The Resurrection: God's Plan for the World

Ten years ago, I was busy finishing my last year of seminary. Ten years ago, almost to the day, I moved down to Geelong, which is where our denominational college is, the RTC, Reformed Theological College, and I started my last semester there. Now I remember in that final year that there was a lot of speculation, lot of public interest in a man by the name of Harold Camping and what he was telling the world. 2011, he said, was the year in which the world would end. I don't know if you remember that.

An engineer from the US, and he had worked it out to the day, 05/21/2011, the day that Christians would be raptured away, taken up in a blaze of glory, and those who were left would endure the ravages of God's judgment. I remember at the time secretly wishing that this was true because it meant that I would miss my final exams. Now, all of this coincided with another interesting event that was happening very soon after that. In fact, perhaps just a year later or so in 2012, which is when the Mayan calendar ended. Who remembers that?

And all the speculation about what that meant, this ancient calendar that had been developed, and the eerie predictions that the Mayans had made many many thousands of years ago. And there were lots of people who thought 2012 would be the end of time. In fact, I remember a John Cusack movie called Twenty Twelve, which dealt with the idea of the world ending according to that Mayan calendar. So 2011, 2012 were great years for doomsday preppers, and probably even better for all the people that sell stock to doomsday preppers. I don't know if all of us remember that, but I registered that all of a sudden, people, whether they were spiritual or not, were really intrigued about the future, and how it was all going to pan out.

And it made me question why. And I came to the conclusion that it was because ultimately, our human natures want to know whether there is hope for our futures. Well, this morning we're going to explore some of those themes together. And I want to remind you, as was already intimated by Tony, that in a few weeks time, we're going to be doing these Reformata theology classes, and one of these topics will be on the end times. So if any of this piques your interest, please sign up.

As we turn to scripture this morning, we'll see that God doesn't give us a date of that end time. He doesn't give us, in fact, much detail at all about when and how it ends. But He does give us everything we need to know. And that is ultimately, we need to know that there is hope for us. God gives us hope for the future and for the future of humanity.

And this morning, we're going to find that in probably an unlikely spot in the book of Daniel. So if you have your bibles with you, let's turn to Daniel. We're going to look at Daniel chapter 12. We're going to read the whole chapter of Daniel chapter 12 starting at verse one. Daniel receives a message from heaven.

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. 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. 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.

But you, Daniel, shut up the words and seal the book until the time of the end. Many shall run to and fro and knowledge shall increase. Then Daniel looked and behold, two others stood, one on this bank of the stream and one on that bank of the stream. And someone said to the man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the stream, how long shall it be till the end of these wonders?

And I heard the man clothed in linen who was above the waters of the stream. He raised his right hand and his left hand toward heaven, and swore by Him who lives forever that it would be for a time, times and half a time. And that when the shattering of the power of the holy people comes to an end, all these things would be finished. I heard, but I did not understand. Then I said, oh my lord, what shall be the outcome of these things?

He said, go your way, Daniel. The words are shut up and sealed until the time of the end. Many shall purify themselves and make themselves white and be refined, but the wicked shall act wickedly, and none of the wicked shall understand, but those who are wise shall understand. And from the time the regular burnt offering is taken away and the abomination that makes desolate is set up, there shall be 1,290. Blessed is he who waits and arrives at the one thousand three hundred and thirty five days.

But go your way till the end, and you shall rest and shall stand in your allotted place at the end of days. So far, our reading. Daniel 12 brings to an end the final chapter of the book of Daniel, and I would say, perhaps, the crowning revelation of Daniel's prophetic ministry. What is that prophetic revelation? Well, it is, I think, the biblical doctrine of the resurrection from the dead.

The foundational Christian belief that death will be overturned one day, and that God can raise people from the dead, that physical bodily life is something that can last for eternity. It is the pinnacle of Christian theology, this resurrection from the dead. Now, if you study the book of Daniel, you'll see that chapter 12 ends here as the culmination of the book, because previously, you will notice that it is a book of fascinating visions. Daniel sees strange creatures, heavenly beings, supernatural events like angels fighting angels, creatures that devour people. Daniel himself sees all of this, and several times throughout his recorded responses says that they were too wonderful for him to understand.

And at times, he became physically sick to the point of fainting when he saw them. And yet, all of these threads that have been introduced and carried along in the book now come to a head in this final chapter, chapter 12. To do a quick recap of some of the main themes, however, we will see that the book of Daniel is split up into two sections. One is historical narrative, the story of Daniel, where he finds himself in exile in Babylon as a Jew, as a Jewish person. And then, it particularly in this section of historical narrative focuses on the experience of Daniel, who rises through the ranks of talented young men to become, as a Jewish man, one of the right hand men to the king of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar.

Even though it's historical narrative, we start also seeing some incredible revelations of sort of the curtain to the supernatural being opened just slightly. We see in chapter two, for example, that king Nebuchadnezzar has a dream where a mysterious smooth round stone that the Bible says was fashioned by no human hands strikes a statue made up of the most powerful kingdoms of the day. A statue of a man representing the most powerful kingdoms of humanity. And this big stone smashes, absolutely shatters this statue, destroying it, and then it sets itself up as a kingdom that fills the whole earth. Then a few chapters later in Daniel, Daniel's vision of chapter seven, which marks the start of the next section, which is not historical narrative anymore, but is now these prophetic visions.

Daniel's vision in chapter seven shows the same kingdoms of chapter two being described again. The four metals of chapter two that made up that statue are now represented by four beasts in chapter seven. But here in chapter seven, there are two new elements that are introduced. Firstly, we see the murky image of what is described as a little horn. A horn that speaks and acts like a sentient being who speaks against and fights against God, who opposes God's kingdom and the people who belong to God.

But then a second individual is also introduced in chapter seven. Someone who is brought into the presence of Yahweh, the ancient of days, someone who is given the title Son of Man, and He is endowed with authority and kingly glory. He is shown to be the one that will overcome the obstacles against God's rule. So while the success of this little horn and the suffering of the saints is shown to precede the coming of the kingdom of God, ultimately, this enemy, this little horn is destroyed, and the promised kingdom is granted to the Son of Man, and through the Son of Man, to God's holy people. And then from chapters eight through to eleven, these sort of themes are just fleshed out a little bit more.

So that is a summary of Daniel. But then we come to chapter 12. And we see that in the midst of suffering, in the midst of struggle, in the midst of the end that is to come, we find that physical life, although it is taken even by the enemies of God, will someday be restored by God. We read in verses two and three of our passage this powerful line. Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life and some to shame and everlasting contempt.

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. Now, if you've been struggling to keep in mind all of those things that I've mentioned in the book of Daniel, and some of us, I can see I have eyes that are glazed over. The book of Daniel presents this awesome breadth, this amazing scope of the history and the future of mankind. It conveys a sweeping plan of God, that He is establishing a kingdom where He wins back rebellious mankind, and He defeats all the enemies that will seek to resist Him. And all of this awesome scope, we find this ultimate hope for those who belong to God, that there is a bodily resurrection that guarantees that this victory is ours forever.

It's not a victory for God and for some concept of His kingdom, it is a victory for God's people. Now, we don't realise this, but this sort of teaching on the resurrection is quite rare in the Old Testament. The concept of the resurrection, we know, is everywhere in the New Testament, but here, it is quite something. Amazingly, I think, Daniel 12, in fact, gives us some of the most helpful realities of the resurrection, the most helpful insights on God's final plan for humanity's future. And so what I want us to do this morning is to look at two things, I think, that we are shown in this passage.

That is what the resurrection is and why it is such good news for humanity. What the resurrection is and why it's such good news for humanity. The first thing we see is that the resurrection is God's vindication of the godly, but also God's justice for those who rebel against Him. In verse three, we're told, those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to everlasting contempt. And again, if you read the book of Daniel, you'll see that Daniel was a godly man.

From the first time we're introduced to him as a young boy in chapter one, to the time here in chapter 12, where Daniel is an old man and he's in fact, in the last verses, told that he will die. He will not see these events. He will die. Daniel is a man marked by incredible faithfulness to God. We only have to go and read the story of chapter six, Daniel and the lion's den.

All of us know that story from Sunday school. A man who refused to betray faithfulness to God. A man marked by prayer and an honourable lifestyle. But here, in God's final vision to him, God spells out the triumph over evil that is not yet completely won in Daniel's time, but will be won, as God says, at a final great victory, which is the resurrection of the dead. And so while Daniel has resisted evil throughout his entire life, he has shown that a final victory over that evil won't come in his lifetime.

But God assures him that He will be raised with everyone else from the dead to participate in that final victory. And yet, He's also told of the other side of that story, that while some are raised to eternal life, others will be raised to receive eternal shame and contempt, the Bible says. This is one truth that we need to know, therefore. The resurrection of the dead is actually for all mankind. The resurrection of the dead is not just for Christians, but the entrance into God's kingdom will only be reserved for some.

In other words, the resurrection doesn't just belong to the faithful few, but for the unrepentant, the doctrine of the resurrection is the basis for fear and a call to repentance. For the Christian, for those who belong to God, the doctrine of the resurrection is the basis of an unshakable hope. Now earlier, I mentioned in the book of Daniel, the book of Daniel actually points to Jesus Christ, called here the Son of Man, who will come to establish the kingdom, who will come to be crowned with glory as the king of that kingdom. The New Testament will proceed to show us how this happens. It will prove to us that Jesus is that person.

How is this accomplished? Through the successful payment of mankind's sin. That rebellious power in humanity that tries to throw off God's authority. Jesus Christ has come and conquered sin, and then is Himself raised from the dead. Why?

Not only to show that human life can be raised physically to life, but also that the payment that He made with His life was complete. For every Christian, our hope rests on Jesus' resurrection because it gives us the guarantee of what we see here in Daniel 12. Ordinary people like you and me will live forever. When you have that quiet cup of tea later today and you can reflect on this for a little while, that reality, that thought should fill you with hope.

Because as theologian Richard Gaffin writes, a favourable verdict at that last judgment is not an anxious uncertain hope for the Christian, but is a present possession. The confident and stable basis of our life. Not an anxious hope that maybe I may be raised to life. A present possession that we have now, that it is ours. In other words, the Christian has no fear of God's final verdict because the resurrection of Jesus proves that all those who cling to His finished work on the cross, now enters into that victory as well.

Now receives that stability of that hope that is to come. And so the Christian's hope now, the power of which we know right now, is that even when life can be cruelly cut short. And we're reminded of that with Paul's passing. When tragedy strikes and a person dies far too young and leaves behind a wife and kids, leaves behind parents. When tragedy strikes and when evil people can take innocent lives, or when disasters can coldly snuff out life, the great hope for the Christian is that life is returned. And it's not simply a life as we know it.

Daniel 12 says, it is a life within the peaceful kingdom of God. It is the place where His enemies no longer exist. The rest of the Bible will tell us who these enemies are. The greatest enemy is sin. The greatest enemy is Satan.

The resurrection is God's vindication of the saints. But even as Daniel is told this, God tells Daniel that while the saints will shine as the stars in the glory that they receive of that life, in the same breath, that resurrection becomes a stark warning to the rest. Those who wilfully resist God's kingdom, those who wilfully resist God's authority, this is the warning that they don't escape the resurrection either. Death is not an escape. Many people throughout history have escaped earthly justice through death.

But no one escapes the resurrection. And as hopeful as the resurrection is for the Christian, as hopeful as that is for us, so fearful it should be for the non-Christian. Because the time is coming when they will stand eye to eye, finally, with the law giver, with the judge, with the executioner of their eternal fate. And where Christ's sacrifice has absorbed and cleansed the Christian sinful stain, so now, Christ's sacrifice not received, not believed by these individuals stands to condemn them. As God will show them without excuse, they will be shown to be the unrepentant rebels that they have been. Where eternal life is given to the saints, therefore, eternal shame and contempt is given to rebels.

And again, the New Testament fleshes out this idea and introduces the concept of hell, of eternal death, a never ending existence away from all that is good because all that is good is all that is from God. And so for people that have lived their life as if God does not exist, God must not exist, God will ultimately one day, to these people say, you lived your life as though I did not exist. Have it your way. So that's the first point, that the resurrection is God's vindication of the godly, but also God's justice for those who have rebelled against Him. Then our second and our final point, the resurrection shows everyone that God cares deeply about this world, and therefore, so should we.

Every year, every year, and it'll happen this Sunday this year again, at Easter, we will talk about the resurrection of Jesus. And we'll talk about it not only as Jesus being God incarnate, but also as Jesus being the older brother, as the Bible calls it. And that we will share in His humanity, that He is the first human to be resurrected to eternal life, and that we will follow suit one day. Two Corinthians 5:17 tells us that Christ's resurrection is the dawn of a new creation for us. We become new creations.

Galatians 1:4 says that His resurrection marks the passing of the present evil age and introduces us to the age that is to come. But we know, don't we? If we have talked to our non-Christian friends that there are people sceptical about this idea, this very central belief in Christianity of the resurrection. And some, I've heard, argue that it is horribly self serving for Christians to believe this because, yes, they will admit, we all hate the idea of dying or of losing loved ones, but they'll argue that death is natural. Death is normal.

It is just something we have to get used to. The thing is, however, even as they say that, they don't truly believe that. Because the truth is, even if you say that you can't believe in the resurrection, you actually hope it's true. Why can I say this? Because all of us, every single human being, cares deeply about the justice that the resurrection points to.

Every one of us, to some degree, cares about justice. We care about justice for the needy. We care about justice for the poor. We care about justice for the unfairly treated. I mean, the Australian catch cry is fair go.

Fair go. We care about justice. Yet many of those who deny the resurrection will also argue that the material world caused in their minds by a pure accident, leading to a purpose that is absolutely meaningless. On the one hand, they will tell Christians and their own hearts that life doesn't really matter because we are just cosmic flukes. But in the same breath, in the same hand, they will think and believe that metaphysical concepts like justice for all, like fairness, like love, like mercy, is good and necessary to uphold at all times.

So some of our friends will find it discouraging that so few people actually care about injustice, but they fail to realise that their own world view undermines any motivation for justice. Why sacrifice for the pursuit of justice, if in the end, nothing we do actually matters? But if the resurrection of Daniel 12 is true, and if the resurrection of Jesus back from the dead really happened, then it means that there is now actually a reason for you and I to pour ourselves out in the pursuit of justice. In a sermon by NT Wright, who is a pastor and a scholar in the UK, he writes this, the message of the resurrection says that the world matters. That the injustices and the pains of this present world must now be addressed with the news that healing, justice, and love has won in Jesus Christ.

If Easter means Jesus Christ only raised in a spiritual sense, then it is only about me, and about me finding a new dimension in my spiritual life. But if Jesus Christ is truly risen from the dead, Christianity becomes good news for the entire world. Because Easter means that in a world where injustice, violence, and degradation are endemic, God is not prepared to tolerate such things forever. And that He will work and plan with all His energy to implement the victory of Jesus over all His enemies. The resurrection from the dead is such a central teaching to Christianity, because only in the resurrection do we find the true meaning and purpose of this life.

It's only because of the idea that God will raise all of us to life again, to judge every single thought and action, giving full and final verdict on that life. It's only because of this that we can truly know that justice and the pursuit of love can and does exist. And all of those things are worth pursuing and upholding at all times, regardless of how we feel. And so it's because of the resurrection that we know that in that justice will prevail because God will ultimately level out the scales of justice. So in conclusion, of all people, Christians will be the ones that stand against the injustices around them.

That's what it means for us. Of all people, Christians will be the ones that stand against injustice. Christians will become social workers very naturally because they will push back against the abuses within families. Christians will become lawyers as they try to uphold the fragile justice of legal systems. Christians will become nurses who look after the needy.

We cannot let injustices and wrongdoings and sin be passed off any longer as grey areas if we're a Christian. Because in the resurrection, we see that God doesn't let injustice go unchecked. He won't pass those things over. And if it matters to God, then it matters to us. So what does this look like for us?

Well, the Bible doesn't give us all those details of the end, of when that resurrection takes place. It certainly didn't happen in 2011 because we're still here. Neither did it happen under the Mayan calendar in 2012, but this is what we do know. Life will go on for mankind. Some to everlasting life and some to everlasting shame.

Just as justice will finally be established in all the earth. And that is a hope that we can cling to. This morning, we started with these words and I just want to finish them. One Corinthians 15:20, but in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead. And He is the first fruit of all those who will fall asleep.

And so Colossians 3:1, if you then have been raised with Him, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Let's pray. Father, we thank you that we can come into this sacred space to open Your sacred word, to be touched by a revelation that Daniel himself said was too wonderful for him to understand. God, there is so much about that final resurrection, that final moment that is so mysterious, so grand, so all encompassing, that it stretches our minds, and it makes it hard for us to understand. But Lord, we know in our heart of hearts that we want life to go on.

Lord, even as the brokenness in us causes devastation and destruction, the opposite of life. And even as some of us and our friends will say there is no purpose for this life, that it is just a state of entropy, it is just a cycle of living and dying, but we know that there is meaning and purpose that lasts far longer than seventy or eighty years. Father, we pray that we will have the great hope so deeply embedded in us as believers that our lives will be transformed by this reality, that it is a present possession, this resurrection life for us. It is a hope that we hold to that is as real now as it will be on that day. Give us the courage, therefore, to see every action we do, every action we live by in this life really mattering.

And therefore, Lord, we pray that You'll sanctify our lives, sanctify our deeds, that it may work within Your plan for justice to be done, for justice to be established. Finally, Lord, for those who may not yet believe this, who may not yet know this, for friends and family. We pray that You'll be working in their hearts and minds. They will see the rationality of this hope. That they will sense the joy, the future of Jesus Christ for them.

Forgive us all of our sin. Help us to cling to the hope of Jesus in His death and His resurrection. And Lord, help us to live lives in view of that great mercy. In Jesus name, we pray. Amen.