foundations of the world but was made manifest in the last times for your sake… • Are the last days here already or are they still yet to come?

4. The end is now!… and not yet. • The last days have begun with the life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Christ, they have been inaugurated. (i.e. inaugurated eschatology ). • “The believer, so the New Testament teaches, is already in the eschatological era spoken of by the Old Testament prophets, but he is not yet in the final state. Already he experiences the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, but he still awaits his resurrection body. He is living in the last days, but the last day has not yet arrived.” - Anthony Hoekema, The Bible and the Future, pg. 68. • The Already and the Not Yet.

5. When do the apostles and Jesus seem to think the last days are?

6. Eschatology of Gen. 1-3 • Summary • Eschatology doesn’t start in the book of Revelation. It starts in the Garden. • Man was to keep Covenant with God by working and keeping the Garden, by building a kingdom and extending his dominion over the earth, by obediently not eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and entering into eternal Sabbath life (eschatological life), and receive access to the tree of life as God’s sacrament confirming him in a state of glory. • Adam’s life was made to transition into something higher, something eschatological.

7. What’s the Problem • Rather than entering eschatological life and rest, Man is cursed and driven into exile for his disobedience.

8. Is this all there is? • Is man doomed to futility, exile, and death? • Gen. 3:15 – “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” • Man’s history will not end only in an eschatology of damnation. God promises a seed to crush the Serpent. • This is a history shaping promise, launching a war between two seeds. The consummation, the goal of history, now must come through struggle and suffering – through a Serpent-trampling Seed who must bruise his heel in the process of attaining victory.

9. Questions, Questions.Beginnings of Answers • What exactly is eschatology? • What are the last days? • What happens during them? A Christian Philosophy of History The goal of history and God’s Creation Man is confirmed in a state of glory

10. Questions, Questions. • Why then would the first coming of Christ, his life, death, resurrection, and ascension begin the last days? • Why do the last days in Christ have an already and not yet structure?

11. Brief Summary of OT Eschatology • Israel in exile looks to the promise of future salvation. • “An essential feature of prophecy is its description of the coming kingdom of God in the form of Israel’s nationality. Israel will be restored as a nation; the Lord will have his throne in Jerusalem; her enemies will be subjugated. Yet again and again these ideas appear to refer to a higher, spiritual, imperishable reality. The coming kingdom of God will be inaugurated by the great day of the Lord, the day of judgment for the apostate part of Israel, as well as for the nations in general, and at the same time, however, by the day of deliverance and salvation for the oppressed people of the Lord.” - Herman Ridderbos, The Coming of the Kingdom, pg. 5.

12. Brief Summary of OT Eschatology • The expectations of the coming eschatological kingdom are wrapped up with the expectation of a Messiah-King. • “This is to say that it is the Lord, who will again assert his rule over Israel and maintain his kingship over the whole world in and through the coming Messiah-King; whereas, coversely, also in those places where only the coming manifestation of God’s kingship is mentioned, it must be connected with the promise of the Redeemer-King of David’s house.” - Herman Ridderbos, The Coming of the Kingdom, pg. 6

13. Christ is this Eschatological Messiah-King • Luke 1:32-33 – He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever and of his kingdom there will be no end. • Christ as the last King = the eschatological king

14. Christ the Eschatological Messiah -King • Mark 1:14-15 • Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into the Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” • Mat. 13:16-17 • But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. For truly, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.

15. Christ the Eschatological Messiah -King • Luke 2:25-32 - 25 Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. 26 And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ. 27 And he came in the Spirit into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the Law, 28 he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said, 29 "Lord, now you are letting your servant1 depart in peace, according to your word; 30 for my eyes have seen your salvation 31 that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, 32 a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel."

16. But he is more than Israel’s King • Another Adam? • Rom. 5:12 – Therefore just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned… • Rom. 5:16-17 – For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification. If, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ. • Adam and Christ are federal heads

17. 1 Corinthians 15:42-49 • Time to get out your Bibles and roll up your sleeves. • Context • 1 Cor. 15:35 – But someone will ask, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?” • Paul then answers this scoffing question.

18. 1 Corinthians 15:42-49 • 42 So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. 43 It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. 44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. 45 Thus it is written, "The first man Adam became a living being";the last Adam became a life-giving spirit.

19. 1 Corinthians 15:42-49 • 46 But it is not the spiritual that is first but the natural, and then the spiritual. 47 The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven. 48 As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust, and as is the man of heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. 49 Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shallalso bear the image of the man of heaven.

20. What is Paul talking about?

21. Questions to ask • What does Paul mean by “a natural body” and “a spiritual body?” • What does he mean when he says that Christ “became a live-giving spirit?” • What does he mean when he says the first man is “from the earth” and that the second man is “from heaven?”

22. What does Paul mean by a natural body and Spiritual body? • 1 Cor. 15:35 – But someone will ask, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?” • 1 Cor. 15:44a – It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. • What does he mean by a “spiritual body?” • Does he mean we are raised with immaterial bodies?

23. What does Paul mean by a natural body and Spiritual body? • 1 Cor. 15:49 – Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven. • Our resurrection is patterned after Christ. • Luke 24:38-39 – And he said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me, and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” • spiritual body ≠ immaterial body (i.e. ghostly)

24. What does Paul mean by a natural body and Spiritual body? • Paul’s two terms are psuche and pneuma in Greek. • Psuche = natural pneuma = spiritual • Psuche/natural = perishable, dishonor, and weakness. • Pneuma/spiritual = imperishable, glory, and power. • To contrast these two types of bodies Paul starts talking about Adam and Christ in 15:45 • 1 Cor. 15:45 – Thus it is written the first man Adam became a living being. The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. • being/soul = psuche spirit = pneuma

25. What does he mean when he says that Christ “became a life-giving spirit?” • 1 Cor. 15:45 – The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. • What does “spirit” refer to here? • When did Christ become a life-giving spirit?

26. What does “spirit” refer to here? • 1 Cor. 2:13-15 - 13 And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual.14The natural person does not accept the things of the Spiritof God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. 15The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. • Natural person = psuche • spiritual person = pneuma – This is a person who is taught by the Spirit. Paul’s use of “spirit” here refers to the work of the Holy Spirit.

27. 1 Corinthians 15:42-49 • 42 So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. 43 It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. 44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a Spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a Spiritual body. 45 Thus it is written, "The first man Adam became a living being";the last Adam became a life-giving Spirit.

28. 1 Corinthians 15:42-49 • 46 But it is not the Spiritual that is first but the natural, and then the Spiritual. 47 The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven. 48 As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust, and as is the man of heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. 49 Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shallalso bear the image of the man of heaven.

29. What does he mean when he says that Christ “became a life-giving spirit?” • If Spirit in v. 45 is a reference to the Holy Spirit, what does Paul mean, when he says that Christ “became life-giving Spirit?” • He does not mean that Christ became the person of the Holy Spirit. • Christ does not cease to be God the Son, and become God the Spirit. • That’s modalism (heresy).

30. What does he mean when he says that Christ “became a life-giving spirit?” • 1 Cor. 15:22 – For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. • “In fact, because Christ’s resurrection is the indispensible foundation for others to share in resurrection life, he functions as life-giving Spirit only on the basis of his resurrection, only in his resurrected state. Specifically the resurrected Christ is the life-giving Christ. The plain implication, then, is that the last Adam became life-giving Spirit at his resurrection.” Richard Gaffin, Resurrection and Redemption, pg. 88.

31. Connection between the Spirit and the Resurrection • Rom. 8:11 – If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.

32. What does he mean when he says that Christ “became a life-giving spirit?” • 1 Cor. 15:45 – The last Adam became a life-giving Spirit. • “Paul’s point is that by virtue of this exaltation (resurrection and ascension) Christ, as last Adam and second man, has come into such permanent and complete possession of the Spirit that the two are equated in their activity.” - Richard Gaffin, Perspectives on Pentecost, pgs. 18-19

33. What does he mean when he says that Christ “became a live-giving spirit?” • “This relationship is implied in Paul’s words in Romans 8:9-10, where the Spirit and Christ are virtually interchangeable terms, pointing to their economic equivalence while recognizing their personal distinctions.” Sinclair Ferguson, The Holy Spirit, pg. 37. • Rom. 8:9-10 - 9 You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. 10 But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness.

34. The last days/eschatological era • What is one of the defining marks of the last days? • Acts 2:15-17 - For these men are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day. But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel: And in the last days, it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh…

35. The last days/eschatological era • “The Spirit’s work is not a ‘bonus’ added to the basic salvation secured by Christ. Rather the coming of the Spirit brings to light not only that Christ has lived and has done certain things but that he, as the source of eschatological life, now lives and is at work in the church. By and in the Spirit Christ reveals himself as present. The Spirit is the powerfully open secret, the revealed mystery, of Christ’s abiding presence in the Church.” Richard Gaffin, Perspectives on Pentecost, pgs. 19-20.

36. What does he mean when he says that Christ “became a live-giving spirit?” • 1 Cor. 15:45 – The last Adam became a life-giving Spirit. • This is Paul’s one sentence commentary on Pentecost.

37. Questions, Questions. • Why then would the first coming of Christ, his life, death, resurrection, and ascension begin the last days? • Because Christ is the eschatological King of the eschatological Kingdom of heaven. He is obedient and righteous where Adam was disobedient and unrighteous. He fullfills the covenant of works, which Adam fails to keep. He is a new federal head. • He suffers and dies for his people once-for-all (finally/eschatologically). • He is raised in glory and becomes the possessor of God’s Spirit to give eschatological (eternal) life to his people. • Giving eschatological life to his people, means giving himself to his people.

38. What does Paul mean by a natural body and Spiritual body? • Paul is contrasting two different orders of existence. • 1 Cor. 15:46 – But it is not the Spiritual that is first but the natural, and then the Spiritual. • Adam’s life in the Garden was designed to transition into something better, into something eschatological. • “Verse 46 is a compressed overview of history. As the era of the first Adam, the psychical (natural) order is the pre-eschatological aeon, the incomplete, transitory, and provisional world-age. As the era of the last Adam, the pneumatic (Spiritual) order is the eschatological aeon, the complete, definitive, and final world-age.” – Richard Gaffin, Resurrection and Redemption, pg. 83

39. The movement of History • 1 Cor. 15:46 – But it is not the Spiritual that is first but the natural, and then the Spiritual. • Two ages are in view. Two orders. • Gal. 1:3-4 -Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ 4 who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father… • Gal. 6:14 - But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whichthe world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.

40. Two ages • We have been delivered out of this present evil age, out of this world, into the coming age. • 1 Cor. 10:11 - Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come. • Heb. 6:4-6 - For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, 5and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance…

41. Two Ages • Flesh and Spirit. • Rom. 8:3-4 - For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin,he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

42. The movement of History • 1 Tim. 3:16 - Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness: Hewas manifested in the flesh, vindicatedby the Spirit… • “Flesh and Spirit do not stand over against one another here as two ‘parts’ in the human existence or in the existence of Christ… Rather, ‘flesh’ and ‘Spirit’ represent two modes of existence, on the one hand that of the old aeon which is characterized and determined by the flesh, on the other that of the new creation which is of the Spirit of God.” - Herman Ridderbos, Paul: An Outline of His Theology, pg. 66.

43. Paul’s use of Flesh and Spirit Not parts of us. Not body and soul. Two opposing ages. Two orders of existence

44. When do the apostles and Jesus seem to think the last days are? Pentecost • Age of the Spirit

45. The Presence of the Future The coming age has already broken into the present. Flesh Spirit

46. Natural and Spiritual Bodies • 1 Cor. 15:46 – But it is not the Spiritual that is first but the natural, and then the Spiritual. • This is an overview of the two-ages • A natural body is part of this world age. • Rom. 8:3-4 - For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin,he condemned sin in the flesh,4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

47. Natural and Spiritual Bodies • A Spiritual body is part of the coming age. • 1 Cor. 15:51-55 - 51 Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. 53 For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. 54When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: "Death is swallowed up in victory." 55"O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?"

48. Summary • Christ the Eschatological Messianic-King comes into the fleshly order of existence which is characterized by weakness, sin, and death, and proclaims the presence of his eschatological kingdom. • He is obedient as the second and last Adam. • The eschatological life Adam forfeits Christ obtains. • He is raised into a new imperishable order of existence. • He comes into eschatological possession of the Spirit in his resurrection. • He pours out this Spirit on his Church and so delivers his people from the present evil age into a new age marked by the Spirit. • Thus he is the giver of eternal (eschatological) life through his Spirit, that is to say Christ has become life-giving Spirit.

49. Question still unanswered • What does he mean when he says the first man is “from the earth” and that the second man is “from heaven?” • How does the already and not yet structure of the last days effect my Christian life now?

50. The tension of the already and not yet. • You live in the tension of having tasted of the age to come, all that which is already present in the salvation of the believer, and longing for the hope of what is not yet. • 2 Cor. 5:1-5 - For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 2For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling, 3 if indeed by putting it onwe may not be found naked. 4 For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened--not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. 5 He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.