O.O.D.E.  Orthodox Outlet for Dogmatic Enquiry

Certain Russellite sects maintain that, following His resurrection, Christ received "another body" and ceased to be human. They claim He acquired an "angelic" body. In what follows, we shall demonstrate how contrary this view is to the Holy Scriptures.

The Two Natures of Christ After His Resurrection

In this study, we will provide evidence—illustrating our point in ten different ways—that Christ remained human after His resurrection, and did not become an "angel," nor did He revert to being solely God, as various sects teach.

1. God in Bodily Form

God does not possess a body. It is impossible for the Creator of space to be confined within a body located in space. God is omnipresent, which renders Him incorporeal and uncontainable. Since Christ the Son (as we have demonstrated in another study) is likewise beyond Time and uncontainable, the same principles also apply to Him.

Yet, the Apostle Paul writes, quite explicitly, that after Christ’s resurrection, the Deity of Christ continued to reside in a human BODY!

"For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily" (Colossians 2:9).

This verse clearly states that the entire Godhead dwells in Christ's bodily form! Thus, after His resurrection, He was not only God; He also possessed a created nature, subject to the limitations of space.

2. The God of the Risen Christ

If the risen Christ had not retained His human, created nature following His resurrection, He would have remained [only] God. Yet, after His resurrection, we find Him referring to God not merely as His Father, but also as His God! This signifies that He retained His created nature even after His resurrection.

Christ states, in Revelation 3:12: "He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go out no more. And I will write on him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God. And I will write on him My new name."

In the very same vein are the words of Christ, spoken shortly before His ascension into heaven: "But go to My brethren and say to them, 'I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God'" (John 20:17).  With these words, Christ indicates that, in addition to His Divine nature (by virtue of which He calls God "His Father"), He also possesses -following His resurrection- a created nature (by virtue of which He refers to God the Father as "His God"). It is, in fact, significant that He does not say "our Father" or "our God"; for God is His Father—and the Father is His God—in a way that differs from how He is Father and God to all of us. He is the Father only of His Divine nature, while He is the God only of His human nature!

3. Human Mediator and Priest

Could this nature, however, be something other than human? Once again, Holy Scripture clarifies that Jesus Christ has remained human:

"For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus" (1 Timothy 2:5).

These words are spoken by the Apostle Paul after Christ’s resurrection. And he refers to Him as "man." He does not use this term because He used to be a man, but because He is a man—just as He also continues to be a Mediator. Indeed, as a mediator and high priest for mankind, He must Himself be human, as the following passage indicates:

"11 For both He who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of one; for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren, 12 saying: 'I will declare Your name to My brethren; in the midst of the congregation I will sing praise to You.' 13 And again: 'I will put My trust in Him.' And again: 'Here am I and the children whom God has given Me.' 14 Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, 15 and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. 16 For indeed He does not give aid to angels, but He gives aid to the seed of Abraham. 17 Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people" (Hebrews 2:11-17).

In fact, in the preceding chapter, the Apostle Paul clearly states that God never said to any angel, "You are My Son"—as He did to Christ! (Hebrews 1:5). This clearly demonstrates that Christ is not an angel, and that the body He raised is a human one.

A fundamental Christian doctrine is that the redemption of humanity was achieved through the believers' partaking in the Body of Christ; for just as Christ partakes in the Divine life, so too do they become partakers of that same life (2 Peter 1:4). Christ could never have reconciled us to God had He not been both God and man. This is vividly illustrated in the desperate, prophetic words of the righteous Job: "32. For He is not a man, as I am, that I should answer Him, and that we should come together to judgment. 33. There is no mediator between us, who might lay his hand upon us both" (Job 9:32–33). Poor Job realizes that, because God is not a man, there was no mediator in his time capable of laying "his hand upon us both"- that is, someone who could place one hand on Job’s shoulder and the other on God’s "shoulder," thereby reconciling them.

That Mediator thereafter is Christ. He is able to reconcile God and humanity, precisely because He Himself is both God and man, having both natures. It is only thus that He can serve as a mediator. If He is no longer a human being, then His function as Mediator also ceases to apply.

4. A spirit does not have flesh

However, to see this more clearly, let us examine one more passage:

"Now Thomas, called the Twin, one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. 25 The other disciples therefore said to him, 'We have seen the Lord.' So he said to them, 'Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger onto the print of the nails, and my hand onto His side, I will not believe.' 26 And after eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors albeit shut, and He stood in the midst, and said, 'Peace to you!' 27 Then He said to Thomas, 'Place your finger here, and look at My hands; and place your hand here, and touch My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing.'" (John 20:24-27).

What did the Lord show Thomas? He showed him His human Body—nailed and pierced. What point would there have been in showing it to them, if it were not the very same Body that had been pierced and crucified? If He had received a different body after the resurrection - an "angelic" body - why would He have needed to show them those wounds? Shouldn't He have shown them His new, angelic Body instead?

Furthermore, there is another passage—even clearer—in which Christ explicitly denies that His Body is a spiritual body:

"39 Behold My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself. Touch Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have." 40 And when He had said this, He showed them His hands and His feet" (Luke 24:39–40).

If Christ possessed an angelic, spiritual body, then He was definitely deceiving them here! He was lying to them! If the followers of Russell believe in a Christ who is a hypocrite and a liar, then let them continue to believe that He did not resurrect His human Body.

Moreover, we would have to accuse not only Christ but also God Himself of being a liarm - given that angels had showed the empty tomb to the Myrrh-bearing women - as proof of Christ’s resurrection. For if His body played no role in the resurrection - assuming He had acquired a different one - why did the angel point to the empty tomb? Instead, the angel said to them: "He is not here; for He has risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord was laid" (Matthew 28:6). He tells them to go and look at the place where the crucified Lord had been placed, so that they could see for themselves that it was empty. Thus, the absence of His material Body served as proof of the resurrection!

Moreover, why would God need to make a "useless" body disappear? To convince them thus that He had risen? Weren't His appearances to so many disciples after the resurrection sufficient? Why would God need to stage a charade involving a "useless" body - thereby giving the disciples the false impression that He had risen in His own body, rather than as a spirit?

5. The Shroud

Furthermore, we possess direct evidence of the bodily resurrection of our Lord. The Holy Bible is extremely clear regarding the state of the tomb immediately after the resurrection:

"Peter therefore went out, and the other disciple, and were going toward the tomb. 4 So they both ran together, and the other disciple outran Peter and came to the tomb first; 5 and he, stooping down, saw the linen cloths lying there; yet he did not go in. 6 Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb; and he saw the linen cloths lying there, 7 and the head cloth that had been around His head, not lying with the linen cloths, but folded together in a place by itself" (John 20:3-7).

If Christ had caused His Body to vanish and had risen as a spirit, His disciples would not have found the linen cloths and the handkerchief lying folded separately; rather, they would have found both items together - as they would have logically remained, had the body simply vanished. On the contrary, they saw them in different spots - with the head cloth in particular, folded in a separate spot. This implies that Christ rose from the dead, untied Himself from the body's linen shroud and the head cloth, folded them, and departed - in His human form.

Moreover, it would make no sense to speak of a "resurrection" if the very same human Body of His that died were not the one being raised. The word "re-surrect" (in Greek, "ana-stainomai") literally means "to stand up again." And what had "fallen" (and therefore needed to stand up again) was His Body. Nothing else. How could that which died "stand up again" if His Body was meant to vanish? If, in its place, He had received a different, spiritual body, then He was NOT resurrected; in such a case, He would have only been transformed!

6. The "corruption of the Holy One"

Furthermore, elsewhere in the Holy Scriptures, it is made clear that the Body of Christ would not see corruption. It would not be destroyed:

"whom God raised up, having loosed the pangs of death, because it was not possible for Him to be held by it. 25 For David says concerning Him: 'I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for He is at my right hand, that I may not be shaken. 26 Therefore my heart rejoiced, and my tongue was glad; moreover, my flesh also will rest in hope, 27 because You will not leave my soul in Hades, nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption. 28 You have made known to me the ways of life; You will fill me with joy in Your presence.' 29 Men and brethren, let me speak freely to you about the patriarch David, that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. 30 Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his body, according to the flesh, He would raise up the Christ to sit on his throne, 31 he, foreseeing this, spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ, that His soul was not left in Hades, nor did His flesh see corruption. 32 This Jesus God has raised up, of which we all... are witnesses." (Acts 2:24–32).

How much clearer could the Holy Scripture have stated that Christ’s flesh did not dissolve, did not decompose? How much more plainly could it say that Christ raised His human Body? In other words, what was the "hope of Christ’s flesh"? Was it that it should dissolve, and that Christ should receive a different, angelic body?  Definitely not! The "corruption" of the flesh is something that occurs—whether through the gradual dissolution of the body or through its immediate dissolution.

7. The Resurrection of the Body of Christ

John 2:18-22: "So the Jews answered and said to Him, 'What sign do You show to us, since You do these things?' 19 Jesus answered and said to them, 'Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.' 20 Then the Jews said, 'It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?' 21 But He was speaking about the temple of His body. 22 Therefore, when He had risen from the dead, His disciples remembered that He had said this; and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had spoken."

Do you see what the "sign" was to be? That He would raise HIS BODY on the third day after His death. What kind of "sign" would it have been, if He had caused His body to disappear?  Differently, He would have said: "Destroy this temple, and I will build another one in its place." He would not have said: "I will raise it up [=this very one]"! He would have said: "I will raise up another one." Furthermore, as we have already seen, when He appeared to His disciples, He showed them HIS BODY - the scars from the nails and the spear - to convince them that He had risen. For a "resurrection" without a body would not be a resurrection!

In order to circumvent this passage, some heretics claim that the phrase "His body" actually refers to His Church—which is, indeed, the Body of Christ(!!!). However, John refutes this in the very next part of the text, clarifying that the disciples understood this, only "when He was raised from the dead." When Christ rose, it was not the Church that rose, but His [physical] Body. And when He died, it was not the Church that died, but His fleshly, human Body. Thus, this heretical excuse is also proven to be absurd. We can see how desperately heretics attempt to distort even the clearest and self-explanatory passages of the Holy Bible, to solely justify their own heretical views.

8. The "Ancient of Days" and the Son of Man

When Jesus was departing to go to His Father in heaven, the Holy Bible provides the following account: "Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud took Him out of their sight" (Acts 1:9).

The cloud that took Christ hid Him from their eyes. What happened next? The Book of Acts does not tell us. However, the prophet Daniel wrote about it prophetically, centuries earlier! Let us, therefore, look at what followed Christ’s ascension to His Father:

"I watched until thrones were set in place, and the Ancient of Days took His seat; His clothing was white as snow, and the hair of His head like pure wool; His throne was like a flame of fire, its wheels like burning fire... 13. In my visions at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into His presence. 14. He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all nations and peoples of every language worshiped Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and His kingdom is one that will never be destroyed" (Daniel 7:9, 10, 13, 14).

So, here is what follows. Christ, AS THE SON OF MAN—that is, AS A HUMAN BEING—attains the height of Divinity. And He, THE SON OF MAN, receives Divine authority and a Kingdom, so that nations and languages ​​might worship Him. Do you see? It was not the Divine nature that ascended to Heaven; that was always there. It was THE SON OF MAN—that is, the HUMAN Christ—who ascended to Heaven!

In fact, the Book of Revelation (1:13–15) reveals that, in reality, the Ancient of Days is the Son of Man Himself! Note the description:

"13 and in the midst of the seven lampstands One like the Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to the feet and girded about the chest with a golden band; 14 His head and hair were white like white wool, as white as snow, and His eyes like a flame of fire; 15 His feet were like fine brass, as if refined in a furnace, and His voice as the sound of many waters."

Consider the combined description found in the books of Daniel and Revelation, which reveals to us the identity of the "Ancient of Days."

It is evident from this description that the account in Daniel does not merely depict the Son before the Father; rather, it describes the human nature of Christ attaining the stature and authority of His Divine nature—with His human nature receiving the authority and power of the Divine! In other words, we have here a clear description of the two natures of the risen Christ!

9. The similarity of bodies of the resurrection

The Apostle John tells us quite explicitly that the body which Christians will receive at the resurrection will be like that of Christ:

"Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is" (1 John 3:2). The Apostle Paul says the same: "As was the man of dust, so also are those who are made of dust; and as is the heavenly Man, so also are those who are heavenly. And as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man" (1 Corinthians 15:48–49).

It is, therefore, evident that at the resurrection, Christians will be alike to Christ. Will they cease to have a human body? What does the Apostle Paul say in the same passage? Take note:

"for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. 53 For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality" (1 Corinthians 15:52–53).

Note that Paul points specifically to our *present* human body, stating that "this perishable [body]" and "this mortal [body]" will be clothed with imperishability and immortality. He is not speaking of a "different" body, but of *this* body—the human body we possess today. This very same body will be transformed and rendered imperishable!

Paul says the same thing in his Epistle to the Romans (8:23): "and we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly awaiting our adoption—the redemption of our body." It is not a different body, but our own body that will be set free from corruption, " he says there!

However, we saw earlier that we will be alike to Christ at the resurrection. And since our bodies will be HUMAN yet rendered incorruptible, we can infer that the body with which Christ was raised—and which He now possesses—is likewise HUMAN and rendered incorruptible!

10. Anyone who denies the human nature of Christ is an antichrist!

We conclude this study with a striking passage—a warning directed at all those who deny that Christ was raised in His human body. 2 John 1:6–7 states: "This is the commandment, that as you have heard from the beginning, you should walk in it. 7 For many deceivers have gone out into the world who do not confess Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh; this is a deceiver and an antichrist."

Here, anyone who fails to confess the fleshly nature of Christ is sternly characterized as a "deceiver and an antichrist"!

The text is not referring solely to Christ’s First Coming. It says: "coming in the flesh"—using a continuous tense. If he were speaking solely about the First Coming, he would have said "he had come" in the flesh—as he does elsewhere. But here, he uses the term "coming" (present participle). This denotes a *continuity*—something not confined to the past, but extending into the ongoing present. And since we are still awaiting Christ for a future coming, we expect Him to arrive -even then-"in the flesh." According to the Holy Scriptures, anyone who does not expect Him "in the flesh", but rather "as a spirit" (as the Watchtower Witnesses, for instance, maintain), is a "deceiver and an antichrist."

Let those who believe and teach that Jesus Christ no longer possesses His human flesh, but is merely an "angelic spirit", reflect carefully on this:  It is not we who label them as such; the divinely inspired Holy Scriptures themselves call them "antichrists"!

In a following study of this series, we will address the specific biblical passages that these Monophysite heretics cite, in an attempt to support their anti-Christian position.








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