God is ultimately going to draw the curtain on sin and rebellion and all its results. When this world’s history reaches its cosmic conclusion when there will be “a new heaven and a new earth” where there is no longer death or suffering.

In the trilogy Lord of the Rings, Sam Gamgee discovers Gandalf is not dead as he thought and he cries out, “I thought you were dead! But then I thought I was dead myself! Is everything sad going to come untrue?” The answer from Christianity to that question is – YES. Everything sad is going to come untrue and it will somehow be greater for having once been lost and broken.

Resurrection plays a crucial role in the Christian explanation of the origin, existence, and fate of evil in God’s universe. The Bible places resurrection at the heart of our faith in God and hope for the future. The apostle Paul concludes that if we only have hope in Christ for this life then we are to be pitied (1Cor.15:19). Evil and death will end with the resurrection of those who put their trust in God. The resurrection of Jesus instils hope in us because it demonstrates that Jesus has the ultimate power over death and suffering. Embracing the Christian doctrine of the birth, life and death of Jesus on the cross brings profound consolation in the face of suffering. The doctrine of the resurrection can instil us with a powerful hope. It promises that we will get the life we most longed for, but it will be an infinitely more glorious world than if there had never been the need for bravery, endurance, sacrifice or salvation.

The restoration of this world is guaranteed by Christ’s resurrection, which demonstrates His divinity and His power over death. Our only hope for salvation resides in God, who takes our sin upon Himself and resurrects us with His power. Had Christ not been resurrected, he would have been proven a mere human in need of salvation himself, and we would have been left in our sins, destined for the wages of sin, which is death. (Romans 6:23). The evidence for the resurrection is powerful and we will be looking at it in a few weeks.