This is the difference between the scientific method and the Gospel message. Science looks at the past for evidence, and the Gospel looks to the future. Science can offer us an account of what has been observed and is being observed, but it cannot predict future specifics. The resurrection of Jesus is a forward looking event. It is the guarantee of our future life in Christ.

The message of the Bible is forward looking. "I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to give you hope and a future." (Jeremiah 29:11) That is the message of Easter. Death is not the end of our lives. We have a future to look forward to beyond the grave. Death is the gate to a new life.

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus from the dead and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade - kept in heaven for you." (1 Peter 1:3,4) Followers of Christ have an unshakable hope for the future, for Christ's resurrection is a pledge of our own future resurrection.

Jesus lived and died as a human being, just as we do. We are born, we live, and then we die. So did Jesus. But when he rose from the dead, he bestowed on all who follow him, all who live in him, all who live through him, a future to look forward to. His future becomes our future by virtue of our faith union with him. We enter into the humanity of his embodied resurrection life. By his resurrection our future has been ineradicably altered to extend beyond death. By union with the risen Jesus, through a personal relationship with him, called being 'in Christ', we share in his resurrection. Without that connection we have no future assurance. "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die." (John 11:25) "Because I live, you also will live." (John 14:19) "The early Christians believed that the resurrection was not only a sign that Jesus was alive but a guarantee that they would live also beyond death. Hope trusts that what happened to Jesus will happen to us." (A. Purves, The Resurrection of Ministry, 129) We wager on the resurrection of Jesus for our own future.

Because of this, when our loved ones die we are not totally consumed by grief, as those who have no hope. What is our earthly loss is their heavenly reward. Christian death is accompanied by a future perspective. "Be not afraid," said Jesus. "Go forward to the future where you will see me." There is a life beyond the grave. "For me to live is Christ and to die is gain." (Phil.1:21) There is an expectation of eternal life with those we love. This is the difference between a follower of Jesus and an atheist. A purely secular thinker has nothing to look forward to. "Resurrection is not just something that happened to Jesus but something that, through our union with Christ will also happen to us. Sharing in his life is to share in the promise of that life and the future that it entails." (Purves, 141)

The Easter message is counter-intuitive. Our materialist culture values the young and healthy. I think of some loved ones who are no longer young and healthy. What can I say to them to encourage them? How can they look forward to the future when they are facing serious, life-threatening illnesses? When our bodies deteriorate we suffer pain and disability. When we can no longer function physically as we used to we lose our sense of value. Our effectiveness is compromised by aging. Our opportunities seem to diminish. Activities become more difficult. We are challenged by tasks which previously we took for granted. We are tempted to look back in nostalgia at the past, and fear the future. We think the best of our life is over. We don't want to become a burden or useless. It is harder to look forward to the future. The evil one sows in our hearts a sense of despair, and cultivates anxiety in our souls. How can we look forward to the future with joy when the prospects seem so depressing? Suffering besieges us and saps our faith in our future resurrection. What keeps us going through suffering and death?

We need to hear again the words of Jesus: "Do not be afraid. Go forward to the future. There you will see me. I will come again and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place I am going. I am the way and the truth and the life. I will be with you always."

"Do not be afraid." Do not be controlled by fear of the future. It is not unknown. It has been discovered by Jesus and explored by all those who have gone before us. It is inhabited by the communion of saints. They are there to welcome us when we arrive. Just as we came into this world without knowledge of where we were going, and experienced the passage of birth, (a traumatic event to be sure), so similarly we will travel through the gate of death to our heavenly destination. "You will come to Mount Zion, the city where the living God resides. The heavenly Jerusalem is populated by throngs of festive angels and Christian citizens. It is the city where God is Judge, with judgments that make us just. You will come to Jesus, who presents us with a new covenant, a fresh charter from God." (Hebrews 12:22-24, The Message) It is future we can look forward to in Christ.

God Knows
By Minnie Louise Haskins (1875-1957)

I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year,
'Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown.'
And he replied ' Go into the darkness and put your hand Into the hand of God.
That shall be to you better than light And safer than a known way.'
So I went forth, and finding the Hand of God, trod gladly Into the night.
And He led me towards the hills and the breaking of day In the lone East.

So heart be still: what need our little life Our human life to know,
If God hath comprehension?
In all the dizzy strife of things both high and low,
God hideth his intention.
God knows. His will is best.
The stretch of years which wind ahead, so dim to Our imperfect vision, Are clear to God.
Our fears Are premature; In him all time hath full provision.

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