Resurrection is for Real

Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! Some of you have probably already seen the movie "Heaven is for Real." Some of you have probably read the book on which it was based. Most of you have probably heard of both the movie and the book, even if you haven't seen or read it. While I've heard the basics of the story, I've neither seen the movie nor read the book. That being said, I'm not going to attempt to review it or to slam it or anything like that. But I will take the opportunity to teach. That's what I'm called to do as your pastor.

I'm glad that such a book or movie can spark interest in God and in heaven. That's good. What Christians should be cautious about is to make sure we don't take one little boy's testimony for Truth. Notice I used a capital "T." I'm not implying that it's made up, that the boy is lying or anything of the kind. Plenty of Christians have recounted similar experiences throughout history, even respected theologians. While such things can happen, be careful. You actually do have Truth, that is the Scriptures, the testimony of God Himself. And Scriptural Truth is what really counts.

Perhaps one reason we're so fascinated in the topic, aside from the story being told by a cute little boy, is that Scripture is actually rather silent about "heaven." That makes us all the more curious. While St. Paul addresses dying and going to be with Christ (Philippians 1:21), longing for it in the midst of his suffering for the gospel, what the apostle proclaims as the true hope of the Christian is resurrection. "Heaven" isn't the be-all-end-all for the Christian. While death becomes a release from the sufferings of this vale of tears, it's still the enemy. And it remains the enemy until "the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality" (1 Corinthians 15:54).

The great resurrection chapter of 1 Corinthians 15 is well worth your time. Read it today. Read it often. As we celebrate Easter, the Resurrection of our Lord, we long for the great Easter to come in His return. Christ has been raised from the dead and is the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. That means that Christ is the first of the dead to be raised. More will be raised! YOU will be raised! The apostle John puts it this way, "Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is" (1 John 3:2). That's glorious resurrection talk.

Adam and Eve were created with bodies, with human flesh and blood. So were you. Our Lord took on such flesh. Yes, our flesh is completely corrupted by sin, but God will raise you up incorruptible on the Last Day, just as He raised His Son. And on that Day God will make all things new (Revelation 21:5). He will make a new heaven and a new earth (Revelation 21:1).

Scripture speaks much more about this incredible hope of resurrection as opposed to "heaven," or the intermediate state of the soul." Heaven is certainly for real. But resurrection is definitely for real too. It's great to long to be with our risen Savior, but even more than longing for heaven itself, long for the resurrection on the Last Day, for then you shall truly be like Him and see Him as He is. The hymn "For All the Saints" captures it well, beginning with those who die and go to be with Christ, resting from their labors, but then proceeding to the glory of the final resurrection...