The Easter People
A man who was completely innocent offered
himself as a sacrifice for the good of others, including his enemies, and
became the ransom of the world. It was a perfect act.
—Mahatma Gandhi (1869–1948)
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Christian hope is faith looking ahead to
the fulfillment of the promises of God. Christian hope is a certainty,
guaranteed by God himself. Christian hope expresses knowledge that every day of
his life, and every moment beyond it, the believer can say with truth, on the
basis of God’s own commitment, that the best is yet to come.
—Adapted from Jim Packer (b. 1926)
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What happens when a Christian dies is not
a matter of speculation, but of certainty based on truth. Something tremendous
happened in history that has taken the issue of life after death out of the
realm of conjecture and moved it into verified fact. Paul openly and clearly
states the reason for his confidence. “We know that the one who raised the Lord
Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you in
his presence.”1 The resurrection of Jesus Christ is a precedent
for the resurrection of all those who are in Christ. In other words, our future
resurrection is based on the historicity of Christ’s resurrection. The
resurrection of Jesus Christ is not a peripheral issue, but is central and
crucial to the Christian faith. … The fact that Jesus is alive and makes His
home in us doesn’t only change our perspective on the next life, but in this
life as well, because until we are ready to face death, we will never really
know how to live freely. The Christian faith is not about escapism, but about
life here and now, lived in the love, strength and wisdom of the presence of
Christ within us. In this, we have the assurance of the One who was raised from
the dead raising us up to our eternal home with Him.
—Charles Price
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No tabloid will ever print the startling
news that the mummified body of Jesus of Nazareth has been discovered in old
Jerusalem. Christians have no carefully embalmed body enclosed in a glass case
to worship. Thank God, we have an empty tomb. The glorious fact that the empty
tomb proclaims to us is that life for us does not stop when death comes. Death
is not a wall, but a door.
—Peter Marshall (1902–1949)
1. 2 Corinthiens 4:14