Dear COA Family,
Today is Resurrection Sunday!
Traditionally, we greet one another with the phrase, “The Lord is Risen”, with the reply, “He is Risen indeed!”
The reason for such greetings is because everything changes with the resurrection of Christ!
Paul tells us about the significance of the resurrection in his letter to the Corinthian church:
“But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.” (1 Cor 15:20)
In other words, what Jesus is like, we will be become in future because he is the model for all of us!
And we must not mistake resurrection as a form of ethereal existence in eternity. The understanding of resurrection we have as Christians is one that is consistent since the time of the Jewish people. It is not simply life as a spiritual being which lives forever and ever, but one with a bodily existence. There has always been an understanding in Jewish thought that the body and soul of a person are part of the same one person and should not be separated. It was only with Greek philosophy that the body and spirit was separated to the detriment of Christian thought.
And it is only with the resurrection of Jesus Christ that we have a clear idea of what our resurrection body will be like. It will be glorious, free from weakness, sin or suffering and will continue for ever. Our identities will not be lost but renewed in our new resurrection bodies. No wonder this is such a great hope for Christians!
As I speak to people suffering with ailments and pain with little hope of recovery, the anticipation of the new perfect and glorified resurrection body is such good news that it is almost too good to be true. Yet that is what we can look forward to with the resurrection of Christ. Which is why Easter is such a joyous occasion and season.
Happy Easter!
Revd Ian 🙏