HC 57

Q57. What comfort does the resurrection of the body offer you?

Not only shall my soul after this life immediately be taken up to Christ, my Head, but also this my flesh, raised by the power of Christ, shall be reunited with my soul and made like Christ's glorious body.

Proof texts

• Luke 16:22 — [22] The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried,
• Luke 23:43 — [43] And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.”
• Phil. 1:21-23 — [21] For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. [22] If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. [23] I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better.
• Job 19:25-26 — [25] For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth. [26] And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God,
• 1 Cor. 15:20 — [20] But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
• 1 Cor. 15:42-46 — [42] So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. [43] It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. [44] It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. [45] Thus it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. [46] But it is not the spiritual that is first but the natural, and then the spiritual.
• 1 Cor. 15:54 — [54] When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.”
• Phil. 3:21 — [21] who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.
• 1 John 3:2 — [2] Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.

For discussion

1. The Assembly cited Luke 16:22 in support of this answer. Read it in context — how does it bear on what is claimed here?
2. 9 passages are cited here. Which does the most work, and is anything claimed that the proofs do not obviously carry?
3. WSC Q29 treats the same ground. What does it add, and why might it put things differently?
4. WSC Q30 treats the same ground. What does it add, and why might it put things differently?

Read alongside

WSC Q29 · WSC Q30 · WSC Q31 · WSC Q32 · WLC Q57 · WCF 9.1 · BC 6.1 · BC 6.2 · BC 6.3 · CD 3.1 · 1689 9.1 · 1689 9.2 · 1689 9.3 · 1689 9.4 · 1689 9.5 · 1689 10.1 · 1689 10.2 · 1689 10.3 · 1689 10.4