Resurrection is
the raising of the body from death to new, permanent life
by the power of God.
It is a central truth of the Christian faith,
grounded in the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ
and promised to all who belong to Him.
Scripture teaches that the dead will be raised
—
the righteous to eternal life
and the unrighteous to judgment.
Without the resurrection,
Christian faith would be empty
and hope would be in vain.
From the earliest pages of Scripture, God reveals Himself as the One who gives life and has power over death. The hope of resurrection appears in the Old Testament and becomes fully clear in the New. Jesus declared Himself to be the resurrection and the life, and He demonstrated that claim by raising others and, supremely, by rising from the dead Himself on the third day. His resurrection is the foundation of the gospel, the proof of His victory over sin and death, and the guarantee of the future resurrection of believers. Because He lives, those who trust Him will also live. The resurrection is both a past event (Christ has been raised) and a future hope (the dead in Christ will rise). It affirms the goodness of the body, the completeness of salvation, and the certainty of final justice and glory.
- The resurrection of Jesus is historical, bodily, and central to the gospel; without it, faith is futile.
- Believers are united with Christ in His death and resurrection and will share in His resurrection life.
- The resurrection is bodily — the same body that dies is raised, yet transformed into a spiritual, imperishable, glorious body.
- There will be a resurrection of both the just and the unjust: one to life and one to judgment.
- The resurrection of believers is closely tied to the return of Christ; the dead in Christ will rise first.
- Present spiritual life (being raised with Christ to walk in newness of life) anticipates the future bodily resurrection.
- The resurrection guarantees that death does not have the final word and that God’s purposes for His people and His creation will be completed.
- Christ’s Resurrection – The foundational event: Jesus rose bodily on the third day, appeared to many witnesses, and ascended to the Father.
- Firstfruits – Christ is the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep; His resurrection guarantees the harvest to come.
- Bodily Resurrection – The future raising of the physical body, transformed and suited for eternal life.
- Resurrection of the Righteous – The dead in Christ raised to immortality, glory, and everlasting fellowship with the Lord.
- Resurrection of the Unrighteous – The raising of the lost for final judgment at the Great White Throne.
- Present Participation – Believers have already been raised with Christ spiritually and are called to walk in newness of life.
- Transformation – The perishable body is raised imperishable; the natural body is raised a spiritual body.
- 1 Corinthians 15:3-4, 14, 20-23 – “Christ died for our sins… he was buried… he was raised on the third day… if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain… But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep… For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.”
- 1 Corinthians 15:42-44, 51-57 – “What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable… It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body… Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed… Death is swallowed up in victory.”
- John 11:25-26 – “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.”
- John 5:28-29 – “An hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment.”
- 1 Thessalonians 4:14-16 – “For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep… the dead in Christ will rise first.”
- Romans 6:4-5 – “We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead… we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.”
- Romans 8:11 – “If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.”
- Philippians 3:20-21 – “We await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body…”
- Acts 2:24, 32 – “God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death… This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses.”
- Acts 24:15 – “There will be a resurrection of both the just and the unjust.”
- Daniel 12:2 – “And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.”
- Job 19:25-27 – “For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God.”
- Revelation 20:4-6, 12-13 – The first resurrection of the saints and the later resurrection of the rest of the dead for judgment.
The resurrection is the cornerstone of Christian hope. Because Jesus rose from the dead, death has been defeated and the grave has lost its victory. His resurrection is the guarantee that every believer will one day rise with a body like His glorious body — imperishable, powerful, and fitted for eternal life in the presence of God. Until that day, we walk in the newness of life that His resurrection has already secured for us. The same power that raised Jesus from the dead is at work in those who believe. Therefore we do not grieve as others do who have no hope. Christ has been raised, and in Him all who belong to Him shall be made alive.
Entry compiled for the JESUSaves.com Bible Glossary. Optimized for wiki.js Visual Editor.