Bible Study - Sabbath School Podcast - Episode 2858- Lesson 8 - Friday August 21 - Further Thought

Further Thought: Read Ellen G. White, "God's People Delivered," pp. 635-652, in The Great Controversy."The divinity of Christ is the believer's assurance of eternal life. 'He that believeth in Me,' said Jesus, 'though he were dead, yet shall he live: and whosoever liveth and believeth in Me shall never die. Believest thou this?' Christ here looks forward to the time of His second coming. Then the righteous dead shall be raised incorruptible, and the living righteous shall be translated to heaven without seeing death. The miracle which Christ was about to perform, in raising Lazarus from the dead, would represent the resurrection of all the righteous dead."--Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 530."The earth mightily shook as the voice of the Son of God called forth the sleeping saints. They responded to the call and came forth clothed with glorious immortality, crying, 'Victory, victory, over death and the grave! O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?' (See 1 Cor. 15:55.) Then the living saints and the risen ones raised their voices in a long transporting shout of victory. Those bodies that had gone down into the grave bearing the marks of disease and death came up in immortal health and vigor. The living saints are changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, and caught up with the risen ones, and together they meet their Lord in the air. Oh, what a glorious meeting! Friends whom death had separated were united, never more to part."--Ellen G. White, The Story of Redemption, pp. 411, 412.Discussion Questions:1. Think about those who were eyewitnesses of Christ's resurrection (Acts 1:22, Acts 2:32, Acts 3:15, Acts 4:33, Acts 5:30-32). How can we, about two thousand years after that event, be "witnesses" of His resurrection?The resurrection of Christ is an integral part of the gospel message (1 Cor. 15:1-4). Without the resurrection, the proclamation of Christ's death would be irrelevant (1 Cor. 15:14). The death of Christ itself would be irrelevant. Why? What does your answer to this say about the power of Christ's resurrection?Think a bit about Paul's intriguing statement "If the dead do not rise, 'Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!' " (1 Cor. 15:32, NKJV). What is the point?In class, talk about the state of the dead. Why does 1 Corinthians 15 make no sense if, at death, the saved are immediately taken to heaven?