THE PROMISE OF RESURRECTION

Recently I read an article written by Joni Eareckson Tada.  Joni is no stranger to tragedy and difficulty.  Paralyzed in a diving accident at age seventeen, she has since ministered to millions across the world with the message of hope in Christ.

In an article she told about saying to her assistant one day, "File this, Francie, and make copies of this letter, would you?  And, oh yes, would you please pull out the sofa bed one more time?"  Her paralysis blocks her body from feeling pain, and the only way she knows something is wrong is when her temperature and blood pressure begin to rise.  She intuitively senses something is wrong.  Oftentimes it's because she has unknowingly punctured her body or has rubbed against something and suffered a bruise or laceration.  Sometimes she has to ask her assistant to undress her and examine her body to see what's wrong.

In the article Joni said she was in the midst of one of these episodes -- they happen three or four times a month -- and looked up to the ceiling and said aloud, "I want to quit this.  Where do I go to resign from this stupid paralysis?"

As Francie was leaving the office that day she ducked out the door, then stuck her head back in and said, "I bet you can't wait for the Resurrection."

Joni wrote, "My eyes dampened again, but this time they were tears of relief and hope.  I squeezed back my tears and dreamed what I've dreamed of a thousand times -- the promise of the Resurrection.  A flood of other hopeful promises filled my mind.  When we see Him we shall be like Him . . . The perishable shall put on the imperishable . . . The corruptible, that which is incorruptible . . . That which is sown in weakness will be raised in power . . . He has given us an inheritance that can never perish, spoil, or fade.  I opened my eyes and said out loud with a smile, "Come quickly, Lord Jesus."

This hope of ours isn't merely "pie in the sky in the great by and by."  It isn't merely that if we believe hard enough, things will get better.  This is not "hope-so" hope; this is know-so hope.  This is knowing the Person Who has done what no one else has ever done.

By virtue of that accomplishment, Jesus has laid claim to our faith and says, "If I came out of the grave victorious over death, and you put your trust in Me, you can have that same victory - - not only over death, but in your life, day by day." 

-- David Jeremiah in Jesus' Final Warning


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