Easter 2024

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● Acts 1:1-3 . . The first account I composed, Theophilus, about all that
Jesus began to do and teach, until the day when he was taken up, after he
had by the Holy Spirit given orders to the apostles whom He had chosen. To
these he also presented himself alive, after his suffering, by many
convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days.

Some of those "convincing proofs" were:

Jesus' resurrection retained indications of the injuries he received on the
cross. (John 20:27)

His resurrection was a physical form, i.e. it could be handled and it could be
seen with the naked eye. (Matt 28:8-9, Luke 24:39-40, John 20:27)

His resurrection experienced hunger, and was capable of dining upon
ordinary foods. (Luke 24:41-42)

A pretty large percentage of folks identifying themselves as Christians in our
day are in agreement with those proofs, but the properties of his
resurrection are very controversial.

Some insist Jesus' crucified dead body was restored to life as it was, while
others insist it was restored to life with miraculous improvements, and yet
others insist Jesus' crucified dead body wasn't restored to life at all, i.e. it's
still dead; and his remains are squirreled away somewhere on the earth in a
condition, and a location, known only to God. In other words, in some
people's opinion: Jesus' resurrection was in the form of a spirit being instead
of a physical being.
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Jesus today has a so-called glorified body. (Phil 3:21) One of its outstanding
properties is immortality. (Rom 6:9, 1Tim 6:14-15, and Rev 1:18)

Now, although Jesus' body today is immortal, it's still capable of dining upon
ordinary foods and beverages; and will do so in the future. (Matt 26:29,
Luke 22:15-16, Luke 22:28-30)

When Jesus' body underwent its miraculous upgrade to immortality, the
process didn't transform him into a different species of life, viz: Jesus today
is still human.

● 1Tim 2:5 . . For there is one God, and one mediator between God and
men, the man Christ Jesus.

The Greek word translated "men" and "man" in that verse is anthropos
(anth'-ro pos) a very common word throughout the New Testament for
identifying human beings of either of the Bible's two genders, i.e. males and
females.

So; there are at least four things about Jesus today that we can be certain:

1) He's alive

2) He's immortal

3) He's capable of dining upon ordinary foods and beverages and,

4) He's an h.sapiens, i.e. a human being.

There's a fifth: Jesus' gender. Throughout the Bible, beginning with
Melchizedek in the book of Genesis; high priests have always been males.
God has never appointed a woman to that position. In point of fact; God has
never appointed women to be priests of any kind let alone high priests.

Of Jesus it is said:

"For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham's descendants. For this
reason he had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he
might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God" (Heb
2:15-17)

And:

"Therefore, holy brothers, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your
thoughts on Jesus, the apostle and high priest whom we confess." (Heb 3:1)

See also Heb 4:14-15, 5:1, 5:5, 5:10, 6:20, 7:26, 8:1, & 9:11
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FAQ: Was Jesus' crucified dead body resurrected in a glorified form, or as it
was before the cross?

REPLY: Jesus predicted his body would be restored-- he didn't predict it
would be replaced and/or improved. (John 2:18-22)

FAQ: But wasn't his resurrected body able to do things that his normal body
never did; like pass thru closed doors and to suddenly appear and
disappear?

REPLY: If Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego could walk thru fire in a normal
body, then I should think it not all that difficult for Jesus to pass thru walls in
a normal body.

And if Philip could be instantly transported in a normal body, they for sure
Jesus could too.

The properties of one's body do not determine what God can do with it, or
cannot do, viz: when analyzing miracles, I suggest we avoid differentiating
between the possible and the impossible. (cf. Luke 1:34-37)
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FAQ: Jesus' body was easy to restore to life because it was all in one place
and still intact. (Ps 16:8-10, Acts 2:25-32) How can a corpse be returned to
life that's been obliterated by a bomb, or eaten and digested by beasts, or
cremated, or rotted away due to lack of embalming?

REPLY: Not everyone sleeping in the dust per Dan 12:2 is doing so as a
corpse. In time, left to nature, everyone's body decomposes enough to
disappear altogether. But regardless of how someone's body is disposed,
destroyed and/or disintegrated; it can be rebuilt from scratch just as easily
as Adam's body was built from scratch in the beginning.

FAQ: Supposing some of the atoms that made my body go into making
another person's body after mine is dead and dissolved back to dust? How
will God fully restore both our bodies to life seeing as how He will have need
of the atoms of each of us to do so?

REPLY: The chemical constitution of the various natural atoms listed on the
periodic table are identical; it's not as if they're snowflakes; viz: if God
needs some carbon atoms to reconstruct your body, He could utilize carbon
atoms from a Sequoia cactus and they would work just fine without the
slightest need for adjustment because every carbon atom on earth is a
precise duplicate of every other carbon atom on earth; viz: all carbon atoms
are just one kind of carbon atom, i.e. the carbon atoms in your body are not
unique.

So it isn't necessary for God to locate all your original carbon atoms in order
to reconstruct your original body; He just needs carbon atoms; and they are
very plentiful in nature: same with other kinds of atoms, e.g. iron, calcium,
phosphorus, sodium, magnesium, hydrogen, nitrogen, etc.
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