The Resurrection of the Dead

If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men. 1 Cor 15:19


Wow.  That verse hits me hard.  During her talk on 1 Corinthians 15, Beth Moore highlighted this verse.  The good news is, it is not only for this life that we have our hope in Christ.  We have a hope in Christ that is eternal.  A hope in Christ that will take us into the next life.  A hope in Christ that is something we can lean on forever. 

Have you ever heard a Christian say, “Well, even if I was wrong (about God and heaven), then at least it was a good way to live”?  What a horrible thought!  To be believing and hoping in something, that in the back of your mind, you have decided might actually not be true.  How awful to be hoping in and living for a reward that you may or may not get.

If it turns out that our faith is just for this life, that our hope is in vain, and there is nothing waiting for us ‘on the other side,’ then we are to be pitied.  Pitied more than anyone else.  

It means we are living in a certain way - denying ourselves pleasures of this world, enduring teasing and persecution, spending hours in the Bible and at church - for nothing.   We are devoted to a cause that has nothing to it.  If that doesn’t deserve someone’s pity, I don’t know what does.  

Here are a few other points that Beth Moore made, which I liked enough to write down (and there wasn’t much that she said that I didn’t write down).  

All is proceeding as planned.  God knew from the beginning, when He created Adam and created Eve, that when the year 2010 rolled around, this is what the world would look like.  He knew that people would fall into sin, and live selfish, cruel lives.  He knew that He would have to flood the earth, saving only Noah and his family at some point.  He knew that the only way to reconcile His people would be to watch His Son take on human form and die a horrible death on the cross to atone for our sins. He knew that some people would turn away and choose not to believe in Him, that some people would use His name as a curse word, that some people would do terrible things, all in the Name of God.  He knew that there would be earthquakes and fires and murder and drugs and addictions and all kinds of heartaches.  He knew.  And He planned for it.  Sometimes I  fall into the mindset of “What has our world come to?” or “We have made such a mess of things!”  But the truth is, while we are far from God’s ideal plan, we are right where He knew we would be.  We are ‘right on track.’ Our God is still in control.  

Adam is paralleled with Jesus. Just as Adam marked the beginning of a new era, Jesus  marked the beginning of a new era.  Adam was created innocent.  Jesus remained innocent.  Adam received life from Jesus.  Jesus died because of Adam.  Adam’s body came from and returned to dust.  Jesus’s body saw no decay. (none-even after 3 days in the tomb!) Adam brought the fall.  Jesus rose again.  Adam walked with God.  Jesus was God.  How cool is that?  I love that our God is a superior story-teller and a God of details and meaning.  There was meaning in every aspect of Jesus’s life.  

Jesus will return.  This is the beginning of the end of God’s plan, the plan that is going just as it should.  The plan that has an end, and has completion.  When Jesus returns to earth, it is part of a series of events that will lead to humanity’s restoration and reconciliation with God.  Jesus will bring about perfection and closure, and we will be back into God’s ideal.  I really hope I get a chance to see even just a glimpse of God’s plan as a whole, the big picture that He is looking at.  I want to see the meaning behind all that He has done, and all that He will do.