Today is Easter Sunday. I stumbled over this meme on Facebook and it made me think.
The Apostle Paul wrote: “For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins” (I Corinthians 15: 16-17).
Yet, Paul concluded: “But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive” (I Corinthians 20-22).
For the Christian, everything rests on these assumptions: The existence of God, the fall of man, the need for salvation, and the resurrection of Christ. If true, everything changes.
Yesterday, I was reading Os Hillman’s The Upside of Adversity. Hillman referred to the old question of “Why bad things happen to good people?” He answered that there are no good people. There was only one good person and this changes everything.
Yes, we live in a fallen world, but we may also cross over from spiritual death to spiritual life. The implications are not just for the the afterlife, but for abundant life right now. Happy Easter.
-Darin Gerdes
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Dr. Darin Gerdes is an Associate Professor and Director of Graduate Programs in the School of Business at Charleston Southern University. All ideas expressed on www.daringerdes.com are his own.