One of the truths that is brought to the forefront during Lent is that we are all going to die one day. Let that sink in for a moment …
Mortality is not something that people enjoy thinking about, let alone spending a prolonged period meditating upon. But on Ash Wednesday, we were reminded that we are dust, and in the future, we will return to that from which we were made. Such a confession exposes our vulnerability.
Yet, if we consider life, we would have to acknowledge that we are already aware of its fleeting nature. We see it in our aging bodies that are susceptible to disease and injury. The world is filled with news of overwhelming danger and darkness. And then, inevitably, we all face a time when we stare clearly into the realms of death when a loved one or friend dies. The coffin or urn bears the testimony that not only is the person gone, but that our fate is the same as theirs.
We also see it in the nature of the destruction of forests and species. Of the unrelenting suffering that takes place because of natural disasters like floods and earthquakes. This world is filled with evidence of decay, and eventually, we become a part of it.
Where is hope, then, amid the gaping pit of death that looms like a black hole ready to suck up every living thing? Is there hope?
The Bible does not give us easy answers to life’s sorrows, but what we are shown is the hope that is found in the resurrection of Jesus Christ, a hope that changes everything.
Who Is Our Living Hope?
Paul addressed a problematic belief that some of the Corinthians held – that there was no resurrection. The Apostle corrected them by starting with the basics of the gospel: Jesus died for our sins, was buried, and rose to life on the third day (1 Corinthians 15:1-4). If the basis of their salvation was the death and resurrection of the Savior, then they were clearly wrong to claim that there was no future resurrection of the dead. As he wrote, “For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied” (1 Corinthians 15:16-19, NIV).
There would be no hope in this world if Jesus were merely a man who lived righteously and died like other great teachers and philosophers. Death would be the victor, and humans would be swallowed up by its bottomless pit. But that is not what the Bible teaches. Jesus, the Son of God, came to earth with the mission of saving us, which He accomplished by His death and resurrection.
That is why Paul taught about the joy of knowing that believers will receive imperishable, resurrection bodies at Jesus’ return (1 Corinthians 15:51-53). The Lord was raised to life, and we, too, will live forever with Him. Hence, another Apostle, Peter, described our hope as “a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (1 Peter 1:3, NIV). It is not some far-flung wish, as many people associate with the word “hope” today. We have an established basis for our salvation – Jesus is alive.
Hope is found in the bloodied and beaten Savior who endured death for our sake. Death did not win despite its insatiable appetite. Our Lord is the Victor and one day He will swallow up death forever (Isaiah 25:8; 1 Corinthians 15:54-57). In the words of poet John Donne, “Death, thou shalt die.” That is the hope and promise on which we stand during Lent and beyond – a living hope that cannot be quelled.
What Is the Difference between the Expectation and Reality of the Resurrection?
As believers in Jesus, we would heartily agree with the truth of the gospel but may still be tempted to think: “Yes, that is good to know for the future, but what about now? How does the resurrection have a bearing on my daily life or when I stand at the edge of a newly dug grave?”
Knowing the truth is different than living in light of it. There will be times when the future resurrection seems so distant from our reality that we lose heart. Yet the truth of the resurrection is not meant to be confined to our heads. Paul specifically addressed the practicality of the hope of Jesus’ resurrection and our own future resurrection when he encouraged the Corinthian believers to stand firm and serve the Lord, knowing that their work was not in vain (1 Corinthians 15:58). Everything he had expounded upon, about Jesus’ resurrection and our future hope of having an imperishable body, was meant to give purpose to how believers live every day. The seemingly trivial things we do each day matter because we are inheritors of the promise of eternal life. Salvation is not only about the future – it involves our lives today how we live now matters.
And how we interact with this world matters. We might not think of animals or nature as being involved in our faith in the resurrection of Jesus. However, Scripture shows us that creation awaits the renewal of all things which is intricately connected to Christians receiving their glorified bodies (Romans 8:22-24). The salvation that Jesus died to give affects everything for the curse will be reversed when God creates a new heaven and new earth (Revelation 21:1; 22:3). No longer will animals and nature suffer in bondage to sin. Thus, even the plants and creatures that we often take for granted or view with indifference are impacted by the good news of Easter.
The living hope we possess buoys us during the mundane clockwork of our lives, but also when the days come to a screeching halt because of loss. In another epistle, the Apostle Paul explained how the news that our living Lord will return and resurrect those who had died is meant to comfort us during our grief of losing loved ones (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18). Jesus was resurrected, proving His victory over death, so we can trust that our believing loved ones will also be resurrected (1 Thessalonians 4:14). Christ is, after all, the Resurrection and Life, and all who believe in Him will live even though they die (John 11:25).
We need this reminder in dark times when grief overwhelms us. Life seems to come to an abrupt halt after the death of someone we love, as if we were closing the book on their life and our relationship with them. But the Lord shines a light on this darkness and speaks a better story, a truer one.
He walks with us in our sadness, shepherding us through the shadowy paths of death. And all the while, we see His nail-scarred hands and remember the empty tomb. The passing of our loved ones does not mark the end of our relationship with them. It is only a pause. For our Risen Lord has promised us everlasting life. As Frederick Buechner wrote, “Death is not the end. The end is life. His life and our lives through him, in him” (“The End is Life,” quoted in Bread and Wine: Readings for Lent, Plough Publishers, 2003, p. 292).
We will see our loved ones again in heaven and walk with them on restored earth in resurrected bodies.
Practices and Rhythms that Tether Us
The struggle to grasp the biblical realities is the very reason we need holidays like Advent, Lent, and Easter. We are invited to return, yet again, to the grand story of redemption. Of how we are all caught in the throes of sin and death, but our God came to rescue us. He took on human flesh to live in this broken world and endured the punishment we deserve to save us.
Lent takes us through the days leading up to Good Friday, when Jesus shed His blood, and to Easter when we find the empty tomb. Again, we enter the joyful chorus that Christ is risen, worthy is the Lamb. Even though our bodies will return to dust and ashes, we know there is much more to come. For Jesus will raise our ashes, and we will live with Him forever. His death and resurrection are what give us hope to know that all the pain and evil we currently see is not all there is: a better world is coming.
And so, we observe this season with other believers, enter the rhythms of prayer and Bible reading, and celebrate the Lord’s resurrection. We do so to deliberately remember what our Savior has done, and to rekindle hope. Each act of faith and discipline we engage with declares that Christ is risen, which, of course, changes everything – from the way we interact with the mundane to how we perceive our last breath.
Photo Credit: © Unsplash/Alicia Quan
