Our Current Lives Matter

Because Christ is risen, our current lives matter.

The Apostle Paul goes into great detail about the resurrection of the dead in his first letter to the Corinthians, chapter 15. Listen to how he concludes that discussion. Starting in verse 54:

“[54] When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.” [55] “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” [56] The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. [57] But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. [58] Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.” (1 Corinthians 15:54-58)

Your labor and work and suffering are not in vain! If there was no resurrection, if there was no life after death, what would be the point of all this? Whether you were a good person or an immoral person, what would it matter? Whether you followed Jesus or not, what would it matter? What does it matter if you have learned something? Your knowledge will rot with you. What does it matter if you have grown as a person? Your righteousness will rot with you. What does it matter if you have suffered and come to look more like Jesus? The memory of you will dissolve with your flesh. I mean, what is the point of any striving, any hoping, any anything apart from the hope that one day we will live again with Christ, enjoying the fruit of his labor and ours? The hope that one day we will live again with Christ is what makes everything worthwhile. It changes everything. And apart from that hope, you have no hope.

But we can have hope. Easter says we can dare to hope! Easter proves we have hope. The resurrection of Christ is our anchor. It is our rock. You can build your life on the resurrection of Jesus.

You have hope that though your family goes through hard times, God will one day set all things right. You have hope that you are more than your current limitations. You have hope that you are more than your illnesses. You have hope knowing that God has already made a way to protect and provide for your family. You have hope knowing that God has already made a way to care for your dear loved ones. We have hope. So, though the resurrection of Jesus be only a first fruit, we will keep nibbling on it until the full harvest.

We have the hope of total victory over sin, spiritual death, physical death, a broken world, and current suffering.

This is not the kind of news that you shrug at and flip the page. This is news that demands a response. Why? Because the man Jesus, in coming back from the grave, just showed himself to be the Son of God and the King of Kings. He holds the keys of death and Hades. So, there is no room to shrug him off.

When the people heard this news in the first century, they often responded with this urgent question: “What must I do to be saved?” In other words, how do I get on the right side of history on this one? How do I line up with that guy, the resurrected King? The answer was always the same: Repent and believe in Jesus.

How do you do that? You call on his name in prayer. It’s that simple. The journey can start there.