Our Easter Hope

“Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed.”

(1Corinthians 15:51-52 ESV)

I remember, a couple of years back, as my family and I were at the funeral home. It was just prior to the visitation for my mother. At one point, my dad approached the casket by himself, as he struggled with the loss of his wife. My son, who was five at the time, went and took him by the hand. He said: “Don’t worry, Grandpa. She’ll rise again when Jesus comes back.”

Out of the mouths of babes. In that moment, a young boy expressed a truth that escapes many who are more learned in the Christian faith. He comforted his grandpa with the great hope we have in Jesus.

Many of us believe that, at death, our spirit goes to be with the Lord and that’s the end of it. We imagine ourselves or our loved ones sitting on clouds and strumming harps. We imagine eternity as a purely spiritual existence.

Where we get this understanding, I don’t know. While it’s true that our spirit goes to be with Jesus at the time of our death, that’s hardly the end of it. The end of it comes when Jesus returns and, as we read above, the dead are raised imperishable.

Death, you see, is the punishment of our sin. And since Jesus has born the punishment of our sin, because that price has been paid, death must be no more. If we have been redeemed, then death has been rendered powerless.

If our bodies remained in the grave, it would demonstrate that the victory had not been won. It would reveal that Jesus’ sacrifice was not enough. It would reveal to us that we are still under the power of sin.

However, in the end, everything will be as it was in the beginning. Man will exist as both a physical and spiritual being in the new creation. He will live in the presence of God where sin and its consequences no longer wreak havoc on us.

This is our hope. This is the hope of Easter. Because Jesus rose, we know that we too will rise. As God raised Jesus from the dead, we know that he will raise us also.