From 1 Corinthians (KJV) 15
34Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak this to your ashame.
37And that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare grain, ait may chance of wheat, or of some othergrain:
39All flesh is not the same flesh: but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, and another of birds.
40aThere are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the bcelestial is one, and the glory of the cterrestrial isanother.
41There is one glory of the asun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the bstars: for one star cdiffereth fromanother star in dglory.
44It is sown a anatural body; it is raised a bspiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.
45And so it is written, The afirst man bAdam was made a living soul; the last cAdam was made a dquickening spirit.
46Howbeit that was not afirst which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.
48As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as isthe heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.
50Now this I say, brethren, that aflesh and bblood cannot cinheritthe kingdom of God; neither doth dcorruption inherit incorruption.
52In a moment, in the atwinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the btrumpet shall sound, and the cdead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be dchanged.
54So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on aimmortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, bDeath is swallowed up in victory.
58Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye astedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.
This is a lot of Scripture to understand and even to the point were it is misunderstood on a regular basis. I draw your attention to the highlighted section. We as Latter Day Saints are often given a great deal of flack over our view of Heaven and our Lack of Hell. This Scripture is very clear to us, as it also relates to modern revelation and person revelation. Our Bodies and the bodies of all are of the earth first and we can strive to be heavenly. We also can achieve spiritual bodies of different degrees just as those varying degrees exist on earth. This was a teaching of the New Testament and of Christ as well as his apostles. We as Latter Day Saints seek the Celestial glory. We do not believe that Hell is of an evil or awful place we feel that those who do not gain the celestial glory will still have resurrected bodies and will be assigned to glory according to their deeds and life, I.E. Terrestrial or Telestial Glory. And that those who are truly against God will be cast out of the light forever into eternal darkness.
Recently there was a great article by President Thomas S. Monson in the Monthly Magazine Ensign titled He is Not Here, But Is Risen. I have included it for study and thoughts. I was very moved by this simple discussion on Resurrection and the lessons of Christ.
Today only ruins remain of Capernaum, that city by the lakeshore, heart of the Savior’s Galilean ministry. Here He preached in the synagogue, taught by the seaside, and healed in the homes.
At the beginning of His ministry, Jesus took a text from Isaiah: “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound” (Isaiah 61:1; see also Luke 4:18)—a clear pronouncement of a divine plan to rescue the sons and daughters of God.
But Jesus’s preaching in Galilee had been merely prelude. The Son of Man had always had a dread rendezvous to keep on a hill called Golgotha.
Arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane after the Last Supper, deserted by His disciples, spat upon, tried, and humiliated, Jesus staggered under His great cross toward Calvary. He progressed from triumph to betrayal, torture, and death on the cross.
In the words of the song “The Holy City”:
The scene was changed. …
The morn was cold and chill,
As the shadow of a cross arose
Upon a lonely hill. 1
For us our Heavenly Father gave His Son. For us our Elder Brother gave His life.
At the last moment the Master could have turned back. But He did not. He passed beneath all things that He might save all things: the human race, the earth, and all the life that ever inhabited it.
No words in Christendom mean more to me than those spoken by the angel to the weeping Mary Magdalene and the other Mary as they approached the tomb to care for the body of their Lord: “Why seek ye the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen” (Luke 24:5–6).
With this pronouncement, those who have lived and died, those who now live and one day will die, and those yet to be born and yet to die had just been rescued.
As the result of Christ’s victory over the grave, we shall all be resurrected. This is the redemption of the soul. Paul wrote:
“There are … celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another.
“There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for one star differeth from another star in glory.
“So also is the resurrection of the dead” (1 Corinthians 15:40–42).
It is the celestial glory that we seek. It is in the presence of God that we desire to dwell. It is a forever family in which we want membership.
Of Him who delivered each of us from endless death, I testify He is a teacher of truth—but He is more than a teacher. He is the exemplar of the perfect life—but He is more than an exemplar. He is the great physician—but He is more than a physician. He is the literal Savior of the world, the Son of God, the Prince of Peace, the Holy One of Israel, even the risen Lord, who declared, “I am the first and the last; I am he who liveth, I am he who was slain; I am your advocate with the Father” (D&C 110:4).
“Oh, sweet the joy this sentence gives: ‘I know that my Redeemer lives!’” 2
Of this I testify.
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