He is not here...He is risen

Sosthenes · Joined: 18 Feb 2008 Posts: 60

He is not Here...
HE IS RISEN
As he said...

Jehovah's Witnesses and The Gospel of the Resurrection

Our hope as Christians resides in the resurrection for our Lord
Jesus Christ.

The Apostle Paul, while addressing the Corinthians boldly states:
"if Christ be not raised, your faith is in vain; ye are yet in your
sins" (1 Cor. 15:17).

The religious group known as Jehovah's Witnesses states that they
indeed believe in the resurrection of Christ, but is this an honest
claim when their doctrines clearly teach that Christ was raised a
spirit? In the Watchtower publication "The Time Is At Hand" (page
129) it is announced "whether it [Christ's body] was dissolved into
gases or whether it is still preserved somewhere as the grand memorial
of God's love, of Christ's obedience, and of our redemption, no one
knows."

The Sacred Scriptures give us a completely different view of the
Resurrection of Jesus, because it nowhere states that His resurrection
and told the manner thereof when he addressed the Jews in the Gospel
of John 2:19-21. Jesus said "destroy this temple and in three days I
will raise it up... but he spoke of the temple of his body." Also in
the same Gospel we find the disciple Thomas at first doubting Christ's
resurrection, the Jesus appears to Thomas and offers for his
examination the same body that was crucified. The body of Jesus still
bore the prints of the mails and the spear wound in his side.

The Watchtower Society evades this Scripture verse by stating "He
[Jesus] merely materialized flesh and blood to be seen and believed."
(Make Sure of All Things, 1953 Edition, page 314). This is only a
vague assumption on the Watchtower's part as there is no Scripture
reference to back up their claim. Worse yet, it means Jesus
intentionally deceived Thomas into thinking he saw the actual body
that Jesus had been crucified in. If the resurrection was only an
illusion, then Christianity could have easily been discredited by
displaying the real dead body of Jesus.

An interesting development takes place in the 24th Chapter of the
Gospel of Luke, when we are told that the disciples of Christ made the
same mistake the Jehovah's Witnesses are presently making. In verse
37 it is noted that the disciples thought they were seeing the ghost
of Christ. "But they were terrified and affrightened, and supposed
that they had seen a spirit." Jesus then proceeded to calm their
fears and correct their error; "Behold my hands and feet, that it is I
myself; handle me and see for a spirit has not flesh and bone as ye
see me have" (verse 39). Here again, the Watchtower Society badly
asserts that Jesus materialized a body, but as noted earlier there is
no Scriptural evidence to back this misguided claim and it completely
ignores the clear context and plain meaning of the words of our Lord.

Scripture makes it emphatically clear that the manner of Jesus'
resurrection was in a bodily form, but what of the texts brought forth
by Jehovah's Witnesses to support their doctrine? A brief look at
these will show that their position is quite superficial.

A favorite text is 1 Cor. 15:50, which states that "inherited the
Kingdom of God," He therefore cannot possess a body of "flesh and
blood." However, the Jehovah's Witnesses are unaware that the term
"flesh and blood" appears in the New Testament only five times (in the
above verse, Matt. 16:17, Gal. 1:16, Heb. 2:14 and Eph. 6:12). Under
close examination we can see that in each case the writer is speaking
not of literal flesh and blood, but of natural man. The Christian
Church has always taught that natural man (man in his sinful nature)
"cannot inherit the Kingdom of God." Natural man needs to be born
again. (see John 3:3).

A further attempt made to discredit the bodily resurrection, (so
strongly taught against by the Jehovah's Witnesses) is 1 Peter 3:18.
Peter, speaking of Christ, states "being made alive in the spirit."
The proposition is set forth that Jesus was raised from the dead as a
spirit. However, this text does not say that Christ was brought forth
from the dead as a spirit - it simply informs us that Jesus was raised
"in the Spirit" or "by the Spirit" (see further Romans 8:11). If we
are to understand the term "in the Spirit" as being a spirit (as the
Watchtower Society wants us to believe) then we must also believe that
all the christians living in Rome were spirits, because according to
the Apostle Paul (Romans 8:9) the Christians "were not in the flesh,
but in the Spirit." Also, when we examine other references (Rev.1:10,
Gal. 5:25, Eph. 6:18 and 1 Pet. 4:6) concerning "being in the Spirit"
it can further be shown who futile the Watchtower's position is.

The Jehovah's Witnesses also use the two accounts of Jesus not
being recognized by those who knew Him as proof of being resurrected
in a different form. This position, however, comes form shallow Bible
study, twisting Scriptures and using verses out of context. This is
evident from the fact while the Jehovah's Witnesses claim that the tow
disciples on the read to Emmanus (Luke 24) did not recognize Him
because He was in a different form than that which He was crucified.
They completely ignore verse 16: "their eyes (the disciples') were
holden that they should not know Him." This can only mean that it was
the same body, because Jesus had supernaturally veiled their eyes.
After their faith was tested (verses 25 and 26), He opened their eyes
and they knew Him (verse 31). We can clearly see the Scriptures tell
us the disciples did not know Jesus because He did not will it so.

In "The Time Is At Hand" (page 128) Witnesses tell us "he [Jesus]
appeared to Mary as the gardener. Scripture is clear that it is Mary
who is in error thinking that Jesus is the gardener. John 20:15
emphasizes this point when it states: "She, supposing Him to be the
gardener." Once again Sacred Scripture makes it clear that the
Watchtower Society has misrepresented what God has set forth in His
Word.

An extremely important text on the bodily resurrection of Jesus,
(and one which many times is overlooked by Christians) is Colossians
2:9. This text is very significant verse concerning the Deity of
Jesus, but its even more so in regard to His bodily resurrection. We
are Told by the Apostles Paul "for in Him [Christ] dwelleth all the
fullness for the Godhead bodily." Paul used the Greek word KATOIKEI
(dwelleth), which is present time (when Paul was writing some 25 years
after the resurrection) dwelling bodily (SOMATIKOS), that is in a
physical bodily form. When we view this verse we can now see that
Paul announces that at the present time the fullness for the Godhead
is still, even in heaven, residing in Christ in a physical, bodily
form.

To deny and misrepresent what the Bible teaches concerning Christ's
resurrection is an extremely serious matter and will result in one
being lost eternally. "If you will confess with your mouth that Jesus
is Lord and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from among
the dead, you will be saved." (Romans 10:9). If Jehovah's Witnesses
do not believe in their hearts that God has raised Jesus bodily from
among the dead as the Bible teaches, how can those who embrace the
Watchtower's doctrines ever hope of having eternal life? Our concern
is for Jehovah's Witnesses to come to know the TRUE RESURRECTED LORD
JESUS....

Personal Freedom Outreach
P.O. Box 26062,
St. Louis, MO. 63136 (314)388-2648.

For more information see below:

This file has been brought to you by the ministry of the;

Southern Maryland Christian Information Service BBS, (SMCIS)
(301) 862-3160 HST

P.O. Box 463
California, MD 20619

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