Resurrection: Hope for everyday life
Is there a resurrection? The question of the resurrection is central to our faith. Without the resurrection, faith would be meaningless. If Christianity were limited to this physical life and we did not continue to exist after death, it would ultimately not matter how we live, what we do or what we believe in. Without a future perspective, it would be more sensible to simply enjoy our lives while we can. The apostle Paul emphasizes: "If there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised either. And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain" (1. Corinthians 15,13-14).
There is a resurrection, not just for Christians, but for all people. This is an essential part of the Christian faith and affects not only our future but also our current daily lives. However, the resurrection will affect the lives of all people.
Biblical Evidence
The Old Testament contains few direct references to the resurrection. In Ezekiel 37, the vision of the valley of the dead bones, God shows the prophet how dry bones come to life through his spirit, which is a symbol of the resurrection. Daniel also speaks of the resurrection of the dead: "Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt" (Daniel 1).2,2).
Belief in the resurrection is anchored primarily in the New Testament. Jesus described himself as the resurrection and the life: "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even if he dies; and he who lives and believes in me will never die" (John 11,25-26).
Paul also writes about the hope of the resurrection that Jesus spoke of: "But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as others do who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with him those who are asleep in Jesus" (1. Thessalonians 4,13-14).
We believe in Jesus' resurrection, so we trust that He will also raise all who believe in Him back to life at the time when Jesus returns to earth. Christians who have died will be resurrected and Christians who are alive will be transformed and ascend into the clouds to meet the Lord at His return and will be with Him forever.
Paul asks the interesting question: How will the dead be resurrected and with what kind of body will they come? He compares the resurrection to the state of a seed. The plant that grows from it looks very different depending on what kind of seed it is: "What you sow is not the body that is to be, but a grain of wheat or something else. But God gives it a body as he wants, to each seed its own body. If there is a natural body, then there is also a spiritual body" (1. Corinthians 15,37-38 and 44).
The most important difference between our present body and our future resurrection body will be that we will be imperishable, glorious, powerful and spiritual - and we will look like Christ: "As we have borne the image of the earthly, so shall we also bear the image of the heavenly. Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed; and that in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on the incorruptible, and this mortal must put on immortality" (1. Corinthians 15,49-53).
Here Paul uses another expression, namely, putting on new clothes. We will receive new, glorious bodies, transformed by the Holy Spirit.
Meaning in everyday life
Our belief in the resurrection also has important consequences for our daily lives. Knowing about the resurrection helps us deal with the difficulties and persecutions we experience because of our faith in and in Christ. When our lives and ministry encounter problems, we do not simply give up. No, there is a future and we want to live with our future in mind.
God is interested in the way we live. The Gospel tells us that on the day of judgment we will be accepted and found righteous through faith in Christ. Whatever we do to support the Gospel and serve Christ is worth doing: «Therefore, my beloved brothers and sisters, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord» (1. Corinthians 15,58).
Our baptism connects us with Jesus' resurrection and through it we are called to a new life. This new life is characterized by a way of life that should reflect Jesus Christ: "We were buried with him through baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life" (Romans 6,4).
The same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead also dwells in us and gives us strength to live a new life in Christ: "But if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you" (Romans 1:14). 8,11).
The Holy Spirit lives in us and animates our mortal bodies. This living power of the Spirit helps us to live a godly life and to overcome daily challenges. Knowing that we will live with Christ forever changes the way we live with him now: "So you also should consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, and do not obey its desires. Neither yield your members to sin as instruments of unrighteousness, but yield yourselves to God as those who were dead and are now alive, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God" (Romans 1:14). 6,11-13).
Because there is a resurrection, we should live in a new and different way. Instead of serving the desires of the flesh, we want to serve the Lord because we will be with him forever: "Beloved, we are already children of God, but it has not yet been revealed what we will be. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. And everyone who has such hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure" (1. John 3,2-3).
John later says that if we live in Christ, we should not continue to sin. But if we sin (as we all do), we have an advocate, Jesus Christ, who stands by us and made the atoning sacrifice for us.
The knowledge and belief in the resurrection gives us a new perspective on death. We know that death is not the end of everything; we know that we will see our loved ones again and faith promises us that life will then continue forever: "But since all these children are made of flesh and blood, he himself became a man of flesh and blood. So through death he could overthrow the devil who exercises his power through death, and free from slavery those who were ruled by the fear of death" (Hebrews 1:14). 2,14-15 New Geneva translation).
Through the resurrection of Jesus Christ we are freed from the fear of death. This enemy is defeated and we share in the victory that Christ has won! He triumphed over death and we share in his life, freed from the fear of death. We know that the best is yet to come. That is why Paul writes at the end: "So encourage one another with these words" (1. Thessalonians 4,18).
by Joseph Tkach
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