The Tomb Is Still Empty

“It is the same way with the resurrection of the dead. Our earthly bodies are planted in the ground when we die, but they will be raised to live forever.  Our bodies are buried in brokenness, but they will be raised in glory. They are buried in weakness, but they will be raised in strength.  They are buried as natural human bodies, but they will be raised as spiritual bodies.”  1 Co 15:42-45.

 

It was a day like no other…the day when man believed that he knew more…was more… entitled to more.  It was the day when Love was hung on the cross and war was waged on sin and death.  It was the very event that played out in despair so that unleashed power was available to all of us.  Jesus laid lifeless…broken…perishable…buried, but Christ was transformed by Glory into the imperishable…powerfully strong…beautifully whole Savior.  War was waged and sin and death lost. 

 

In Christ’s love death died and all who have been ‘planted’ in the love of God have the privilege to be raised with this same power.   Those who were planted with sick and broken bodies like my loved ones have exchanged them for ones that will never perish.  Our loved ones who were weak have been made perfectly strong in the promise of God and will live forever with Him.  We know and believe this and we live in the tension between living without and reuniting with our loved ones. 

 

But the cross wasn’t just about eternal salvation as glorious as that will be.  It was also about living like the tomb is still empty.  It is a snapshot that no matter what seems dead on earth…our hopes…our dreams…our healing…the stone is still removed!  We give such little claim to the empty tomb except for life after death.  The empty tomb speaks so much more than that…the empty tomb says sin has lost the war.  The empty tomb says there is always hope no matter how dark our days seem.  The stone removed says there is always an escape out of our circumstances when we really believe. 

 

Let’s live our lives and claim our promises that the tomb is still empty and the stone is still missing!  Let's live in the celebration that we can have a shadow on earth of what will someday be ours in heaven.