The Meaning of the Resurrection

One important insight that we can glean from the resurrection of Jesus is this - the choice of the Son of God to take up the form of a human being was NOT a temporary state of existence that ended in the death of His (imperfect) physical body. Rather, Jesus resurrects the body-spirit existence of mankind back to the state of perfection when He permanently takes on the physical form of a spiritual body (a form that is perfect and eternal).

We can look forward to our own resurrection into spiritual bodies the next time Jesus comes into the world.

And that, my dear brothers and sisters in Jesus, is what we actually mean when we say that the resurrection of Jesus conquered death (the by-product of our imperfect and fallen state of existence).

I share with you the words of Jesus to His dear friend Martha - "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?" (John 11:26) NIV

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Suffering

God did not create suffering in the world. Rather, suffering was introduced into the world by the exercise of man’s free will to be separate from God and raise himself to the level of God. Yet, even though suffering is an unfortunate by-product of this unfortunate choice (by the first man), it is also the means by which redemption from it comes.

A good metaphor for this concept would be the poison of a snake. We use it as a means to build an effective antidote to it. In like manner, suffering is the path to developing an effective remedy for it.

To grasp the truth of this spiritual concept, one need only reflect on why Jesus willed Himself to endure an incredible amount of physical and mental agony (and ultimately die on a tree) in order to bridge the spiritual divide between God and man.

Learn to embrace suffering with a loving outlook, and in doing so, peace will rest within you.

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