Life after Death
Because of Easter
A local Christian group offered Bible classes last fall and
we joined a class planning to spend eight weeks together studying a book written
by a popular Christian author. Looking
forward to enjoying this Christian book I curled up on the couch one evening
and started reading.
Unfortunately I only read a few pages before I started
getting upset. And the more I read the
more upset I got. Finally I slammed the
book shut and refused to read any more of it or go to the Bible class. The
sentence from this supposedly Christian book that finally stopped me in my
tracks was this: “Of course Jesus did not rise from the dead as the Easter story
goes.” Such blatant unbelief dressed up
as “Christian” was more than I could take!
It seems to me the writer thinks he is too intelligent – too
sophisticated- to believe the gospel!
Why were we reading his book and celebrating Easter anyway if Jesus is
still in the grave?
Evidently some of the Corinthians did not believe that Jesus
rose from the dead either. And they did not believe that believers would live
after death. Let’s see what Paul had to say to these folks who didn’t believe
in life after death! “If there is no
resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, our
preaching is useless and so is your faith.
More than that, we are false witnesses about God, for we have testified
that God raised Christ from the dead… For if the dead are not raised, then
Christ has not been raised either. And
if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile: you are still in your
sins. Then those who have died in Christ
are lost. If only for this life we have
hope in Christ we are really a pitiful and miserable mess.” (1 Corinthians
15:13-18) Paul is saying that Christianity
completely depends on the real physical resurrection of the body of Christ:
otherwise, it is all a lie!
Paul here is linking Christ’s life after death with our life
after death. “Because He lives, we shall
live also.” (John 14:19) And then Paul
goes on to say: “But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the first
fruits of those who have fallen asleep… Christ, the first fruits: then …those
who belong to Him. (1 Cor. 15:20-22) Paul is saying that Jesus’ resurrection is the
“first fruit” of all those who will follow Him.
.
This “first fruits” story comes from the Old Testament where the Jewish
nation under Moses was instructed to give or dedicate the very first ripe fruits
of their harvest to God on the altar – and these first fruits in connection
with the Passover were used to consecrate the coming harvest. The first fruits
were the evidence that the entire harvest would soon be ripening and on the way
too. (Leviticus 23:4-14) Jesus died on
the day of the Passover, and conquered death and His resurrection is a promise
of our own future resurrection from death!
He leads our way into life.
And what will it be like when we
die and follow the resurrected Jesus into life everlasting? Scripture compares
our earthly body to a tent – something that is temporary and flimsy and
frail. When the old tent wears out it
will be covered and clothed with the heavenly body which is compared to a
building – an eternal house in heaven- solid and permanent and perfect. “This
mortal shall put on immortal” (1 Cor. 15:53) Let’s listen to how the Bible tells it.
“Now we know that if the earthly
tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in
heaven, not built by human hands. Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed
with our heavenly dwelling…and are burdened, because we do not wish to be
unclothed but to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling. So that what is mortal may be swallowed up by
life. Now it is God who has made us for
this very purpose and has given us His Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what
is to come.” (2 Corinthians 5:1-5)
These verses here say that we
“groan” while we are in our mortal bodies –(the tent), not wanting to be
unclothed but to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling. The word “groan” suggests that we may
struggle with problems that cause us to groan while we are living in our mortal
bodies (our tents). Let’s face it, we
have many trials and troubles to face in this world. And our mortal bodies (our tents) often break
down and become sick causing pain and
suffering and moans and groans.
The scripture here reads: “we are
burdened because we do not wish to be unclothed (die or lose our earthly
bodies) but to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling. (be done with pain and trouble) In other words we are caught between the two -
we want to go to heaven but we don’t want to die! We humans are all caught in
this strange dilemma while we are on earth! Most of us are afraid to die or be
“unclothed” – or to leave the body. But
we are tired of suffering in this life and long to be in our forever home. An old song “Ole Man River ” tells it this way: “I gets
weary, an tired a tryin, I’m tired a livin, but scared a dyin.”
And then these scriptures also say:
“Now it is God…who has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is
to come.” (1 Cor. 5:5b) What does this mean? We have just heard about how weak and
troubled we humans are so these verses seem to be expressing the paradox of how
mortal human beings can hold within them the gift of immortality. God has given these weak followers of Christ
this powerful “deposit” – this spirit that will be a “guarantee to life after
death!” Scripture says: “We have this
treasure (Gods’ Spirit) in earthen vessels (our frail lives).” (1 Cor.4:7)
And our present experience of renewed life by
God’s Spirit is a guarantee (deposit) that He will perfect what He has
begun. (Rom.8:23, Eph. 1:14) It is a mystery but we aren’t doing this
faith walk on our own. Christ is leading
us all the way through death into life!
Our scriptures today also speak of
our mortal body at death being swallowed up in life. “So that what is mortal (death) may be
swallowed up by life.” (2 Cor.5:4b) And in another verse we are told: “Death is
swallowed up in victory.” (1 Cor.
15:54) Isn’t that a twist? Our mortal being – our life when we die- will
be swallowed up by life, not by death!
Paul reverses the age-old imagery of death and the grave as being the grim
reaper or the great swallower. We always thought of death as a negative but we
had it all backwards! Because of Jesus
our death will be swallowed up by eternal life.
We can celebrate that on Easter and on every other day of the year
too!
Thanks for asking the question. Where can you find out more information about life after death? Pray and read the Bible, especially the New Testament. Get a Bible with a concordance - because it helps explain each verse and what it may mean. Maybe start with the book of John. Find a good Christian Church where they believe the Bible - maybe Baptist or Lutheran or Assembly of God. Also if you go to a evangelical Christian bookstore there are good Christian books that answer these questions. Mere Christianity by C.S.Lewis is good and Joyce Meyer's books are good. Phillip Yancey's books are good. "What's So Amazing about Grace?" by Phillip Yancey and also "The Bible Jesus Read" and "A Skeptic's Guide to Faith". also by Yancey. Also "Know What You Believe" by Paul Little. We will pray too.
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