Ann K

This will be a time of rejoicing with our Lord and with our loved ones gone on before. Life on earth is too busy. Material things or wants are more important to many people than spirituality or love for each other. Take time to stop, look around you to see the magnificent earth God has created for us ~~ see your neighbour as your brother. Love must abound. Be prepared. We know not the hour when the Lord will come to take us home in our new spiritual body .. Thanks be to God for all He has given to us!!

We know not what our resurrected bodies will be like. To go to Heaven we have to have some change ~~ as our mortal body will not work or function there. There has to be resurrection of our bodies to give us faith and belief that life continues after our death on earth. From dying must come rebirth in some other form.

The redemption of our bodies is the setting free of our earthly body by our resurrection to a more heavenly, complete spiritual body, free of the chains of earthly existence. The words describing our resurrection bodies are imperishable, glorified, powerful and spiritual.

Christians will immediately be with God at the time of their death awaiting the final resurrection. We await the resurrection in the presence of God ~~ in the house Christ has prepared for us in Heaven.

The word is Resurrection. Christ's return will be on the Last Day. We know not the time. All will be raised living and dead but those who will believe will be given eternal life. The Great Gathering will separate believers from non-belivers ~~ but God's love will abound on all.

By doing work we are doing work for the Lord. It is his work not ours. Our work may not always be productive, but we must focus on our belief that Christ is coming and when he comes we shall rise from the dead. Our labour is not in vain because Christ lives we are able to face tomorrow. God will not give us work or cares that we cannot do.. They may feel ovewhelming at times but we are able to carry the load with his love and support.

Christ's resurrectionis my asurance that I too will experience a spiritual resurrection. Christ's resurrection is the focus of our own hope for eternal life. Jesus' resurrection from the dead led the way as the first to experience rebirth and opened up the way for the rest of us.

Christ's death and resurrection~~ Christ died and rose again. By baptism, immersion portrays death``rising out of the water represents our being united with Him (In the future) in his resurrection. The love of God shows our being raised with Christ and that we can share his power and privileges in the spiritual world.

Jesus' resurrection gives us the assurance of God's promise that we are saved from our sins and we are forgiven. How could we believe if we did not have the resurrection . We all experience death. We would not have the necessary 'proof' to explain our belief or salvation. Seeing is believing!

I don't think any of the various proofs are more compelling than another. All the facts are woven together to make the story complete. One cannot , I feel, talk about the spread of Christianity without the bringing of the other 'proofs' into the story. Yes, I believe, I could explain why I believe that Jesus was raised from the dead. The older I get the more I understand. I believe that Jesus walked on earth , teaching and listening, was crucified, dead and buried. He appeared after his resurrection to various people, went to heaven, sits at the right hand of God, and some day will return. What a wonderful story we have to believe in. Christ the Lord has risen.

After the resurrection the disciples were so down heartened, confused, afraid and discouraged they were probably at the lowest part of their lives in their 'spititual belief and walk.' With the appearance of Jesus in various places to them and others , and the various happenings at the tomb, to the Romans soldiers and their outlook and change at the events ,supported their belief in the events that took place. The discip;es began to remember many of the things Jesus spoke about to them about and which they did not understand at the time. They now believed that 'Christ had indeed risen.'

The disciples had no reason to steal the body as they knew it had been properly prepared for burial and was in a secure tomb. The Romans would maybe want to dispel the 'love affair' or following that many were getting from Jesus and his teaching, but to steal the body would only give the followers of Jesus more solid belief. Taking the body would be the wrong approach. The Jews would be glad to see the death of Jesus and would not want to touch the body for fear of the reaction it would cause against them. Joseph Had no need to steal the body . He provided a tomb for the burial of Jesus' body. He wanted to provide a safe place for the body. Noone really had a need to steal the body.

I have read and reread this question and am having difficulty in coming up with an answer. Some scholars have to have an answer for everything. Something can only be black or white with nothing in between. In my belief I believe in the resurrection and the cross. We cannot have one without the other. Something marvelous can happen and never be repaeated. Is this not what happened in theEaster story??? The resurrection cannot be complete without the ascension. Part of my being a Christian is that I have the faith and love to believe in this historical act. To date it has never been repeated. Aren't we blessed that we can have a faith to believe in it. Don't know if I have answered the question or not.

Jesus'resurrection is his victory over the grave rising from the dead. His ascension is his going up to heaven to sit at the right hand of God ~~~ the place chosen or reserved For Him. His ascension is the continuation from the Cross to the Grave to his appearances on earth and finally his going to his rightful place chosen by the Father for the Son, that is to have a seat a t the right hand of his father.

His body was 'still flesh and bones' yet had added new elements. He could do all things he had done before his death on the cross~ but after his resurrection he could appear on a roa besude travellers travelling on the road, walk through doors, etc. His body could almost be thought of as now having tha added ability of a ghostly aspect.