So we say we don’t believe in the afterlife. Or maybe we do, in the form of reincarnation. Maybe we expect to get our own personal heaven or hell, or simply a release from the karma we’ve built up over a lifetime.
How does it all work? Isn’t there a plan for all this, or is it just what we make up as we go along?
Paul knew this matter was a tipping point for many people, one that formed an argument as divisive as politics in modern-day America.
Acts 23:6 tells us:
“Now when Paul perceived that one part were Sadducees and the other Pharisees, he cried out in the council, ‘Brothers, I am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees. It is with respect to the hope and the resurrection of the dead that I am on trial.’ ”
Paul was a master at reading the lay of the land. He could sense the politics in various situations and manipulate people as well as any man. He used his argument over the resurrection of the dead to divide the Jewish leaders. He knew it would crack them right down the middle.
Yet, Paul’s beliefs formed inarguable spiritual truth. He wove his conviction into his very words.
1 Corinthians 15:20 reassures us with the example of Jesus:
“But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.”
1 Corinthians 15:42 tells us we will never die again:
“So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable.”
John 6:40 says it in our Savior’s own words:
“For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”
So, want to live forever? There is a plan in place. Call it an instruction manual. Call it a field guide, a road map, a travel book, or a how-to volume. Those in the Church call it the Bible, and we trust it to lead us home.
It doesn’t matter what the world believes. Christ will return for the faithful regardless.
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