The Glorious Resurrection: A Profession of the Second Coming

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"We profess our belief that the flesh of the Lord Jesus Christ is sitting at the right hand of the Father in heaven. And we further declare that it will come again from there in all the grandeur of the Father's glory. It is, therefore, just as impossible for us to say that His flesh was abolished, as it is for us to maintain that it was sinful" (Tertullian c. 210).

The Glorious Resurrection assures us of a future, a better one, of eternal immortality. The Glorious Resurrection turns darkness into light, despair into hope and encourages us to rise up and enter into a deeper relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ Who has granted the promise of the coming salvation for all those who put the Glorious Resurrection first and foremost in their spiritual life.

The Lord Jesus Christ in the flesh rose up from the grave. "In the flesh", in the Lord's case, means His glorified body that has retained the same physical features it had before the Resurrection. That is why in many instances He was recognized by those who knew Him. He could touch and be touched by people, and He continued in His teaching ministry to those closest to Him until His Ascension into the Heavens.

Many Church fathers and scholars have addressed the topic of the "flesh" of the Lord Jesus Christ. Tertullian writes, "You will also allow that it was in the flesh that Christ was raised from the dead. For the very same body that fell in death, and which lay in the sepulcher did rise again" (Tertullian c. 197). It leaves no doubt in the minds of Biblical scholars that the connotation of "rising in the flesh" was of great importance. "He, foreseeing this, spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ, that His soul was not left in Hades, nor did His flesh see corruption. This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses" (Acts 2:31-32).

While there is much significance to the concept of the "flesh", an important one might be that in the flesh the Lord Jesus Christ carried His Holy Cross with courage and persistence though looked down upon disdainfully by the throngs of people as a culprit deserving to suffer. It was "in the flesh" that the militant soldiers cruelly and indignantly nailed the Lord Jesus Christ on the Holy Cross to suffer and die. It was "in the flesh" and in His dying breath that He declared, "it is finished".

The Holy New Testament Book of Galatians 5:17 clearly states the utmost important role of the Will manifest in the submission of the Lord Jesus Christ to His Holy Crucifixion. One of the most important messages of the Holy Crucifixion was the self-sacrificing and unspeakable love of the Lord Jesus humbly accepting the consequences of obedience to the will of Father. This is why a true believer does not do what his will dictates but what the will of the Father in Heaven intends.

"For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish" (Galatians 5:17).

If the "flesh" will be raised and judged in the life to come, why then are we not so much concerned about our unseen life after death as much as we are preoccupied with the seen but transient life (in the flesh)? Certainly the "flesh" is the mold of life. It identifies who we are and who we will become. No one has ever declared that their spiritual life has caused them to be sinful. Rather it is the desires of the flesh that shape and translate into the precepts of life, and thus form a major factor in the determination of our goodness, and the self-control aspect of our spiritual life. Goodness will determine our personal resurrection at the second coming. Goodness will determine our place in the future world, the life of the ages to come.

St. Clement of Rome (c.96) assures us that "there will be a future resurrection." Polycarp c. 135 confirms this saying, "if we please Him in this present world, we will also inherit the future world. He promised us that we will rise again from the dead." At his martyrdom St. Polycarp proclaimed joyfully, "I give you thanks that I can have a part in the resurrection of eternal life, both of the soul and of the body."

How do we make ourselves ready for the second coming in a world currently threatened by unrest, open persecution, and a faltering economy? St. Paul answers, "And we urge you, brethren, to recognize those who labor among you, and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, and to esteem them very highly in love for their work's sake. Be at peace among yourselves. Now we exhort you, brethren, warn those who are unruly, comfort the fainthearted, uphold the weak, and be patient with all. See that no one renders evil for evil to anyone, but always pursue what is good both for yourselves and for all. Rejoice always" (I Thessalonians 5:12-16).

St. Paul is telling us to be strong in the Lord Jesus Christ at all times and all seasons. Do not let the flesh become weak, and let us not be complacent with those who have done so accepting their ways and tempering their faith. Hold fast to goodness; do not condone things in your midst which are definitely bad. Do not let an idolater nor an adulterer be accepted in your presence. "That you also aspire to live a quiet life, to mind your own business, and to work with your own hands" (I Thessalonians 4:11). "For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual immorality; that each of you should know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, not in passion of lust, like the Gentiles who do not know God;…For God did not call us to uncleanliness, but to holiness" (I Thessalonians 4:3-5,7). Abstain from every form of evil so that you will be prepared for the Second Coming.

"Our bodies being nourished by the Eucharist, (by the Holy Sacraments) and deposited into the earth, and although suffering decomposition there, will rise again at their appointed time. The Word of God will grant them resurrection, a resurrection by the glory of God who freely gives immortality to this which is mortal" (Irenaeus c.180).

St. Clement of Alexandria c. 195 assuredly said "In the resurrection the soul returns to the body."

"Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth—those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation" (John 5:28-29).

"I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books" (Revelation 20:12).

The Glorious Resurrection and the Second Coming consumed the writings of the early church fathers. They faithfully passed down the teachings of the apostles who witnessed the Crucifixion and Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. The pre-Nicene early church fathers not only taught life after death but anticipated it.

There will be a future resurrection for those who live a life of goodness, of sound doctrine, and who partake of the holy sacraments of the Church. On the other hand, those who have lived a life of desires, of self-made principles, abstaining from partaking of the Holy Sacraments will be deprived of eternal Salvation.

"Let none of you say that this very flesh will not be judged, nor rise again…For just as you were called in the flesh, you will also come to be judged in the flesh" (Second Clement c. 150).

"It is impossible for the same men to be reconstituted unless the same bodies are restored to the same souls" (Athenagoras c.175).

"Having been born, I will exist again. Death will exist no longer, and it will be seen no longer. Similarly, there was a time that I did not exist; yet afterwards I was born. So even though fire may destroy all traces of my flesh, the earth still received the vaporized matter. And though my body may be dispersed through rivers and seas, or torn in pieces by wild beasts, I am laid up in the storehouses of a wealthy Lord" (Titian c. 160).

The Glorious Feast of the Resurrection is the Feast of all feasts. The doors to the Kingdom of Heaven have been opened for all those who choose to obey the Lord. Through the Glorious Resurrection we can partake of the Lord Jesus Christ, confess our sins and rise up to Heaven with the belief of His coming again to claim those who found earthly fulfillment in the promise of the life to come.

We look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the age to come.

God bless you during the Feasts of Feasts, the Glorious Resurrection,

Bishop Youssef
Bishop, Coptic Orthodox Diocese of the Southern United States