1 Corinthians 15:17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins.

To be honest, I don’t think churches or Christians today dwell on resurrection very much. We focus on heaven, which seems to make resurrection beside the point. Also, we think of resurrection in strictly physical terms, which makes people be afraid of cremation and other such things. When it comes to that, what about the martyrs who were literally eaten by wild animals in the arenas of Rome? Surely they wouldn’t miss out on any of their reward! Living in Nagasaki Prefecture, I think of believers who were vaporized by the atomic bomb, since the hypocenter was very close to a Catholic girls school. Resurrection is not a problem for God! However, failure to believe in resurrection is a major problem for us, as Paul expounds on right here. Some people, like the Japanese Catholic novelist Susaku Endo, have believed that Jesus died to atone for our sins, but they couldn’t bring themselves to believe that He really rose from the dead. To me, that removes much of the power and most of the hope from such works as his book Silence, which has been made into a successful movie. Jesus’ body after His resurrection obviously didn’t have all the limitations it did before His resurrection, because he walked into locked rooms and such. At the same time, it was not merely a spiritual apparition, which He proved by eating in front of His disciples. (Luke 24:40-42) That sounds interesting and fun, but at the same time my biggest anticipation is unlimited fellowship with my Lord.

And that brings me to my own attitude toward resurrection. I have no doubt whatsoever that Jesus rose, and since the Bible says that we will rise as well, I believe that. As I’ve already mentioned, my biggest anticipation for after this life is unlimited fellowship with my Lord. What form that will take is something that, as the song says, I can only imagine. However, I have great assurance that it will be glorious. I look forward to joining the “cloud of witnesses” mentioned in Hebrews 12:1. (Incidentally, I don’t think they are witnessing us, I think they are witnesses of the grace and love of God, as Jesus said in Acts 1:8.) There are many, many things I don’t know about life after this life, any more than an infant in the womb knows about life outside the womb, but I have tasted the grace and love of my Lord enough to have full assurance that it will be wonderful beyond my current ability to comprehend.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You for the assurance that makes me seem a bit weird to those who don’t have such assurance. As Jake Hess sang, “Death ain’t no big deal!” Use me as Your instrument to bring others to such faith as well, for their salvation and Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!