Have you spent much time thinking about the resurrection? Have you ever questioned if the resurrection is real? What do you think it will be like to be raised from the dead? Are you looking forward to it?
Think about the resurrection for just a moment. Someone dies. They come back to life! By our human rationale, that sounds absurd. I mean, how many of us have met someone who has died and came back to life?
Yet, that is the very hinge of our Christian faith. We believe that Jesus was crucified on a cross, shedding His blood for the forgiveness of sins. He was buried in a tomb. On the third day He rose to life and was seen by more than five-hundred people over the course of a few weeks.
Not only do we believe Jesus was resurrected, but we believe we will be resurrected as well. We believe when we die, we will be raised to live with Him. Yet, I’m not sure many of us are truly looking forward to it. It is almost as though we aren’t sure it is real. It is as if we question the resurrection.
Let’s look at 1 Corinthians 15:6, Paul states that Jesus appeared to more than five-hundred people at the same time after He was resurrected. We know from putting together multiple passages from Scripture that Jesus appeared to people over the course of about forty days after He was resurrected. These all come from eyewitness accounts.
So, why do we question the resurrection? Is it because we have not seen it? We must trust God to fulfill His promises. He has fulfilled His promises and will continue to fulfill them, including resurrecting each of us. As Paul states in today’s passage, Jesus was the first, but He is not the last to be resurrected. More than we can count will join Him in the resurrection.
I pray we all spend a little time thinking about the resurrection. I pray we trust God to do as He has promised. I pray each one of us will look forward to the resurrection with great anticipation. Trust God’s promises. Trust in the resurrection. Know you will spend eternity with God. Know that Jesus was the first.
1 Corinthians 15:20 But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
Marty Pressey 