Daily Lesson for September 7, 2018

Today’s Daily Lesson comes from Job chapter 19 verses 25 through 27:

25 For I know that my Redeemer lives,

   and that at the last he will stand upon the earth;

26 and after my skin has been thus destroyed,

   then in my flesh I shall see God,

27 whom I shall see on my side,

   and my eyes shall behold, and not another.

“I believe in the resurrection of the body.”

That is the Apostles’ Creed language, which has now been slightly altered to say, “I believe in the resurrection of the dead.”  That change was unfortunate insofar as in trying to modernize the profession and make it less fleshy, it ended up making it, well, less fleshy.

I believe in the resurrection of the body. 

When I say that and I can’t help but think of the old woman in the Baptist Women’s meeting who when I said, “I believe in the resurrection of the body,” said back, “I hope not this body.”

This body; but changed. This body; but transformed. This body; dead and buried and altogether decayed and born for something new. 

Why did the early church think this was so important that they had to put it into the creed?  The answer to that is they were trying to avoid something called “Gnosticism” — a heresy which spiritualized all things to the detriment of the body. They taught that only “spiritual” things mattered — but not bodily things. Not earthly things. Not fleshly things. The spiritual heirs of the Gnostics teach about heaven as the soul’s escape from a crooked and depraved earth.  Their interest in teaching is solely to get people into heaven, to the absolute disregard of all things earthly. They don’t care about the care of creation, the establishment of justice on earth, peace between nations. These things have zero value to Gnosticism. They’re off to heaven. In fact, as the old saying goes, “They’re so heavenly minded, they’re no earthly good.”

The Creed, on the other hand, assumes the goodness of the earth, the flesh, the body, and their redemption. The Creed knows that the earth shall soon dissolve away like snow.  But it believes the goodness of the earth is still worth struggling for. It believes the goodness of the body is still worth caring for.  All shall pass away and die, but will be raised up in newness OF BODY — a new heaven and a new earth, a corrupted flesh now made new again by the resurrecting power of God. 

So hear Job’s words once more from the Lesson today: 

“For I know that my Redeemer lives,

   and that at the last he will stand upon the earth;

and after my skin has been thus destroyed,

   then in my flesh I shall see God. . .”

In our flesh we shall see God.  For our flesh is not the enemy. Earth is not the enemy.  Spiritual and physical death is the enemy; and over it God has the power of resurrection life.