Word Study: Resurrection
Word family: Resurrection, resurrect.
Synonyms: risen, arose, raised up, [from the dead]
Related ideas: death, hades/sheol, tomb/grave, judgment, second coming, hell, heaven, eternal life.
Definitions: Resurrection is the act by God of raising a person from the dead. It is more than the appearance of a person from the dead, such as Samuel's appearance to Saul and the witch of Endor (1Samuel 28:8-19), or the appearance of Moses and Elijah on the mount of transfiguration (Matthew 17:1-6). Resurrection is the abolition of death, the rescue of the body from corruption and the soul from hades.
Greek References: αναστασις (anastasis) resurrection 386 (Strong) cf 450 ανιστημι (anisteemi) arose.
Scripture:
The Resurrection of Jesus Christ
- Acts 2:22-36 "This Jesus [whom you crucified] God raised up again, of which we are all witnesses."
- Acts 3:15 "You killed the Prince of life, whom God [then] raised from the dead, to which we are witnesses."
- Acts 26:22-23 Paul's statement to Agrippa.
- Romans 1:3-4 "[Jesus] was declared with power to be the Son of God by the resurrection from the dead."
The Resurrection at the Last Day
- Luke 20:34-38 "Those who are considered worthy to attain to that age and the resurrection from the dead... cannot die any more, for they are like the angels, and are sons of God being sons of the resurrection."
- John 5:28-29 "The hour is coming in which all who are in the graves shall hear his voice and come forth..."
- John 11:11-44 esp v.25 "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me shall live even if he dies." (at the raising of Lazarus).
- 1Corinthians 15:50-55 "The dead shall be raised incorruptible... this mortal must put on immortality."
- Philippians 3:10-14 "...that I may know him and the power of his resurrection... that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead"
Comment: The hope and assurance of all believers in Christ is the resurrection from the dead unto eternal life. This hope is based on the fact of Christ's own resurrection from the dead, and his ascension to heaven where he lives forever. It is also assured by the guarantee and seal which God has given us, namely the gift of his Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:13-14). The resurrection is of both body and soul (the body from the corruption of the grave and the soul from hades). However the body raised will no longer be flesh and blood but a glorified body, heavenly and immortal. The mortal body that dies is like a seed. Though a seed dies in the ground a plant arises from it (1Corinthians 15:35-58).