Article 04

The resurrection of Christ

“Christ truly rose again from death and took again his body, with flesh, bones, and all that belongs to the completeness of man’s nature. In this body he ascended into heaven, where he is now seated until the last day, when he will return to judge all men.”

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Anyone who has ever told a lie knows that the truth has a way of eventually slipping out. Charles Colson was Special Counsel to President Richard Nixon and was involved in the Watergate scandal of the early 1970’s. The president and many of his colleagues committed a number of illegal acts and then tried to cover up their actions. They were, however, caught out by the discovery of tape recordings of their conversations which proved to be highly incriminating.

Colson and several of his co-conspirators were sent to prison, and while he was there he became a Christian. After he was released, he spoke about his faith and marveled at the story of Jesus’ resurrection. Christianity, he realized, stands or falls with the truth of the Bible’s account of this event: if it were shown that the resurrection did not happen, Christianity would collapse.

The 39 Articles describe what happened after Jesus’ death: “Christ truly rose again from death and took again his body, with flesh, bones, and all that belongs to the completeness of man’s nature.” One of the most compelling pieces of evidence that convinces many people of the truth of the resurrection is the way Jesus’ disciples were transformed by the event. A huddle of terrified men, who fled when Jesus was arrested, and deserted him when he was crucified, became a bold and vibrant group who went out and told everyone they met that they had seen and touched their risen Lord. They never backed down and were prepared to be tortured and to die rather than deny what they knew had happened to Jesus.

Charles Colson compared the disciples’ consistent witness to his own actions and those of his colleagues. “We couldn’t hold our stories together for three weeks under that pressure,” he said. “I was around the most powerful men in the world, but we couldn’t hold the lie. If the resurrection wasn’t true, those disciples could never have held out. Someone would have dug out the tape or something!”

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Someone once asked me, “After Jesus died on Good Friday and rose again from the dead on Easter Sunday, how did he get to heaven?” Forty days after his resurrection, and being seen by hundreds of people, Jesus was taken up into heaven by God his Father.

What is heaven like? Will we sprout wings, sit on clouds and play harps? Will our spirits become one with some great river swirling around the universe? No! The ascension of Jesus shows us that we will have bodies in heaven that are much like the ones we have now – only they will be new and improved!

What is Jesus doing now in heaven? Will he ever be seen again? The 39 Articles remind us that he “ascended into heaven, where he is now seated until the last day, when he will return to judge all men.”

Jesus will return to earth one day – and he will come to judge people on the basis of their judgment of him. As it says in John’s Gospel: “Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.” (John 3:18)

Anyone who follows Christ today need not fear Jesus’ coming as judge because Christians know that Jesus himself has already taken upon himself the judgment that would otherwise have fallen on us. Anyone who is not following Christ today is being given time to change their mind and turn to him.

The great thing about heaven is not the food, drink or music – it is resting in the presence of the loving, forgiving and merciful God. And this is infinitely better than strumming harps!