What Does the Resurrection Mean for Us?

           Two days ago, we celebrated the resurrection of Jesus Christ!  So, what does His resurrection mean for us?

            Without the resurrection, we have no hope.  Paul makes that very clear in I Corinthians 15: 14 when he says that without the resurrection our faith is useless.  Sin created the “great divide” between God and man, and the result of sin is death (Romans 6: 23).  To cross that “great divide”, Christ had to pay the price for our sins and conquer death.  He did both!

            With the resurrection, we are assured of our eternal destiny, if we are Christ followers.  Just after Jesus ascended back into heaven, the angels told His followers, “This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven” (Acts 1: 11b NIV84).  Jesus will return someday!

            When He returns, those who have accepted Him as Lord and Savior will go to be with Him for all eternity.  During one of His last teaching opportunities with His disciples, Jesus said, “In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you.  I am going there to prepare a place for you” (John 14: 2 NIV84).  Paul paints a beautiful picture of that reunion in I Corinthians 15: 51 – 52 (NIV84), “Listen, I tell you a mystery:  We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed – in a flash, in the twinkling of any eye, at the last trumpet.  For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.”

            As Christ followers, our eternal future is secure.  So, what do we need to do about it?  Paul gives us some ideas in I Thessalonians 5.

Be alert.  We don’t know when Christ will return, so we need to be ready.  It could be any moment.

Encourage one another.  Life is hard, and sometimes we lose sight of our future hope because our miserable present overwhelms us.  That’s when we need our Christian brothers and sisters to pick us up, carry us, and build us up.

Pray.  Prayer is the easiest thing we can do, but so often it is the last thing on our list.  God cares about the details of our lives, so it is important to take everything to Him. 

Finally, perhaps the most important thing we can do is to persevere.  Keep your eyes on the prize.  Paul says it best in I Corinthians 15: 58 (NIV84), “Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you.  Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.”

The Resurrection isn’t something that we celebrate on just one day.  It is our hope.  It gives us purpose.  It is a display of God’s marvelous grace, and it gives us a beautiful picture of our Savior who walks with us every step of the way.  Stand firm, my friends!  The best is yet to come!

I Corinthians 15: 51 – 58; I Thessalonians 5: 1 - 24  

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