Live the Bible

In my article, 'Jesus Christ’s Death – What does it Mean for Us', we learned that He died to save us from our sins.  But what is more important than His death is His Resurrection.

After He died, he was raised again after three days.  But what is the significance if His resurrection?  One of the reasons Christ died for our sins was so that we can have eternal life with Him. (John 3:16).  But how can we have eternal life if we die?  Something must happen for us to live eternally. 

“If there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised.  And if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is useless, and you are still under condemnation for your sins.  In that case, all who have died believing in Christ have perished… But the fact is that Christ has been raised from the dead.  He has become the first of a great harvest of those who will be raised to life again.”  I Corinthians 15:16-20.

We see here that if Christ did not rise from the dead, then we are still under condemnation for our sins, and that all who have died will remain dead – permanently.  But since He has been raised, this means that all believers who have died will now be raised from the dead to eternal life.

You see, death is not the end of it all.  Neither does it mean that when we die we automatically go to heaven at once.  We will all be raised from the dead at Christ’s Second Coming.  Once we obey Jesus and live as he taught us to live, then we can look forward to spending eternity with Him.

“… We who are still living when the Lord returns will not rise to meet Him ahead of those who are in their graves.  For the Lord Himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the call of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God.  First, all the Christians who have died will rise from their graves.  Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air and remain with him forever.”  I Thessalonians 4:15-17.

We need to become immortal, just as Christ did, if we are to receive the Kingdom.

“But let me tell you a wonderful secret God has revealed to us.  Not all of us will die, but we will all be transformed.  It will happen in a moment, in a blinking of an eye, when the last trumpet is blown.  For when the trumpet sounds, the Christians that have died will be raised with transformed bodies.  And then we who are living will be transformed so that we will never die”.  1 Corinthians 15:50-52

We see again here, that it is the dead who get first preference at the Second Coming.  So even those of us who are alive at the time must wait for the dead to rise and be transformed first, then the living get their opportunity.  So you see there is an advantage to dying.

Christ’s death and resurrection happened so that we can have life - eternal life.  This is an opportunity to choose in what direction you want to go.  It is a choice only you can make.

Living your life for Christ has wonderful benefits, and you need not fear death, for there is something wonderful to look forward to after death.  Eternal life in the Kingdom of God.