Real Good Part 2: "Life through Death"

I love to find answers to question that arise from life experience. I don’t always have the answers, but for me the learning process in fascinating. I also love to be asked questions. The questions I love most are the big questions that are difficult to answer and may have multi-level answers. I think this is because I am amazed by how Jesus answered questions. His answers always corresponded with reality and were not the sort of answers that sought political correctness.  I believe Jesus calls us to the same sort of answering of questions and that we Christians have answers to the big questions of life based upon solid reasoning and line up with reality. 

One such question is what happens when we die? I believe that Christianity answers the question of the afterlife based upon the reality of Jesus own resurrection. There are however multi-level answers to this question and I have a lot to learn, but I believe that we as Christians can offer our culture the truth that there is life though death.  

I believe that unless we come to grips with death then we will never really know how to live. With solid answers about death, we can live a full and meaningful life know while knowing that our physical death is not the end but in fact a new beginning. When our culture asks, what happens when we die, we can answer that there is life through death. 

As Paul the Apostle writes his second letter to the Christians in Corinth, he is  requesting that the Corinthians unify with him in his ministry because many were accusing him of not being a genuine apostle. His opponents argued that his sufferings were an indication that he was not a true apostle. He then points to the fact that his sufferings highlighted his dependence on the strength of Christ and gave legitimacy to his apostleship. Here we see the opposite of popular thought. People have always viewed difficulty and suffering as a sign of God's absence. This belief has never lined up with reality. The truth is, God has always made Himself known through difficulty and suffering. This is the case throughout the Old and New Testaments on through to today. 

Following Paul's introduction in chapter one he provides perspectives on the gospel ministry. In 2:5-17 Paul discusses the meaningfulness of forgiveness and how it helps us not be outwitted by Satan due to our own ignorance of how he works. He then spends chapter 3 addressing the covenant that we have with Christ that is based on faith and not works. Here he teaches concerning the inner transformation and the growing image of God within those who believe. In chapter 4 Paul teaches that what we proclaim is Jesus as Lord and that this news is veiled in the minds of those who reject it and the difficulty we have because of our own limitations. The point is most clear in verse 7 where he states, "But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not us." This problem is an example of my point that Christians believe that life is through death. This example here is not the ultimate example but it points in the same direction. It leads the mind of the reader into what Paul addresses in chapter 5. 

Here in chapter five, Paul explains that the body we now live in is comparable to a tent and the one that we will inherit when we die is described as a building. We identify with this text because the tent analogy and the words "groan" and "burden". Paul further explains in the text that as we live in this "tent", we are away from God but in our "building" we will be at home with the Lord. So what stands between us and our building at home with the Lord? DEATH! 

All this may seem like non-sense and in fact as Paul the Apostle taught, many believed that is was. I agree that it seems unprovable, until we understand that it is Jesus' resurrection that makes it all possible. Jesus went through death and back again. He did not stay in a shadowy underworld as was the belief of many Jews of His day. He did not go and live among the gods as was the believe of many Pagans of His day. He came back! He came back and proved to all of us that there is life through death.  We can now be of good courage and fully live a life of purpose and meaning without the fear that death is the end. Our physical death is the beginning. No other world religion has the proof that Christianity is founded upon. The literal physical resurrection of Jesus is the proof that Jesus is exactly who He stated He was and that He has conquered death and has brought us all life by doing so. He died and now we live.