Truth claims

From time to time, I think "What's the use of all this?" The apparent futility of resisting evil and sin's destruction, at times, is overwhelming. Evil sneers from the dark corners of the world defying the Believer's hope for change. Death stares at us defiantly from battle fields and hospital beds. Debauchery sinks its claws more deeply into our prosperous society all the time. Our entertainment industry sinks lower by the month; on many campuses college dorms have become brothels where our sons and daughters give away their dignity and then cover their shame with drunkenness; our high schools are sewers of vulgarity where the mention of God is legally sanctioned. If I look too long at the darkness, I feel the desire to just 'eat, drink, and have a good time!' When my eyes lose sight of the Cross, momentarily at least, my hope for the triumph of Christ's Kingdom wanes.

But, I am compelled by the Resurrection to stay in the race! It is the one truth, more than any other, that draws me along the Way. Gaither wrote it simply in that Gospel song-- "Because He lives, I can face tomorrow; ... and life is worth the living just because He lives." Did Jesus literally rise from the dead? That is the testimony of the Scripture and the linchpin of our faith.

If we re-define the Resurrection to be something less than His literal return to life from the tomb where He lay dead, we essentially reduce Christianity to a system of moral teachings, interesting, but certainly not compelling. For what reason would anyone take seriously Jesus' call to 'turn the other cheek' when assaulted by evil, unless he had a hope of ultimate justice and reward? Why would we choose to become servants to others if we did not think that there was life beyond this present world? Without the hope of the Resurrection, we succumb to the law of survival, and live to secure our comfort for as many days as we exist on this beautiful planet.

It is a strange paradox that the declaration of the Resurrection to eternal life should be a powerful motivator to faithful, self-sacrificial service in this present world, but it is! Some misunderstand this hope of heaven as a reason to disengage from the sinful world, to live in isolation while awaiting rescue from on high! Exactly the opposite is true. In the 15th chapter of 1st Corinthians, Paul makes an eloquent case for Jesus' resurrection and what that means to us. The apostle ranks the Resurrection as a doctrine 'of first importance.' He offers the historical proofs for it. He sets the truth in context of the Believer's life saying, "And if Christ wasn’t raised, then all you’re doing is wandering about in the dark, as lost as ever. It’s even worse for those who died hoping in Christ and resurrection, because they’re already in their graves. If all we get out of Christ is a little inspiration for a few short years, we’re a pretty sorry lot." {1 Cor. 15:17-19 Message}

Then, he develops the fact of the consequence of sin being evident in Adam's death, in which we all share and the consequence of the Cross being evident in Christ's Resurrection, which all can be made alive!

At the end of this passage, Paul summarizes with these inspired words: How we thank God, who gives us victory over sin and death through Jesus Christ our Lord! So, my dear brothers and sisters, be strong and steady, always enthusiastic about the Lord’s work, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless. {1 Cor. 15:57-58 NLT}

Lift your focus from the news, from the rampant sin, even from your own weakness. Look to the Cross, and by faith, beyond the Cross to the Empty Tomb of the Lord, which is the visible promise that you, too, will live beyond your death!

Then, pour yourself into serving Him wherever He puts you, in whatever desperate circumstances surround you, without care for the cost. It isn't over when they sound taps at our grave - it's just the beginning of the life we really long for as the Spirit makes us alive to God! Jesus Lives and so shall we. Hallelujah.