The Reality of the Resurrection

Photo courtesy of Dr. Ashraf Fekry via Flickr

What if I told you that you didn't have to die? That's what Jesus said in the eleventh chapter of the Gospel of Saint John. Any man that believeth in Him will never die. The key to this promise that Jesus gave to the believer is the understanding of the reality of the resurrection. 

Even though the resurrection is an event that we generally celebrate once a year, the reality of the resurrection is not supposed to be restricted to the death, burial and resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The reality of the resurrection is supposed to be a weapon that arms our faith, that is supported and strengthened by He who is the Resurrection, Jesus the Christ.

What is the reality of the resurrection? The reality of the resurrection is the fact that anything and anyone that is united with God through Christ cannot die, period. God is Life, and human beings were never designed to live or exist apart from our Creator, who is God. Therefore, had sin (separation from God) never come into the human equation, death would not even be a topic of discussion for human beings (just ask the angels). The blessing is that God sent His only begotten Son to die for our sins so that we would never have to die. Remember, the wages of sin (not just the transgression of God's Divine Law, but separation from Him) is death. Jesus paid that price with the shedding of His Blood on Calvary's Cross. So, the way the New Covenant works, through faith in the redemptive work of Christ, our sins are forgiven, the debt of sin is paid, and as a result we don't have to die.

Many of us already know these basic doctrinal beliefs of the Christian faith. So why are a lot of Christians still afraid to die or at least apprehensive at best? It is because we don't fully understand what Jesus purchased for us in dying for our sins and redeeming our souls back to God. When Jesus died, He didn't just abolish death, He gave us the gift of Eternal Life (John 3). Once again, most of us already know this. But the problem is, we don't possess a firm enough grasp on what Eternal Life is. Eternal Life is not just what you'll experience in Heaven "after you die." That's how most Christians think of it. Wrong. Eternal Life is the essence of the life of God that allows you not to die. Can I say it again? Eternal Life is the essence of the Life of God that allows you not to die. Therefore, the more you've grasped the Life of God, i.e. Eternal Life, the more you understand from a conscious standpoint your inability to die in Christ.

Saints, the Resurrection is Real. But it's not just an "after-life" phenomenon. The more we grasp internally the Eternal Life of Christ in our conscious, temporal reality, the more we'll believe what Jesus said, that we'll never die.