Hmmm. Are you saying that Jesus was not "resurrected," but only "
raised from the dead," as though the two phrases refer to wholly distinct things (tho we know that OUR bodily resurrection is yet future, for those of us who will have DIED before that point
).
Consider the following:
"then let this be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God
raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed."
- Acts 4:10
"After He was
raised from the dead, His disciples remembered that He had said this. Then they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken."
- John 2:22
"Remember Jesus Christ,
raised from the dead, descended from David, as proclaimed by my gospel,"
- 2 Timothy 2:8
"But if it is preached that Christ has been
raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no
resurrection of the dead?"
- 1 Corinthians 15:12
[each of these verses using
"raised [G1453]" and the last verse using also "
resurrection [G386]"]
If Christ was "
raised from the dead," was He "resurrected"?
Raised from the dead = resurrected.
I think many people don't realize the full meaning of being "raised from the dead." Jesus wasn't just raised from physical death, He was also raised from Hades. It is the raising from Hades which was His resurrection. It is in Hades where the dead were found. So Christ was raised from Hades (the realm of the dead) and He returned to our physical realm as a spiritual being and as the FIRSTFRUITS of the resurrection to follow. Hades was the outcome of the original sin in the Garden of Eden. Christ and only Christ's body was capable of becoming a spiritual body because it was of God and thus perfect without sin and not allowed to become corrupted (Acts 2:37).
Spiritual death = separation from God.
Hades is where the separation, or spiritual death occurred. There were two sides to Hades, the good side where Abraham and all the other OT saints were sent called Paradise, and the bad side, where Judas and all the lost people went. The two parts of Hades were separated by an un-crossable gulf or divide. Jesus went to the Paradise side and for 3 days He ministered to those on the bad side so that when He returned those who believed, would be saved and resurrected out of Hades.
When Christ returned in 66-70 AD, He raised all the believers out of Paradise and they are now in heaven. This was the first resurrection, AKA the resurrection of the Just. This is when Christ defeated Hades and Death. Christ defeats spiritual death, not physical death. This was "the restoration of all things." Paradise was closed as the connection to God was restored by the redeeming work on the Cross. The damage done to the human race in the garden was repaired for all believers, past, present and future.
Today when a believer dies, that believer immediately goes to heaven and does not have to "sleep" or wait in Hades anymore. I believe the believer already has his spiritual body under his "tent" (earthly body) as both Peter and Paul taught. So, when the believer gets to heaven and his/her deeds are judged it is at that moment this person is glorified to the degree they deserve per 1 Cor 15.
Christ, and only Christ's body, did not see corruption as Peter teaches in Acts 2. Paul makes clear in 1 Cor 15 that the rest of us with flesh bodies, those bodies are corrupt and cannot enter heaven. This is the point that our friend Thruth7t7 doesn't yet understand. He thinks God is keeping those OT saints body-less in heaven for these thousands of years and that they, along with other futurists, are waiting for yet another return of Christ whereby their corrupted flesh body somehow regenerates into something it isn't and somehow can become pure so that original body, soul and spirit can finally become one again after being divided these many thousands of years. He believes that even today when a believer dies, their soul and spirit go to heaven as bodyless blobs and they too are "waiting for Godot."
Truth ignores the story of Lazarus and the Rich Man. Here the Rich Man can see, have thirst and experience pain. Bodyless souls cannot do that. Thus everyone with a flesh body also has a spiritual body already invisible under their tent. This was always the case. Truth also ignores all those who have had near death experiences NDEs, and have given their eye witness accounts as to having seen their loved ones in heaven, young again WITH BODIES and recognizable. And since these temporarily dead could see, they had their spiritual body already too but were not yet glorified. Today when we die, we slip out of our body and can look down upon it and see those around our body as we float up. You need eyes and a brain to recall and recount this experience. But since this evidence doesn't fit Truth's false narrative and the traditions of man he believes in, he simply ignores it and resorts to name shaming.
If you remember, when Jesus was resurrected, He told His disciples that He was not yet glorified but He clearly was in His spiritual body as He could walk through walls, appear and disappear. Jesus also bore the marks of His Cross experience. The rest of us will not bare any marks suffered during our life. If we were burned up in a flaming car crash, in heaven, nobody could tell. This is the best explanation I can come up with as I believe it harmonize all passages perfectly.