My focus in this series of posts is to clarify that Paul is discussing a future bodily resurrection and that it is this future event that is at the center of Paul’s hope. I recognize that some will read the previous sentence and think “duh,” for they have always read this passage with that understanding. But many haven’t. My observation has been that most assume that the narrative of scripture is aimed at eventually taking us all to heaven. This assumption, when brought by the reader to this passage, shapes the interpretation to fit the shape of that narrative. The bits that clearly indicate a hope for bodily resurrection are thereby screened out, and those that appear less clear (once the clear ones are no longer seen as a point of reference) are interpreted rather as a hope for a future disembodied trip to heaven where we will live happily ever after.

Before I begin examining the text itself, I want to point out why thinking of the aim of scriptural narrative in terms of going to heaven doesn’t work in general. In Genesis 1-2 we find the Creation story, where we begin to understand God’s purpose and design. He creates Man in his own image and according to his own likeness (an idiom expressing a parent/child relationship). God gives Man delegated authority and a commission to fill the earth and to rule over it. God breathes into Man the breathe of his own life and thereby becomes Man’s source of life and identity. God’s aim in Creation is established. God desires a world filled with Men who enjoy a parent/child relationship with God, who are connected to God by his own breath, and who exercise his delegated authority as his representatives to govern the planet. Obviously, it is this plan that became side tracked because of sin. Instead of being God’s children, Man became God’s enemies, disconnected from his life and living for themselves. Instead of governing this world as God’s representatives, Man has abdicated this responsibility and Satan has become the ruler (not the owner) of this world. Man has filled the earth, but not with God’s image, authority, or life.

If that really is God’s plan, then we must understand God’s redemptive work through Christ as God’s gracious and powerful work to restore this world and Mankind to that original design. In my last post, I discussed this very reality in terms of Romans 8:18-25. The common view that God’s redemptive work through Christ was primarily aimed at taking us all from the earth to heaven when we die simply fails to recognize the significance of God’s original design and plan. If God’s redemptive work is about us leaving earth and going to heaven, then it is apparent that God has given up on his original plan and that, to a significant degree, God’s purposes have been ultimately thwarted by the devil and sin. This is obviously false. God will end up getting in the end exactly what he was after from the beginning.

This expectation of God’s redemptive work bringing restoration to this planet is a consistent prophetic theme throughout scripture.

Numbers 14:21 (ESV)
21But truly, as I live, and as all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the LORD,

Psalm 72:19 (ESV)
19Blessed be his glorious name forever; may the whole earth be filled with his glory! Amen and Amen!

Isaiah 11:9 (ESV)
9They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.

Habakkuk 2:14 (ESV)
14For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.

Zechariah 14:8–9 (ESV)
8On that day living waters shall flow out from Jerusalem, half of them to the eastern sea and half of them to the western sea. It shall continue in summer as in winter.
9And the LORD will be king over all the earth. On that day the LORD will be one and his name one.

Today I want to begin my exploration of 1 Cor 15 by looking at some of the verses that, when taken alone, might seem to indicate that Paul’s subject is something other than bodily resurrection. This is important, because we must interpret scripture by scripture. Whatever conclusion we come to must make sense of these verses. We can’t just pretend they aren’t there.

“And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied. ” (1 Corinthians 15:17–19, ESV)

In vs 17-19 it is possible to understand Paul as speaking of something other than bodily resurrection. He takes the reality of Christ’s resurrection and makes both our (those still alive) present status before God and those who have died contingent upon the Jesus’ resurrection. The implication here could be that because Christ is raised, the result is that the status of those who live and have believed is changed, and the status of those who have perished is secure. We who are alive are saved. Those believers who have fallen asleep (died) are alive with God. The hope expressed here could be seen as a hope for disembodied existence with God in heaven.

“What do I gain if, humanly speaking, I fought with beasts at Ephesus? If the dead are not raised, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.” ” (1 Corinthians 15:32, ESV)

Believers, Paul himself as the example, are facing significant persecution for their public declaration of another Lord besides Caesar. The cost is high. Paul’s argument here is that the present cost is only worth it if the dead are raised.  If the dead are not raised, then it is foolish to pay this price. Why? For tomorrow we die. There seems to be two options in Paul’s mind. Either we will die and there is nothing, or we die and there is resurrection. If nothing, then why suffer now? If resurrection, then present suffering completely makes sense. When we die, what happens? Paul’s argument here seems to be that the two options available for our consideration are either 1) nothing or 2) resurrection. Since we know that Paul elsewhere affirms that when we die, though our body is buried, we ourselves are absent from our body and present with Christ, and this is clearly not “nothing”, then it appears that Paul is equating resurrection with the non-bodily existence with Christ in heaven expected for believers who perish.

“There are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is of one kind, and the glory of the earthly is of another. ” (1 Corinthians 15:40, ESV)

In vs 40 Paul specifically defines the resurrected body as being “heavenly” as opposed to “earthly”. This could be taken to mean that when Paul uses the term resurrection, he isn’t speaking of a bodily resurrection at all, but rather the reality of our heavenly, non-material existence after our death.

“It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. Thus it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. But it is not the spiritual that is first but the natural, and then the spiritual. The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven. As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust, and as is the man of heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven. ” (1 Corinthians 15:44–49, ESV)

In contrasting our present embodied existence with our resurrected existence, Paul, in vs 44-49, contrasts “natural” with “spiritual”, “being” with “spirit”, as well as “earth” and “dust” with being from “heaven”. Taken alone, these verses can also seem to indicate that Paul, when discussing resurrection, isn’t talking about bodily resurrection at all. In fact, he might seem to be saying the opposite, that our hope in resurrection is a hope for a disembodied, spiritual, heavenly existed subsequent to our natural death.

“I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. ” (1 Corinthians 15:50, ESV)

Vs 50 seems to support this as well, for here Paul equates “flesh and blood” with the “perishable” and declares that this state of being (flesh and blood that is perishable) will not inherit God’s kingdom. This would also seem to imply that we should expect resurrection, whatever it is, to NOT be a bodily, flesh and blood type of existence.

In my next post, I plan to examine verses from 1 Cor 15 that do seem to strongly imply a bodily resurrection from the dead. Stay tuned!

Romans 8:18–25 (ESV)
18For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.
19For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God.
20For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope
21that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.
22For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now.
23And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.
24For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees?
25But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

I think there may be two reasons why this passage is rarely emphasized.

1. There was a fringe (not mainstream but influential) pentecostal group in post World War II America and Canada called The Latter Rain Movement that emphasized this passage.

This movement stretched the theological boundaries of mainstream pentecostalism through their views on the end times, the five-fold ministry, the laying on of hands, and personal prophecy. One of their doctrinal distinctions was centered around a phrase from this passage. In verse 19, Paul writes:

19For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God.

This doctrine was called “The Manifest Sons of God”. They taught that in the end times there would be a group of believers who would walk in the same miraculous power as Jesus and would usher in world wide evangelism and ultimately the return of Christ for a victorious church. That’s my summary of their position anyway. If it’s anywhere close to accurate, I’m not exactly sure why it was considered so extreme. Anyway, it was certainly rejected by the mainstream folks and it very much was a departure from the pessimistic dispensational “I’ll fly away” eschatology within the mainstream pentecostal circles. Because of this (and other reasons), the Latter Rain Movement was rejected. Fundamentalist circles still attempt to discredit modern day Charismatic and/or Pentecostal ministries by trying to tie them to Latter Day connections. I suspect that Rom 8:18-25 is at least partly ignored because it has, in recent history, been so tied to a rejected church movement which mainstream believers don’t want to be associated with. In my opinion, the Latter Rain’s major mistake was in missing the implications of verse 18. There is a present age. There is an age to come. It is healthy to contend for the reality of the age to come to break forth into the present age. Error enters in when we expect the present age to, in fact, be the age to come. Due to this failure to rightly distinguish the present and future aspects of what Paul is addressing, this movement failed to recognize this passage as a longing for the resurrection from the dead and instead saw it as a longing that was to be fulfilled prior to the return of Christ, in the present age.

2. This passage presents a hope for the end times anchored in a future bodily resurrection of the dead and the renewal of God’s good creation.

In an age where the Church has largely lost sight of Genesis 1-2, and knows NOT what to do with 1 Cor 15 or Rev 21, we have framed the gospel merely in terms of God making a way for us to go to heaven when we die. With this “going to heaven” emphasis, talk of liberating creation from its bondage to decay or the redemption of our bodies just simply doesn’t fit within our grid. It is thereby ignored, lest we have to adjust our grid. Because we have understood Jesus’ return as the catalyst for our departure, images of dead bodies rising from their graves and all of creation being renewed as heaven and earth are rejoined just don’t make sense.

On the other hand, when you give Gen 1-2 a careful reading, looking for an answer to the question “What is God’s goal in creation?”, it becomes apparent that God desires a good creation governed by Men/Women who carry God’s image and authority and whose source is God’s own life/breath. Given this, it only makes sense that his goal in redemption is to bring creation back into alignment with this original design. From this perspective, 1 Cor 15, which is all about a future bodily resurrection from the dead, and Rev 21, which is all about a future time when God will rejoin heaven and earth in one great act of New Creation, and this passage, Rom 8:18-25 make total sense.

It is this new creation reality of resurrection that all creation is groaning towards (see vs 22). And we too are groaning (see vs 23). And the Spirit.

Romans 8:26 (ESV)
26Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.

We must not lift this verse from it’s context and make it a proof text for charismatic prayer. We must understand what, exactly, the Spirit is groaning for. What is this thing that we don’t even have language for that the Spirit is groaning to bring into reality?

New Creation.

New Creation is “the good” that all things work together toward for those who love God and are called according to his purpose (see vs 28). This is our anchor. This is where the story is headed. This is Paul’s vision of the future. This is our hope.

There are different ways to know things.

I know that 2+2=4. There is a way I know this that is logical and axiomatic. I know that George Washington was the first President of the United States on the warrant of the authority of reliable witnesses. I know that I love my wife. But my way of knowing this is different than the way I know arithmetic, or even the way I understand history. This way of knowing is subjective, relational, and intuitive. But, for being subjective, it is no less real and much more significant.

I know that Jesus is God in all these ways. On the warrant of the authority of reliable witnesses I trust in the account of events in the gospels. No other answer but the resurrection of Christ provides a logical explanation for the emergence of the early Church. 

While this kind of knowing satisfies the skeptic within, a deeper thirst would remain unquenched apart from experience. I know him. I have heard his voice. I have felt his presence. I have gazed upon his beauty.

He is risen indeed.

1 Corinthians 15:35-36

When you think of the future resurrection of the dead, what do you picture? For a long time, if I thought about it at all, I think I pictured a scene from the Michael Jackson “Thriller” video. Silly I know.

Or, if my imagination ran towards more biblical imagery, I think I pictured a global experience similar to that of Lazarus. When Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead his post-death self wasn’t noticeably different from his pre-death self. He wasn’t sick anymore. He needed a change of clothes. Other than that he was the same old Lazarus. In this sense, Lazarus’ experience wasn’t so much a resurrection as a resuscitation. After Jesus brought Lazarus back from the dead he continued to age. His skin wrinkled. His hair turned grey. He eventually died and they buried his body as before. And there his body remains to this day.

But the future resurrection is not like that. Paul here uses the metaphor of planting and harvesting to illustrate. When you put a seed in the ground you don’t expect to get merely a seed from the ground. A seed planted produces much more than a seed. One day if Jesus tarries I will die and my body will be planted int he ground. At the resurrection I will be raised, but not simply as a resuscitated version of what I was before. That which is raised is connected to that which was planted in very definite ways but the harvest is different than the seed also. Greater. More. Different.

I wonder what that will be like?

1 Corinthians 15:3-4
3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,(ESV)

This statement appears to be a very early creed of the faith. This isn’t something Paul wrote. Rather, it is something he “received”. He is here teaching what he has himself been taught. He is passing on an important summary statement of the propositional content of faith. By introducing the subject of resurrection with what would have been a familiar Christian creed, Paul is first positioning belief in the resurrection as essential to what it means to be a Christ follower.

In the verses that follow (5-11) Paul appeals to the multitude of those who witnessed the resurrected Christ, many of whom were still alive at the time of the writing of this letter, as evidence to the reality of Jesus’ resurrection.

1 Corinthians 15:12-1912 Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. 14 And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. 15 We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. 16 For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 19 If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.(ESV)

It should be noted that 1 Corinthians is a letter that exists within an apparent series of communications between Paul and the church in Corinth. In this letter Paul is responding to various issues, concerns, and/or questions raised by the church in this ongoing correspondence. When Paul here indicates that some in Corinth are saying “there is no resurrection of the dead” it seems clear that some have perhaps appealed to Paul to speak to this important doctrinal issue because of controversy that had arrisen within the congregation. The Pulpit Commentary provides a helpful discussion regarding the identity of those who were denying the resurrection within the church in Corinth:

“These deniers of the resurrection are usually called “the Corinthian Sadducees.” After the state of social and moral laxity of which we have been reading, we can scarcely be surprised at the existence of anydisorder or anomaly in the Church of Corinth. Yet it comes with something of a shock on our paralyzed sense of astonishment to read that some of these Christians actually denied a resurrection! The fact at once proves two remarkable truths, namely, (1) that the early Christian Church had none of the ideal purity of doctrine which is sometimes ecclesiastically attributed to it; and (2) that there was in the bosom of that Church a wide and most forbearing tolerance. We have no data to enable us to determine what were the influences which led to the denial of the resurrection. 1. They can hardly have been Jewish. The mass of Jews at this time shared the views of the Pnarisees, who strongly maintained the resurrection (Acts 23:6). If they were Jews at all, they could only have been Sadducees or Essenes. But (1) the Sadducees were a small, wealthy, and mainly political sect, who had no religious influence, and can certainly have had no representatives at Corinth; and (2) the Essenes, though they had considerable influence in Asia, do not seem to have established themselves in Greece, nor are we aware that they were hostile to the doctrine of the resurrection. 2. Probably, then, they were Gentiles. If so, they may have been (1) either Epicureans, who disbelieved in a future life altogether; or (2) Stoics, who held that the future life was only an impersonal absorption into the Divine. Both these schools of philosophers “jeered” at the very notion of a bodily resurrection (Acts 17:32). In 2 Tim. 2:18 we read of some, like Hymenæus and Philetus, who erred, saying “that the resurrection was past already.” These teachers were incipient Gnostics, who spiritualized the resurrection, or rather said that the term was only applicable to the rising from the death of sin to the life of righteousness. The Corinthian doubters seem from the arguments which St. Paul addresses to them, to have been rather troubled with material doubts which they may have inherited from their Gentile training.” The Pulpit Commentary: 1 Corinthians. 2004 (H. D. M. Spence-Jones, Ed.) (485). Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

That church members were denying the resurrection seems plain. Paul’s point in response to their denial centers around pointing out that without resurrection…

1. If dead people do not rise, then Christ has not been raised.
2. If Christ has not been raised, then faith in the resurrected Christ is in error and therefore futile.
3. We are all still dead in our sins.

The implied argument here would be…

1. If Christ has been raised, then the resurrection of the dead is real.
2. If the dead do rise, then it the proclamation that the dead do not rise is in error.
3. Because our faith is in a resurrected Christ who did rise, our confidence in a future resurrection of the dead is legitimate.

This implied argument is made explicit in the following verses.

1 Corinthians 15:20-26 20 But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21 For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. 22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. 23 But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. 24 Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. 25 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. 26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death.(ESV)

Paul here uses the agricultural concept of first fruits to make his point. When a crop was planted, prior to the complete harvest being ripe, a certain portion of the crop would become ready for harvest in advance of the rest. This advance harvest is called the “first fruits” and is seen as a guarantee of the future harvest. It is viewed as a sort of down-payment on what is to come. Paul here is saying that the historical fact of Jesus’ bodily resurrection is the evidence, the down-payment, guaranteeing our own future bodily resurrection. Additionally, Paul is identifying a parallel between Adam and Jesus. Just as Adam’s sin served as a guarantee that future generations would experience death, Jesus’ resurrection serves as a guarantee that many will be made alive. When will this happen? When Jesus returns; when Jesus takes over everything; when the victory Jesus has already won through his death and resurrection is completely enforced. The final enemy upon which this victory will be enforced is death. The enforcement of this victory will result in the resurrection of the dead.

After this section of the passage Paul talks about baptism for the dead. I have no idea what that’s about so I’m skipping it. After that opaque verse he continues…

1 Corinthians 15:30-34
30 Why are we in danger every hour? 31 I protest, brothers, by my pride in you, which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die every day! 32 What do I gain if, humanly speaking, I fought with beasts at Ephesus? If the dead are not raised, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.” 33 Do not be deceived: “Bad company ruins good morals.” 34 Wake up from your drunken stupor, as is right, and do not go on sinning. For some have no knowledge of God. I say this to your shame.(ESV)

Paul’s argument continues with a discussion of what exactly is at stake here, namely risk and restraint. If there will be no resurrection of the dead then this is all there is! What then would be the point of daily risking his life for the gospel? Better to simply enjoy life now with no thought toward eterinity. Similary, if we have no confidence in eternity, then there is really no good reason for moral restraint. Our risk-free life can also be lived without restraint. Paul is basically saying that without a future hope anchored in the resurrection of the dead we might as well all become hedonists. One of the main problems Paul is responding to in this letter concerns immorality within the church in Corinth. Paul is here linking those moral problems to a failure to believe in the coming bodily resurrection of the dead for which Christ’s own resurrection is the first.

I want to point out that many believers I know have their hope anchored in eternity. This expectation of an eternity with God serves as an important aspect of the significance of their present experience, the risks they are willing to take for the gospel, and the moral restraint with which they conduct their lives. But most of these believers view this eternal reality as some sort of disembodied non-material heavenly existence. That is absolutely NOT in any way congruent with the future hope of bodily resurrection defined by Paul.

At this point Paul begins to describe in detail the resurrection of the dead we are to expect. I will look at that in my next post.

Isaiah 26:16-19

I love this passage from Isaiah 26. Typical of the richness of the Old Testament, present frustration and longing is juxtaposed with future hope and assurance. The prophet speaks of God’s people having  sought after God with intensity. The metaphor he uses is that of child birth. This was no passive puny prayer! Like a woman crying out in the pangs of labor God’s people sought him, but all they gave birth to was the wind. Nothing happened. No deliverance came. Ever been there? In vs 19 a new section begins. Right up against the frustration and futility of unanswered prayer comes a promise of future hope. And what is that hope? The resurrection of the dead. One day God will set right the wrongs in this world. One day deliverance will come. When this happens, even those who died never having experienced it, but who looked forward to it with faith, will bodily rise from the dead and experience the fulfillment of all God’s promises.

Ezekiel 37:1-6
1 The hand of the Lord was upon me, and he brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of the valley; it was full of bones. 2 And he led me around among them, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley, and behold, they were very dry. 3 And he said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” And I answered, “O Lord God, you know.” 4 Then he said to me, “Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. 5 Thus says the Lord God to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. 6 And I will lay sinews upon you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live, and you shall know that I am the Lord.“(ESV)

Judah had  become like a valley of dry bones. Ezekiel, with the rest of his people. was in exile in Babylon. Early in his ministry Ezekiel had spoken concerning the coming destruction of Jerusalem. Once his predictions concerning this judgment were fulfilled, he began to speak concerning the future point where God would restore his people and ultimately fulfill his promises. It must have seemed hopeless though. Like a valley of dry bones. Can these bones live?

When I compare these two passages, several interesting things emerge. Both Isaiah and Ezekiel prophecied to Judah, Isaiah prior to the Exile and Ezekiel during the Babylonian Exile. Both passages deal with a strong sense of present futility and frustration. Isaiah describes this using the metaphor of the pains of a mother during childbirth. Ezekiel envisions a valley of skeletons where the bones are so dry they are no longer even connected. In both cases the question (implicit in Isaiah and explicit in Ezekiel) is what will God do to fix this? In both cases the answer is the resurrection of the dead. Isaiah speaks of a literal resurrection from the dead. Ezekiel uses the idea of resurrection metaphorically. The bones coming back to life picture the future restoration of God’s people.

So, is the Old Testament concept of resurrection literal or figurative? Yes! As the concept of resurrection developed within the Jewish community, primarily during exile, it came to have both a literal and figurative meaning. They expected God to intervene in history and set everything right that was wrong for his people. They expected believing Jews who died before this happened to be resurrected from the dead literally so that they could literally experience the fulfillment of all God had promised. When this finally occured, it would also mean the resurrection of God’s people, their final return from Exile. In this sense, the idea of resurrection was also used figuratively.

Hosea 13:13-14
13 The pangs of childbirth come for him, but he is an unwise son, for at the right time he does not present himself at the opening of the womb. 14 Shall I ransom them from the power of Sheol? Shall I redeem them from Death? O Death, where are your plagues? O Sheol, where is your sting? Compassion is hidden from my eyes.(ESV)

Hosea was a contemporary of Isaiah, but spoke mostly to the northern kingdom of Israel. Notice in this passage how the metaphor of childbirth is stuck right next to the promise of resurrection.  In this passage God has appealed to his people to repent. Israel has refused to be the people God had called them to be. Like a mother trying to give birth God has been laboring for their repentance but they continue in their refusal. When a baby refuses to be born, the baby dies. This seems to be the implication of the metaphor. Here God, through the prophet, raises the question of resurrection more than the promise of resurrection. “Shall I?” is not the same as “I will”. “Compassion is hidden from my eyes” (vs 14b) demonstrates that the idea of resurrection as God’s answer is beginning to emerge, but remains obscured and mysterious.

Romans 8:22-23
22 For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. 23 And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.(ESV)

I give the background from the previous three OT passages in order to draw attention to this often overlooked portion of Romans 8. Paul here is speaking of the resurrection of the dead! That is what he means by “the redemption of our bodies” (vs 23b). And again, we see the childbirth metaphor present within the discussion of resurrection. This time all of creation is in labor. All of creation is longing for new birth. In the Old Testament the focus of resurrection is upon Israel and Judah and the promise of the end of exile and their restoration to the land. In Romans 8, not excluding but including the previous, we see the focus broadened to all of creation and the longing for New Creation.

And again, resurrection is literal and figurative. When Christ returns, there will be a bodily resurrection of the dead. But to what will they rise? They will rise to a renewed heavens and earth, where everything wrong is set right in our world.

Daniel 12:1-3
1 “At that time shall arise Michael, the great prince who has charge of your people. And there shall be a time of trouble, such as never has been since there was a nation till that time. But at that time your people shall be delivered, everyone whose name shall be found written in the book. 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. 3 And those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky above; and those who turn many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever.(ESV)

Revelation 21:1-5
1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” 5 And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.“(ESV)

I find myself challenged in these days to make sure my future hope is also anchored in the hope of a resurrection yet to come where not only will I rise, but where all the world will be renewed, where heaven and earth will be joined once more, and where God will again dwell among his people. I think I’m feeling the labor pains already.

Habakkuk 2:14
14 For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.(ESV)