Nothing is more plainly taught in the Bible than that man is mortal because of the transgression of the first human pair.
Paul says in Romans 5:12, “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin ; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.”
This universal death principle has been compared to a gradually contracting circle that encloses all humanity of all ages and all conditions of health, and Solomon says “there is no discharge in that war” (Ecc. 8:8).
The origin of man and the cause of his perishing condition are explained in the early chapters of the book of Genesis. The record of his creation is found in Gen. 2:7, “And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life ; and man became a living soul.” The account of man’s transgression that brought death into the world is found in Gen. 216, 17, 3:1-21. This is not the last we hear of these scriptures because they form an important key to the understanding of God’s purpose with men as revealed in the Old and New Testaments.
Paul refers to these scriptures in discussing the resurrection with the Corinthian brethren (1 Cor. 15). He informs them there are two kinds of bodies, a “natural body” and a “spiritual body” (v. 44).
The “natural body”—a body living by natural law—is corruptible and weak, having within it a law of disintegration and death because of sin (v. 21, 22, Rom. 5:21) Paul says this “natural body” is the “living soul” of Gen. 2 :7; “There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.
“And so it is written, the first man Adam was made a living soul ; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit” (v. 44, 45, Gen. 2:7). We become “a living soul” by natural birth of our parents, and without choice or effort on our part, because “that which is born of the flesh is flesh” (Jno. 3:6).
It is interesting to notice here that Paul is making no effort to agree with present day theologians when he defines a “living soul” as a “natural body” (v. 45), “of the earth earthy” (v. 47), and “flesh and blood” (v. 50) which as such cannot inherit anything of a permanent nature.
Paul describes the spiritual body as one of in-corruption, power and immortality, and through which life can be manifested eternally. It can only be attained by a complete birth of the spirit — by a resurrection from the natural order of things.
‘Resurrection in this sense will only be experienced by those who are found worthy at the judgment seat of Christ. The unworthy will come out of the grave for judgment but will not attain unto the spiritual body and the immortal order of things.
God is the sole judge of the degree of enlightenment necessary and for which he will restore one to mortality for judgment. Unnecessary discord and division have come from the failure to distinguish between these different aspects of resurrection.
It is evident from both scripture and observation that death is the universal experience of man. Some have concluded that resurrection would also be universal, because it is offered as the remedy for the death that came by Adam’s transgression. “For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead” (1 Cor. 15 :21) .
This is not a reasonable conclusion because we become mortal by being born of a woman of Adam’s race, and without our choice or knowledge. But our knowledge, choice and effort is the first step in attaining to the immortality God offers through Christ and the resurrection. Therefore resurrection is limited to those worthy of rewards or punishments.
Two scriptures in particular are used to “prove” universal resurrection of the dead, John 5:28 and 1 Cor. 15:22.
The first, “Marvel not at this ; for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth, they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life ; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.”
This appears to teach that all who ever died will also be raised again. A closer look, however, shows it to be one that really teaches limited resurrection. The Greek word for “graves” in Jno 5 :28 is not “sheol” or “hades” (the word generally used), but “mnemeion”—Memorial. All who are in God’s place of remembrance will come forth, but many are not in God’s “memorial” at all but are “like the slain that lie in the grave, whom thou rememberest no more: and they are cut off from thy hand” (Psalms 88:5).
The second passage (1 Cor. 15:22) : “For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.” If every one “in Adam” was also “in Christ” this passage would certainly teach universal resurrection, but only a few of those in Adam are also in Christ.
Brother C. C. Walker illustrated this by speaking of “in Adam” as a great circle of mortality enclosing all humanity, but within that larger circle is a much smaller one of those “in Christ.” All in the larger circle die, both saint and sinner, only those in the small circle will be “made alive” — resurrected to the spiritual order of immortality.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One