The Resurrection Of The Dead...Continued from page 3

That which comes most readily to mind is the agricultural picture of the farmer who plows the field, plants it, cultivates it, waters it. Then, after a fairly substantial time, when he sees nothing happening, he finally observes the plants beginning to peek above the soil. The plants grow and finally the grain begins to appear. It's at the moment when the first fruit is gathered that he has the promise of much more fruit to come. The whole agricultural cycle is aborted if the plant does not begin to bear fruit. The resurrected Jesus is the first fruit, One who gives evidence through His resurrection to a resurrection. We, too, shall be raised.

He also alludes to Adam. It was in Adam, the first man, that death entered the world. Jesus is referred to as the Second Adam. Paul writes, ". . .for as all die in Adam, so all will be made alive in Christ. But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ" (1 Corinthians 15: 22-23).

What a powerful promise. In Christ's resurrection we have seen a glimpse of the future.

On another occasion, Paul, writing to the church at Thessalonica, urges them to have hope. Some of the believers had died. He writes, "But we would not have you uninformed, brothers and sisters, about those who have died, so that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have died" (1 Thessalonians 4:13-14).

There are two kinds of sorrow.

One is a sorrow or grief that has no hope. It is locked in by anxiety, fear, apprehension and grief. You are locked into the fact of life and death without any external assurance that all will be well.

The person who is endeavoring to live his or her life without faith in Jesus Christ is forced to speculate on death. If you are this person, you have several options.

You can refuse to think about death, blinding your eyes to the obvious. You can avoid grief and sorrow by putting thoughts about death out of your mind. Some do this. They reject any thought that is morbid.

Or you can speculate about death, trying to explain what will happen to you after this life. You may come up with a conclusion that there is no life after death. The moment you are declared dead, you cease to exist. Life is over. There is a complete annihilation of everything.

Or you may come to the conclusion that in some mystical, pantheistic way you are absorbed into nature. Never again will you be a conscious being. There is a sense of immortality. You are a passive participant in it. Or you may speculate yourself into the view of reincarnation. This notion holds that you will die and reappear in a new form. Your state of life will be different from what it is now. Perhaps you'll come back as an animal. Or perhaps you'll come back as another human being.