Belief in Life After Death

Scripture: If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, then our proclamation is in vain, and so is your faith. Moreover, we are found to be false witnesses about God, because we have testified wrongly about God that he raised up Christ—whom he did not raise up, if in fact the dead are not raised. 1 Corinthians 15:13-15

Observation: As Paul addresses the question of life after death for the faithful, he uses a simple argument against those who say that resurrection of the dead is impossible ... if that is the case, then Jesus couldn't have been resurrected, and if Jesus wasn't resurrected then the entire gospel - in fact, everything about God - is a lie, so faith is a lie.

This is a core element of faith. We believe in certain facts, which some might call the 'essentials' of faith. These include the existence of the Lord, the revelation of the Lord's will through the bible, and the reality of Jesus as the promised Messiah including all he was prophesized to do. While 'understanding' may involve interpreting certain elements of these essentials and thus could create differing opinions, 'faith' involves simply knowing that the essentials are true and real.

The resurrection of Jesus, and in turn eternal life promised through belief in Jesus, is one of the essentials. It is predicted, documented, and promised in the bible, and Paul is simply pointing out that it is illogical to declare you believe in Jesus but don't believe in the resurrection of Jesus, and in the promise of resurrection by faith in Jesus.

Application: Whenever I read about someone discussing one of the four or five core essential components of faith, I am often shocked by how many people actually believe in the essentials ... but don't believe in God. This is one example. It is very, very common for someone who has absolutely no belief in God - who actively declares God doesn't exist and thus every element of monotheism is a deception - to believe in 'life after death' and even to declare they believe they have spoken to and/or seen dead relatives. This to me is confusing at best.

Of course, it remains one of the great deceptions of satan that he will deceive people not by hiding God from them, but by convincing them that God and all his ways and his love is something else. He convinces people that the wonder of creation is an inevitable conclusion of random chance. He makes people think that their free will allows them to decide right and wrong, instead of to choose right over wrong. And he shows false images to make people think life-after-death can exist while doubting the idea that heaven and hell exist.

I believe in the essentials of faith. I may have strong, informed thoughts about many other elements of faith, but those are just informed thoughts ... the essentials are not. I know Jesus resurrected, and that by faith I will join him in everlasting life.

Prayer: Lord, may thy will be done. May I keep my faith in you, and my eyes on your glory and wonder and love today. Amen.