Our Future
Future Hope for Present Pain
There is a seamless connection between the resurrection of Christ in the past and the future resurrection of believers on the final day.
In my last post, I wrote about our Savior. Because of Christ’s work in the past, we have current hope. We also have future hope.
The promised future we read about in Scripture brings us so much more hope than anything else. Any sort of positive change in Christopher’s health would have made us happy and hopeful. But that doesn’t even compare to the future hope we have in Christ.
It is because of what we know will happen that we can press on in spite of what is happening. It’s like enduring a long car ride, knowing that reaching your destination will make the discomfort and back pain worth it. It’s like running a race, knowing that there’s a prize and cool water at the end.
Having a future to look forward to makes it easier to bear the present.
In 1 Corinthians 15:12-28, Paul argues that there is a connection between Christ’s past resurrection and the future resurrection of believers on the final day. Apparently, some Corinthians were denying the future resurrection of the dead. Paul states the simple conclusion if that were true:
But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not yet been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain… If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.
1 Corinthians 15:13-18
However, Paul already wrote about Christ’s resurrection, saying that hundreds had seen him (1 Cor. 15:1-12). Since this is true, Christ is merely the firstfruits of those who have died (1 Cor. 15:20). In Adam, death came upon everyone, so resurrection comes through Christ (1 Cor. 15:21-22). One day, God will put everything under subjection at the feet of Jesus and the dead in Christ will rise (1 Cor. 15:23-28). One day, death will finally be destroyed.
We look forward to the future, final defeat of death. The future hope of resurrection gives us hope for today.
This is part seven of my CHD Awareness Week series. To read the previous entry, click the button below:
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