Scripture Reference: Luke 24
“Risen” Means the Whole Person Will Be Redeemed – Continued
The message of the resurrection is not just that Jesus is alive in the presence of the Father. It is that Christ in whole is risen! Do you see the difference? God has determined to redeem every part of you. Not just your soul, but your soul and body together.
God has made human beings in a wonderful way. He created angels as souls without bodies. He created animals as bodies without souls. But He created men and women as a unique integration of body and soul together.
That is why death is such a terrible enemy to us; it is the separating of the soul and the body that God has joined together. It is the undoing of our very nature.
The survival of the soul without the body would mean only part of us being saved, and that would not be a victory over death. Since death is the separating of soul and body, the only way in which death can be defeated would be for body and soul to be reunited in the power of a new life.
Now as they said these things, Jesus Himself stood in the midst of them, and said to them, “Peace to you.” But they were terrified and frightened, and supposed they had seen a spirit. And He said to them, “Why are you troubled? And why do doubts arise in your hearts? 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” (Luke 24:36-39).
The Bible places great emphasis on the physical nature of the Resurrection. When Christ appeared to the disciples, they thought that they were seeing a ghost, so Jesus drew their attention to His hands and His feet and invited them to touch Him. “A spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have,” He said.
Jesus wanted them to know that what they were seeing was more than the spirit of Christ in a visible form. The flesh that lay in the tomb had been raised. When Jesus said, “It is I Myself,” He did not mean that a part of Him had survived death and lived on, but that the whole of Him had come through death and triumphed over it.
When Christ returns in glory and gathers all His people in His presence, every believer will be there, not only in mind but also in body. It is not just some spiritual capacity within you that will enter heaven. You will be there rejoicing in the presence of God. God has determined to redeem not just a part of you but the whole of you. And if we would believe more clearly in the resurrection of the body, we would have a much greater anticipation of the life in heaven.
The Resurrection tells us that heaven is not just some kind of spiritual experience only; it is not a mind game, like a virtual tour. It is not that some spiritual capacity within you survives death to continue in an existence that is a shadow of the life you knew before. That’s what the Old Testament believers had while they were waiting for the coming of Jesus.
It was not a part of Christ that ascended to the Father. It was the whole of Christ that ascended to the Father: mind, soul, spirit, and body. “It is I Myself,” He said to the disciples, “not a part of Me, but the whole of Me.”
He is risen! “Risen” means that death is defeated. “Risen” means the whole person will be redeemed.
To Be Continued
FOR THE LOVE OF GOD 
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