Full life for eternity
Faustino de Jesús Zamora VargasWe seldom stop to meditate on our future life as a Christian; 'what will come' when we are no longer physically on this earth. God's Word affirms that when Christ returns - judgment through - we will rise with Him in incorruptible body and soul. No other religion makes such a promise. The doctrine of the true resurrection is instituted with Christ. The empty tomb continues to be the unbeatable pedestal on which Christianity takes hold, the bulwark of our faith. Without faith in the resurrection, Christianity would be meaningless.
As Christians it is almost normal to think about the here and now, but our hope is in Christ. The eternal life promised to the Christian rests on faith in the resurrection of our Lord. “I am the resurrection and the life; He who believes in me, even though he is dead, will live ”(John 11:25). The wonder of the resurrection transcends the discernment of the human mind. By resurrecting Christ and placing our faith in him, he made us partakers of such a nature that from now on we can have the conviction of a life of total fulfillment in his presence for all eternity.
The fullness of life in the here and now is lived by faith. The spiritual dimension of eternity began the day we decided to believe in Jesus and put our trust in Him. The target of the worst attacks on Christianity has been the resurrection of our Lord since the first century and still is today. The times that He announced His resurrection on the third day of His death, His disciples hardly believed Him. Only after seeing him risen did they understand and from then on the resurrection became the cornerstone of their preaching. Paul said to the Corinthians: "And if Christ has not risen, then our preaching is vain, your faith is also vain" (1 Cor 15:14). And in his second letter to these brothers he added: “For we know that he who raised the Lord Jesus will also raise us up with him and will bring us with you into his presence” (2 Cor 4.14).
Passion Week encourages us to celebrate that hope, to meditate on the sacrifice of our Lord, to give thanks for the promise of eternal life. It is not only a hope for this life (1 Cor 15:19), but for the one to come. Christ "was delivered for our transgressions, and was raised again for our justification" (Ro 4:25). God made us righteous by resurrecting his son so that we can boast in the hope of his glory (Ro 5.2).
Let's celebrate Christ! He lives! The nails of his martyrdom could not contain his glory. Laurel and olive leaves continue to sprout from the tree to crown the head of the Lord of the church and of our lives. The emptiness of his grave - until the day we see him face to face - is and will continue to be the fullness of our hearts.
God bless you!