It is rather fortuitous that I have already covered the topic of the spirit world, because that allows us to segway directly to a discussion of the resurrection, a direct result of the Atonement of Christ, which was discussed last week.
Because Christ rose from the dead, we also will rise. "For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive" (1 Cor. 15:22). Christ overcame one of the challenges keeping us from returning to live with God - physical death. This blessing is granted to all who have ever or will ever live on the earth. Even the wicked will be given back their bodies. This resurrection is in preparation for eventual judgment. These two events are often spoken of in connection with one another in the scriptures. For example, Jacob said:
"...and the spirit and the body is restored to itself again, and all men become incorruptible, and immortal, and they are living souls, having a perfect knowledge like unto us in the flesh, save it be that our knowledge shall be perfect."
Our knowledge will be perfect! That will either be a glorious and happy experience, or an incredibly crushing one, depending on our actions in life. In either case, it will be quite remarkable. He continues:
"Wherefore, we shall have a perfect knowledge of all our guilt, and our uncleanness, and our nakedness; and the righteous shall have a perfect knowledge of their enjoyment, and their righteousness, being clothed with purity, yea, even with the robe of righteousness.
And it shall come to pass that when all men shall have passed from this first death unto life, insomuch as they have become immortal, they must appear before the judgment-seat of the Holy One of Israel; and then cometh the judgment, and then must they be judged according to the holy judgment of God."
(2 Nephi 9:13-15)
Alma, in teaching his son Corianton, offers a great explanation of the resurrection as part of the law of restoration:
"Behold, it is requisite and just, according to the power and resurrection of Christ, that the soul of man should be restored to its body, and that every part of the body should be restored to itself....
And now behold, is the meaning of the word restoration to take a thing of a natural state and place it in an unnatural state, or to place it in a state opposite to its nature?
O, my son, this is not the case; but the meaning of the word restoration is to bring back again evil for evil, or carnal for carnal, or devilish for devilish--good for that which is good; righteous for that which is righteous; just for that which is just; merciful for that which is merciful."
(Alma 41:2,12-13)
One scripture I often hear quoted in church (especially by older bald men) also comes from Alma:
"The soul shall be restored to the body, and the body to the soul; yea, and every limb and joint shall be restored to its body; yea, even a hair of the head shall not be lost; but all things shall be restored to their proper and perfect frame."
(Alma 40:23)
A person might be led to ask, what are the characteristics of a resurrected body? What wondrous blessings have we to hope for in the resurrection? Prophets and apostles have spoken about this in various locales. I will give some of the highlights that I found:
"It is the will of the Lord that in the restoration of all things there shall come perfection. The physical defects, some of which may have resulted before birth, are defects which are due to some physical and mortal condition and not an inheritance from the spirit world." (Joseph Fielding Smith, Answers to Gospel Questions, 4:185-189)
"...blood is the life of the mortal body. But with the body brought forth in the resurrection, which is the immortal body, that is not the case. In it blood does not exist, but the spirit is the life giving power. Hence, they are no longer bodies quickened by blood but bodies quickened by spirit, and hence they are spiritual bodies, but tangible bodies of flesh and bones, just as was the body of the Son of God." (Doctrines of Salvation, 2:285-286)
"Children will arise as children, for there is no growth in the grave. Children will continue to grow until they reach the full stature of their spirits. Anything contrary to this would be inconsistent. When our bodies are restored, they will appear to be in the full vigor of manhood and womanhood, for the condition of physical weakness will all be left behind in the grave."
(Gospel Doctrine, p. 23-24)
"We will have our bodies glorified, made free from every sickness and distress, and rendered most beautiful. There is nothing more beautiful to look upon than a resurrected man or woman. There is nothing grander that I can imagine that a man can possess than a resurrected body."
(Teachings of Lorenzo Snow, p.99)
"Some sectarian peoples minimize the body and look forward to freedom from it. Some flail and beat and torture the body, but the gospel of Jesus Christ magnifies the importance of the body and the dignity of man. This body will come forth in the resurrection. It will be free from all imperfections and scars and infirmities which came to it in mortality which were not self-inflicted. Would we have a right to expect a perfect body if we carelessly or intentionally damaged it?
We shall have our resurrected, perfected bodies through the eternities. They were given to us -- we had little to do with getting them.
It then becomes our duty to protect them from hazards, from mutilation or disfigurement. We should treat them well, building them with proper foods, proper rest, proper exercise and keep them strong, robust, beautiful, and undamaged and live on and on till called home by our Lord." (The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, pp. 36-37)
Orson Pratt said a few things on the subject as well, that were first told to me by one of my seminary teachers. I looked again in the original source to make sure to get the quotes correct:
"We might mention the perfection of locomotion, passing to and fro from world to world, and the power of rising contrary to the principle of gravitation, showing that man will have superior power, even as Jesus did, when he ascended heavenward, contrary to the laws of gravitation."
(Journal of Discourses, 16:338)
"It is as easy for his children, when they are perfected and made like him, to converse with him at these immense distances and for their eyes to pierce all these creations as it is for their Father and God to do so.... There is [man's] increased knowledge and the proportionate increase of power that will accompany it;... Among the many attributes and powers which man will possess in a futures state, I will mention that of being able to comprehend more than one thing at a time.... We might also speak of the faculty of going back into the past ages of eternity, and comprehending works that have been millions of ages in progress, also the faculty of seeing and comprehending that which will take place in the future ages of eternity, for millions of years to come."
(JD 16:367-368)
"No man living, naturally, can see through anything that is opaque... Shall we be thus limited in our perceptions when we receive our immortal bodies? By no means. Immortal beings will have their capacity for seeing much enlarged, that they will be able to see down into the earth just as easily as they can see things around about them, or the bodies that revolve in space."
(16:362)
"I do not believe that heat will have any tendency to dissolve, destroy, injure or produce any unpleasant effects upon them"
(16:359)
A person may also wonder concerning the order of the resurrection. I have included a chart found in one of the institute student manuals that outlines the order of the resurrection of all men.
The most important thing to remember in connection with the resurrection is that it is a precursor to the judgment. No matter the remarkable abilities we will be granted, what really gives a person eternal happiness is their standing before God. I will continue discussion of the plan of salvation next week in talking about the different degrees of glory to which a man may be resurrected.
Because Christ rose from the dead, we also will rise. "For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive" (1 Cor. 15:22). Christ overcame one of the challenges keeping us from returning to live with God - physical death. This blessing is granted to all who have ever or will ever live on the earth. Even the wicked will be given back their bodies. This resurrection is in preparation for eventual judgment. These two events are often spoken of in connection with one another in the scriptures. For example, Jacob said:
"...and the spirit and the body is restored to itself again, and all men become incorruptible, and immortal, and they are living souls, having a perfect knowledge like unto us in the flesh, save it be that our knowledge shall be perfect."
Our knowledge will be perfect! That will either be a glorious and happy experience, or an incredibly crushing one, depending on our actions in life. In either case, it will be quite remarkable. He continues:
"Wherefore, we shall have a perfect knowledge of all our guilt, and our uncleanness, and our nakedness; and the righteous shall have a perfect knowledge of their enjoyment, and their righteousness, being clothed with purity, yea, even with the robe of righteousness.
And it shall come to pass that when all men shall have passed from this first death unto life, insomuch as they have become immortal, they must appear before the judgment-seat of the Holy One of Israel; and then cometh the judgment, and then must they be judged according to the holy judgment of God."
(2 Nephi 9:13-15)
Alma, in teaching his son Corianton, offers a great explanation of the resurrection as part of the law of restoration:
"Behold, it is requisite and just, according to the power and resurrection of Christ, that the soul of man should be restored to its body, and that every part of the body should be restored to itself....
And now behold, is the meaning of the word restoration to take a thing of a natural state and place it in an unnatural state, or to place it in a state opposite to its nature?
O, my son, this is not the case; but the meaning of the word restoration is to bring back again evil for evil, or carnal for carnal, or devilish for devilish--good for that which is good; righteous for that which is righteous; just for that which is just; merciful for that which is merciful."
(Alma 41:2,12-13)
One scripture I often hear quoted in church (especially by older bald men) also comes from Alma:
"The soul shall be restored to the body, and the body to the soul; yea, and every limb and joint shall be restored to its body; yea, even a hair of the head shall not be lost; but all things shall be restored to their proper and perfect frame."
(Alma 40:23)
A person might be led to ask, what are the characteristics of a resurrected body? What wondrous blessings have we to hope for in the resurrection? Prophets and apostles have spoken about this in various locales. I will give some of the highlights that I found:
"It is the will of the Lord that in the restoration of all things there shall come perfection. The physical defects, some of which may have resulted before birth, are defects which are due to some physical and mortal condition and not an inheritance from the spirit world." (Joseph Fielding Smith, Answers to Gospel Questions, 4:185-189)
"...blood is the life of the mortal body. But with the body brought forth in the resurrection, which is the immortal body, that is not the case. In it blood does not exist, but the spirit is the life giving power. Hence, they are no longer bodies quickened by blood but bodies quickened by spirit, and hence they are spiritual bodies, but tangible bodies of flesh and bones, just as was the body of the Son of God." (Doctrines of Salvation, 2:285-286)
"Children will arise as children, for there is no growth in the grave. Children will continue to grow until they reach the full stature of their spirits. Anything contrary to this would be inconsistent. When our bodies are restored, they will appear to be in the full vigor of manhood and womanhood, for the condition of physical weakness will all be left behind in the grave."
(Gospel Doctrine, p. 23-24)
"We will have our bodies glorified, made free from every sickness and distress, and rendered most beautiful. There is nothing more beautiful to look upon than a resurrected man or woman. There is nothing grander that I can imagine that a man can possess than a resurrected body."
(Teachings of Lorenzo Snow, p.99)
"Some sectarian peoples minimize the body and look forward to freedom from it. Some flail and beat and torture the body, but the gospel of Jesus Christ magnifies the importance of the body and the dignity of man. This body will come forth in the resurrection. It will be free from all imperfections and scars and infirmities which came to it in mortality which were not self-inflicted. Would we have a right to expect a perfect body if we carelessly or intentionally damaged it?
We shall have our resurrected, perfected bodies through the eternities. They were given to us -- we had little to do with getting them.
It then becomes our duty to protect them from hazards, from mutilation or disfigurement. We should treat them well, building them with proper foods, proper rest, proper exercise and keep them strong, robust, beautiful, and undamaged and live on and on till called home by our Lord." (The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, pp. 36-37)
Orson Pratt said a few things on the subject as well, that were first told to me by one of my seminary teachers. I looked again in the original source to make sure to get the quotes correct:
"We might mention the perfection of locomotion, passing to and fro from world to world, and the power of rising contrary to the principle of gravitation, showing that man will have superior power, even as Jesus did, when he ascended heavenward, contrary to the laws of gravitation."
(Journal of Discourses, 16:338)
"It is as easy for his children, when they are perfected and made like him, to converse with him at these immense distances and for their eyes to pierce all these creations as it is for their Father and God to do so.... There is [man's] increased knowledge and the proportionate increase of power that will accompany it;... Among the many attributes and powers which man will possess in a futures state, I will mention that of being able to comprehend more than one thing at a time.... We might also speak of the faculty of going back into the past ages of eternity, and comprehending works that have been millions of ages in progress, also the faculty of seeing and comprehending that which will take place in the future ages of eternity, for millions of years to come."
(JD 16:367-368)
"No man living, naturally, can see through anything that is opaque... Shall we be thus limited in our perceptions when we receive our immortal bodies? By no means. Immortal beings will have their capacity for seeing much enlarged, that they will be able to see down into the earth just as easily as they can see things around about them, or the bodies that revolve in space."
(16:362)
"I do not believe that heat will have any tendency to dissolve, destroy, injure or produce any unpleasant effects upon them"
(16:359)
A person may also wonder concerning the order of the resurrection. I have included a chart found in one of the institute student manuals that outlines the order of the resurrection of all men.
The most important thing to remember in connection with the resurrection is that it is a precursor to the judgment. No matter the remarkable abilities we will be granted, what really gives a person eternal happiness is their standing before God. I will continue discussion of the plan of salvation next week in talking about the different degrees of glory to which a man may be resurrected.
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