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His resurrection – and ours

Muriel Larson

Death – does it end everything? Some people think so. Many others believe there is life after death, but wonder what happens. Even those who believe in the resurrection of the body may have questions about it.

What do we know about the resurrection? The Sadducees in Jesus’ day didn’t believe in the resurrection of the dead. Jesus rebuked them and reminded them that even the writings of Moses proved the resurrection. When God appeared to Moses in the burning bush, He called Himself “the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob” (Exodus 3:6, Matthew 22:32). From God’s point of view, those who had died were still living.

Job is said to be the oldest book in the Bible. Yet Job expressed faith in the Saviour and in the resurrection: “I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end He will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God” (Job 19:25-26).

In Psalm 49:15, David expressed confidence that he would live with God after death. In Psalm 16:10 he said, “My body also will rest secure, because You will not abandon me to the grave, nor will You let Your Holy One see decay.” Both Peter and Paul applied this prophecy to the resurrection of Jesus (Acts 2:25-32; 13:34-35).

Matthew 17:1-8, Mark 9:2-8 and Luke 9:28-36 all describe Jesus’ transfiguration, when three disciples saw Jesus talking to Moses and Elijah. Moses had died 1,450 years before that, yet there he was talking to Jesus. Is there any reason why we who are Christians won’t still be talking to Jesus after we die?

Before Jesus died, He predicted to His disciples both His death and His resurrection (Matthew 16:21; John 2:19-22). The Scriptures make it very clear that Jesus Christ did rise bodily. Peter reported, “God raised Him from the dead on the third day and caused Him to be seen. He was not seen by all the people, but by witnesses whom God had already chosen – by us who ate and drank with Him after He rose from the dead” (Acts 10:40-41). The apostle Paul testified that more than 500 people saw Jesus after He rose from the grave (1 Corinthians 15:6).

Describing what this means for us, Peter wrote, “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” (1 Peter 1:3). The Bible teaches that all those who refuse to accept Jesus will face a conscious, tormented existence after death (Luke 12:5; 16:22-24; John 3:36; Revelation 20:11-15). In contrast, those who have repented of their sins and received Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour have a wonderful eternity to anticipate. When they die, they will be with Christ, where they will have everlasting, conscious joy (2 Corinthians 5:6-8; Philippians 1:21-23).

Muriel Larson is a freelance writer from Greenville, S.C.

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Last modified March 14, 2002.

© 2002 Mennonite Brethren Herald.
Published by the Canadian Conference of MB Churches.
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