Life After Death

"But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith." — 1 Corinthians 15:12-14

Last Sunday we celebrated Easter, called the most hopeful and important day on the Christian calendar. It celebrates Jesus' resurrection — His triumph over death and the fulfillment of the promise of Scripture. It's the event that's portended in the Old Testament. It's what Jesus' ministry led up to. And it's the crown jewel upon which the early church and the rest of the New Testament epistles are based.

But some dismiss it. Even some claiming to be Christians. We are reading a book in our Sunday School class called "Respectable Sins." This week's chapter was on judgmentalism, which is something we're all guilty of from time to time and something we need to be more cognizant of as a church. But in the chapter, the author talked about his passion for resurrection doctrine. He noted that some believe the cross is about teaching us how to suffer with dignity. Others, he said, feel that the cross isn't important at all, neither is the resurrection, but rather we are to look at Jesus' life as an example of how we're to comport ourselves. The author talked about not agreeing with these positions, and speaking against them.

While I agree it's important to defend proper doctrine in a Christ-like manner — which is to preach the truth without denigrating those that hold other opinions — I was blown away by those positions. How could you possibly read the Bible and accept it as the truth from God and not see Jesus' sacrifice and resurrection as the cornerstone of faith. It is the WHOLE point of Christianity. It is THE WAY to Salvation. It is THE POINT of Jesus ministry on earth.

John 3:16 says, "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." That is the most widely known, and arguably most central passage in the Bible. It's about God's sacrificial love for us, making a way for us to have eternal life.

Later in John, it says, "Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends." — John 15:3. The Apostle Paul, who wrote a majority of the New Testament, preached about the centrality of Christ's death and resurrection. One of my favorite passages in Romans is Romans 5:8, which says, "But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

Today was Life After Death Sunday. It's a time when we remember the part of our church community who passed away in the last year and celebrate that their death is not the end. We celebrate the promise of the resurrection, alluded to by Paul in the Scripture from 1 Corinthians that started this post and many other places in the New Testament.

Yes, Christ's life should be an example to us all. He showed us how to live, and better yet how to love His people. And, yes, Christ's death on the cross shows us how to suffer. It shows us that Christ, too, suffered, and as his people we may also suffer, and He knows our pain.

But the point of the Gospel is Christ's atoning sacrifice on the cross, His resurrection, and the fulfillment of the promise of Scripture. Anyone who can't see that is missing the point.