What hope do you have beyond the grave? This Easter, experience the power of Christ’s resurrection in your life.

It is amazing to what lengths some people will go in trying to attain immortality. At the Cryonics Institute near Detroit,you can pay $35,000 US to have your body frozen. Upon death,workers will drain your blood,top you up with antifreeze and lower you into a vat of liquid nitrogen at a temperature of -196 C. They promise that you will be revived one day when scientists work out the details of prolonging human life. Ever wonder how you collect your money if they are wrong?

In the past 70 years technology and science have added 21 years to our life expectancy in the Western world. But no scientist has ever found the secret of immortality. The idea that human beings can orchestrate their own “resurrection” by paying $35,000 is misguided and futile.

The Christian faith holds at its core the promise of eternal life, not engineered by humankind, but modelled by Jesus Christ. He’s the only human being to have been crucified on a cross, buried in a tomb and restored to life three days later. The Bible tells of hundreds of eyewitnesses who saw Jesus after His resurrection (see 1 Corinthians 15:5-7; Acts 1:3).

For Christians,the resurrection of Jesus is the foundation of our faith. It helps us understand the meaning of life that is and is yet to come. If the resurrection did not occur,the rest of Jesus’ words are meaningless. In 1 Corinthians 15:13-19,Paul lists the implications to our faith “if Christ has not been raised.”

1. Jesus is dead and we are still “dead” in our sins. No salvation has occurred and when we die there is no heavenly destination that awaits us (vs 17,18).

2. Our faith is futile because it is based on a lie (vs 17).

3. Our preaching and message is useless because we offer nothing more than hollow hope to the world (vs 14).

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4. We are false witnesses to the world (vs 15).

5. We are to be pitied more than any other people (vs 19).

An unknown soldier described it like this: “If death ends all,then evil must be good; wrong must be right and beauty,ugliness. God is a Judas who betrays His Son,and with a kiss,damns all the world to Hell – if Christ rose not again.” The Christian faith only makes sense when we view the empty cross through an open tomb – the act of resurrection we celebrate this Easter.

Jesus predicted that He would rise from the dead. He told the Pharisees: “Destroy this temple,and I will raise it again in three days” (John 2:19). By temple,He was referring to His own body. He also said: “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me will live,even though he dies” (John 11:25).

Jesus died so that everyone may have eternal life. A personal response of faith in Jesus is all that is needed. One day we will physically die,but through faith in Jesus we will be resurrected to spend eternity with Him.

The experience of eternal life starts now,not just when our earthly existence is over. Jesus brought the Kingdom of Heaven to us,and His resurrection means we can live differently today. “Therefore,if anyone is in Christ,he is a new creation; the old has gone,the new has come! (2 Cor 5:17).

The disciples were transformed by an encounter with the resurrected Christ. Peter,who formerly denied Christ,became the dynamic disciple that preached at Pentecost. We can experience the same radical change in our lives. Jesus’ resurrection is just as powerful today as it was then.

Get a life in Christ … that’s His offer to you at Easter!

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