LIFE BEGINS AT RESURRECTION

What life is and why it exists has provided the basis of endless speculation through the centuries. Shakespeare termed it "a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing."
To P.J. Bailey it meant "a means to an end," an end that would ultimately conclude in finding God.
Robert Browning said that "life is probation."
J. M. Barrie thought it "a long lesson in humility."
To Roy Campbell it seemed "a dusty corridor shut at both ends."
And Harry Emerson Fosdick has said that "life is like a library owned by an author."

But perhaps the most meaningful definition is found in 1 John 5:12: "He that has the Son has life; and he that has not the Son of God has not life." And the Apostle Paul eloquently stated: "When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall you also appear with him in glory." Colossians 3:4.

Those two great literary masters of imagination, Edmund Spenser and John Bunyan, thought of life under two metaphors, a pilgrimage and a battle. Jesus was concerned about the life men lived on this earth and the eternal life that they may look forward to in the future. "I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly," he said. His concept of life was far different from that of his contemporaries. Even the disciples viewed life as simply an opportunity to get what they could in the way of material goods and worldly honours, rewards that at best are temporal. The life Jesus promised was of far more significance; it would be eternal.

From the beginning of time human beings have appeared on the stage of life, have played their part, and have gone down to the valley of the shadow. Rich and poor, free and bond, high and low, in never-ending procession, have laid down the burdens of life and passed through the portals of death. Wealth, knowledge, medicines, may briefly prolong life, but the tragic finality of death is emphasized throughout the Bible. In Psalm 146:4 the psalmist emphatically states that even man’s thoughts perish in death. The wise man indicated the complete lack of knowledge that prevails in the grave by asserting that "the dead know not anything." Ecclesiastes 9:5, 6. The Apostle Paul spoke of death as a sleep when he stated: "We want you not to remain in ignorance, brothers, about those who sleep in death." 1 Thessalonians 4:13. And the Apostle Peter, speaking of David, points out that he "is not ascended into the heavens." Acts 2:34.

The life Christ promised does not begin at death, but rather at the resurrection. The assurance is given in Hosea 13:14: "I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death: O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave, I will be thy destruction." Any future life that man has to look forward to comes through Christ and his redemptive love. "But the truth is, Christ was raised to life - the firstfruits of the harvest of the dead. For since it was a man who brought death into the world, a man also brought resurrection of the dead. As in Adam all men die, so in Christ all will be brought to life." 1 Corinthians 15:20-22.

The basis for the Christian hope of experiencing the life Christ promised lies in the fact of his resurrection. When he emerged from the tomb nearly two thousand years ago, carrying the keys of hell and of death, his triumph meant that the prison house of sin and death would be for ever shattered. His resurrection on that morning was a foreshadowing of a much larger resurrection at the time of his second coming.

The assurance is provided that "the time is coming when all who are in the grave shall hear his voice and move forth: those who have done right will rise to life; those who have done wrong will rise to hear their doom." John 5:28,29. And Isaiah adds, "Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, you that dwell in dust: for your dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead." Isaiah 26:19.

The life Christ promised will be in sharp contrast to the one that man is living today. Racked with aches and pains of every kind, the human body is susceptible to hundreds of diseases. Crutches, glasses, slings, bandages - these are a few of the external evidences of the ailments to which the human body is a prey. In his expressive way the Apostle Paul states: "What is sown in the earth as a perishable thing is raised imperishable. Sown in humiliation, it is raised in glory; sown in weakness, it is raised in power; sown as an animal body, it is raised as a spiritual body." 1 Corinthians 15:42-44. This thought is effectively supplemented in Philippians 3:20,21, where the apostle states: "We look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body.

It is impossible to imagine such an existence. For sickness has been experienced in every life; death, in one way or another, has touched all of us. In his whimsical way Benjamin Franklin, writing an epitaph for his tomb, summed up the power of God to remake human lives:
"The Body of Benjamin Franklin, Printer, like the Cover of an Old Book, Its Contents Torn Out and Stripped of Its Lettering and Gilding, Lies Here, Food for Worms. Yet the Work Itself Shall Not Be Lost; for It Will, as He Believed, Appear Once More in a New and More Beautiful Edition, Corrected and Amended by the Author."

In describing the life Christ promised, Isaiah is specific: "Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing: for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert. And the parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water." Isaiah 35:5-7. This is but a limited view of that new life. But the picture it gives is a glorious one indeed.

The life Christ promised will be a practical one, too. Some have attempted to infer that religion is unreal and the promise of the kingdom no more than "pie in the sky." But the redeemed will enjoy eternity in a place where "they shall build houses, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them. They shall not build, and another inhabit; they shall not plant, and another eat: for as the days of a tree are the days of My people, and My elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands." Isaiah 65:21,22.

While it is possible for men to have communion with their heavenly Father, here and now it is impossible for them to associate with Him face to face. Isaiah, among other Bible writers, explains why. He states that our sins have separated between us and God. This barrier of sin that man has to contend with is frustrating. Ofttimes it becomes so great that he has the sensation that he has no contact with God at all. The life Christ promised will see this barrier for ever removed. Writes the Apostle John, "I heard a loud voice proclaiming from the throne, ‘Now at last God has His dwelling among men! He will dwell among them and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be with them. He will wipe every tear from their eyes; there shall be an end to death, and to mourning and crying and pain; for the old order has passed away!’" Revelation 21:3,4.

Through the ages Christ’s promise of a better life has been a bulwark of faith for those who loved God. Viewing Christ’s promise John Wesley asserted, "The best of all, God is with us." On his deathbed William Wilberforce was able to say, "My affections are so much in heaven that I can leave you all without a regret." And John Knox proclaimed, "Live in Christ and the flesh need not fear death." Best of all was the firm conviction of the Apostle Paul. See 2 Timothy 4:7,8. The life Christ promised - made doubly certain by his own death and resurrection, is ours for the asking.