Regional Synod of Canada - Reformed Church in America

Pioneer Christian Monthly

Date - May/93

Contributor - Wim Meyer

Title - I Believe in Communion With The Church of All Ages and Places

Topic - Apostle's Creed

Part of the pastoral care of a minister is to visit those members of the congregation who stay in the hospital for one reason or another. A good shepherd of the flock is interested in both the physical and spiritual well-being of his sheep. So you let people tell about their condition, about the surgery they underwent, and about the prognoses for recovery. And very often, when people start talking about these things, they forget that they are talking to a pastor, and they call you doctor. "Don't you think so doctor.. I mean pastor?" Apparently when we deal with our body, our mind focuses on the doctor, and when we deal with the things of our soul, our mind focuses on the pastor.

Soul and Body

Within the Christian tradition, there exists an old dualism, which makes a sharp distinction between body and soul. Interestingly this one idea resulted in two totally opposite positions. On one side, there were the early monks, who tried to be as spiritual as possible by paying as little attention as possible to the care of their bodies. On the other side, there were people who held that, since the body was of no serious value compared to the spirit, it did not really matter what you did with the body. On the basis of this assumption, they allowed themselves to live immoral lives, while still claiming to be Christians of the best sort.

Sometimes it seems as if the Bible places more emphasis on the soul than on the body. "For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?" (Matt. 16:26). Yet, when we confess to believe the resurrection of the body, we acknowledge thereby that God is really interested in our bodies, just as much as He is in our souls. After all, God has made us in a wonderful way (Psalm 139:14-16). And His interest in the physical aspect of human life is also clear from the healing miracles of Jesus. Read I Cor. 15 and it will be clear that salvation must include the resurrection of the body. If our bodies are so important to God, that He even redeems them from the grave, then it must be important to us that we use our bodies to His glory while we are still in the land of the living (see Rom. 12:1).

The Comfort of the Resurrection

The idea of the resurrection of the body does not mean comfort for everyone. The resurrection will be general: "All that are in the graves shall hear His voice and come forth", but then a decisive separation will take place: "They that have done good unto the resurrection of life and they that have done evil unto the resurrection of damnation" (John 5: 28, 29). It appears from the Bible that only those who know Christ as their Saviour can look forward to the resurrection with comfort and confidence. According to the Heidelberg Catechism the comfort is that immediately after this life my soul will be taken to Christ (Q. 57). (When Paul expresses his desire to depart and to be Christ, in Phil. 1:23, he at least does not expect to enter a state of sleep or unconciousness during the so -called intermediate state.) Imagine, your soul in the presence of Christ your Saviour. Yet, this is not all of the comfort which the Lord has in store for us. At Christ's second coming my dead body, which may have turned into dust, will be raised from the grave, and this resurrected body will be incorruptible. No more weakness, no more handicap and no more deformation. With a renewed body, like unto Christ's glorious body, I will be with the Lord for evermore. This was also Job's comfort: "And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God" (Job 19:26).

Eternal Life

Sometimes I hear people say, when someone has passed away: "He/she has exchanged that which is temporal for that which is eternal". In this way, the seriousness and decisiveness of death is underlined. However, it is a mistake to think that eternal life begins after death. Whoever believes in Jesus Christ has eternal life (John 3:36). That becomes reality already in this life. The Heidelberg Catechism put it like this: "I now already experience in my heart the beginning of eternal joy' (Q. 58). Eternal life is not simply life-without-end. It is life of a different nature and quality. It is life as God intended it to be. It is the life of perfect dedication to God and communion with God. This begins where faith begins. But as long as we are in this life and in this world we are still subject to corruption and imperfection. The full measure of eternal life will be enjoyed hereafter. In the words of the Catechism: "After this life I will have perfect blessedness such as no eye has seen, no ear has heard, no man has ever imagined; a blessedness in which to praise God eternally' (Q. 58).

In closing

This is the last article in this series on the Apostles Creed. I have worked on it with much pleasure. I hope YOU have been blessed by it. My wish is that it may lead us all on the way to the eternal fellowship with God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Soli Deo Gloria!

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