Eschatology And Resurrection

Eschatology and Resurrection The implications of Christ 's resurrection on the first Easter Sunday are far reaching in eschatology. The resurrection is the central event upon which all Christian theology hinges. As Motlmann writes, “Christianity stands or falls with the reality of the raising of Jesus from the dead by God.”1 Consequently, much of the understanding of eschatology presented thus far has centered around this important historical event. Bauckham writes:

Theologically a holistic eschatology is based especially on the bodily resurrection of Jesus. It was not that Jesus ' spirit survived his death, but that his whole bodily person was raised by God out of death. The human body signifies interrelationship with other humans and continuity

Understanding the grace of Christ provided in his death and resurrection is only possible in the context of his future return. Theodore Runyon writes, “The renewal of creation and the renewal in humanity of the image of God is what Wesley identifies as the very heart of Christianity.”5 Eschatology is all about the completion of God 's story of salvation, the renewing of all of creation in the image of God that is revealed in the person of Jesus Christ. However, unlike the bodily resurrection only hoped for in Christ 's return, salvation is not constrained to the end, it is happening now through the drawing of all of creation to God by the Holy Spirit through the grace of Jesus

Faith develops into that eschatological hope that causes unrest and impatience for the promised future. Hope, anticipates this future in the present, stands in stark contradiction to the world of death. The reclamation of Christian eschatology from the realm of speculations of literal end times events to focus on hope is imperative to the church seeking to faithfully live as the embodiment of God 's kingdom in anticipation of Christ 's return. The model for living out an eschatological faith is simple. In 1 Corinthians 13, Paul expresses his eschatological reservation knowing that only in Christ return will all things be made complete. He concludes this chapter with this verse, “And now these three things remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” Implicit in this single verse is the summary of the implications of eschatology on the Christian life. Faith, and faith alone, bind us to God through the death and resurrection of his son, Jesus Christ (Rom. 5 & 6). Hope binds faith to the future bodily resurrection that will be shared by all believers in Christ coming again (1 Cor 15). Jones writes, “Christ 's resurrection, in the past, is the power of our sanctification in the present and the certainty behind our hope for the future.”10 The power of our sanctification in the present is realized in love, the act of living out in the tension of eschatology by the empowerment