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...the Bible tells me so:
“If a man dies, will he live again?” All of us eventually ask this question, especially as we get closer to the end of our lives. This question is at least as old as Job (Job 14:14), early on in the history of mankind.
While the resurrection means many things, it answers Job’s question in such a way that we gain confidence for a blessed future beyond this life. In knowing the power of Jesus’ resurrection, Paul and we seek our own resurrections (Philippians 3:10-11).
Paul described our future blessedness in this way,
“But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables Him to bring everything under His control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like His glorious body.” (verses 20-21 NIV)
Think about that. No more creaks and aches. No more wrinkles or scars. No more eyeglasses, hearing aids or walking canes. No more weakness, breathlessness and paralysis. No more heart disease, cancer or strokes. How will you feel on that day!
Elsewhere Paul wrote, “And if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit, who lives in you” (Romans 8:11).
The old joke about the cemetery is still very true today. The cemetery is a place that people are dying to get in. Yet Jesus gives us life from the dead.
With that life, we no longer have to fear death (see Hebrews 2:14-15). We will say on the last day, “Death has been swallowed up in victory. Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” (1 Corinthians 15:54-55)
We can have this absolute confidence over death because God “has set a day when He will judge the world with justice by the Man He has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising Him from the dead.” (Acts 17:30-31)
This is the time of year when all Christendom celebrates the resurrection of Jesus. Celebrating the resurrection on God’s holy day is very biblical, even though the holiday Easter itself was added at a later date.
Jesus our Lord rose from the grave on “the first day of the week” (Matthew 28:1; Mark 16:2; Luke 24:1). He appeared to Mary on “the first day of the week” (John 20:1), the two disciples on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:21), and later to Peter (verse 34). Later that day, Jesus appeared to ten of the apostles, minus Thomas (John 20:19) and a week later to all the Eleven (verse 26).
That day of the week, consequently, is called “the Lord’s day” (Revelation 1:10), though that connection is made clear only in uninspired Christian writings. We call that day, “Sunday.”
On the first day of the week, the early Christians celebrated the Lord’s supper (Acts 20:7) “until He comes” (1 Corinthians 11:26). Those words, “until He comes,” confirm that God raised Jesus from the dead. Thus, they celebrated the resurrection every Lord’s day.
Like the early Christians, let us all celebrate Jesus’ resurrection every Lord’s day. Let us realize how important it is for our lives. We now can approach our future with confidence.
Let us say with Peter,
“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.” (1 Peter 1:3-5)
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