Choose Life (Part Thirty Nine): Our Main Stay.

I believe in Resurrection.

Now a certain man was there who had an infirmity thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he already had been in that condition a long time, He said to him, “Do you want to be made well?” (John 5:5-6, NKJV)

We continue this week with the story of the sick man healed at the Pool of Bethesda. [John 5:1-15].

Where are you going after here? Do you know? Do you care? What are your thoughts on life after death? Do you believe there is life after death? Do you believe in the resurrection from the dead? I guess rather than asking all these questions, I should simply ask, “Are you a Christian?” 

Death and Resurrection are the “yin-yang” of Christianity. Christianity is not Death or Resurrection. It is Death and Resurrection. [Philippians 3:10; 1 Thessalonians 4:14-17; 2 Timothy 2:11-13; John 12:24; Mark 8:35] Resurrection is the mainstay of Christianity. [1 Corinthians 15:12-19; Romans 1:4] 

"Christianity is not Death or Resurrection. It is Death and Resurrection."

They are mutually inclusive. You CANNOT be a Christian and not believe in the resurrection. If you are a Christian, you believe in the resurrection. If you do not believe in the resurrection, you are not a Christian. Period! It's that simple. [Matthew 22:23-33]

"Resurrection is the mainstay of Christianity."

If Christ never rose from the dead, we have no claim to "life," neither in the 'here and now,' nor in 'that to come.' We know He rose from the dead, and He lives forevermore. [Revelations 1:18; 1 Corinthians 15:20; John 11:25-26] That is the basis of our claim to "life," both in the 'here and now,' and 'that which is to come.'

"If Christ never rose from the dead we have no claim to 'life.'"

So, do you know where you are going after your time here? Have you settled that? Have you done your part? Are you doing your part in the game of life? Is your vision of the 'hereafter' constraining you today? Can your vision be seen in your life? Or are they out of sync?

© 2017 Akin Akinbodunse

Links to Study Series:

Choose Life (Part Thirty-Eight): Why Are We Here?
Choose Life (Part Forty): Purpose

Links to Other Resources:

Will You Wait? (Part Eight)

After You Believe (N.T. Wright)
Surprised by Hope (N.T. Wright)
Simply Christian (N.T. Wright)
12 Rules of Life (Jordan B. Peterson)

Courageous Faith (Charles F Stanley)

Why I Believe in the Resurrection (Chip Ingram)

7 Habits of Highly Effective People (Stephen R. Covey)

"If the Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from death, lives in you, then he who raised Christ from death will also give life to your mortal bodies by the presence of his Spirit in you." (Romans 8:11, GNT)

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