Excerpted from Beyond the Sunset
by Perry Coffman, used by permission

The Resurrection – Body Will Be Raised

“Lord Come Quickly”

In the following noble passage, the Apostle seems to personify death and Hades, and introduces the righteous, after the resurrection, singing a song of victory over both.

    O Death, where is your sting?
    O Hades, where is your victory? (1 Corinthians 15:55 (MLV))

Hence, the fundamental truth behind our faith is the historical fact of the resurrection of Christ. If Jesus did not arise from the dead, we face dire consequences according to Paul’s language in 1 Corinthians 15.

Note, if Christ be not risen:

  1. Then our faith is vain (v. 14)

  2. Then our preaching is vain (v. 14)

  3. The eyewitnesses bare only false witness (v. 15)

  4. We are still in our sins (v. 17)

  5. Those who have died in Christ have perished (v. 18)

  6. Then we have no hope and are to be pitied above all people (v.19)

In spite of the denial of many religious leaders today, Christ did rise from the dead. Each Lord’s Day faithful Christians remember the great sacrifice of Christ at Calvary and His triumphal resurrection from the dead, as they imitate the early Christians in partaking of the communion, the Lord’s Supper (Acts 20:7; cf. Hebrews 10:24-25). They remember that Christ died for their sins,

“and that he was buried, and that he has been raised up on the third day according to the Scriptures.” (1 Corinthians 15:4).

The glorious message of the gospel of Christ, which gives the facts about the future life and immortality, has now removed much of the fear of death. By Christ’s resurrection and the teaching of the New Testament Scriptures, much of death’s sting and terror has been taken away, so that no longer is it a terrible monster. Christians have nothing to fear in death. With this faith Paul had no fear of dying or anxiety about moving out of his old weather-beaten tent:

“For we know that if the earthly house of our tabernacle should be torn-down, we have a building from God, a not made with hand, everlasting in the heavens.” (2 Corinthians 5:1).

Christians should not mourn over their dead as those who have no hope, because Christians shall meet again in a life in which parting shall be no more. The Scriptures give definite assurance of another life after death. How comforting, therefore, to know that though one’s dear loved ones die, they shall live again. There is a resurrection. Man lives through death and after it. Physical death is not the termination of human life, and the grace is not the end. One’s sleep will not be an eternal one. The dear, departed loved ones have not perished.

The dead shall rise. God has promised it, and He, by His own miraculous power, can make it possible, Because Christ lives in a resurrected immortal body, man also shall live again. Death does not end all. There is an existence beyond the tomb. Hence, when people ask, “Shall man go down to the grave with no promise of a hereafter?” all may answer,

“There is a Beyond; though a man die, shall he live again? ( Job 14:14)
“Yes, come, Lord Jesus” (Revelation 22:20)

God is Good, Love you all Kevin J.