It is sometimes thought that the Christian doctrine of the resurrection finds its genesis in the historical New Testament fact of the resurrection of Jesus. Although this teaching, the central truth of the gospel and Christianity, finds its concrete fulfilment in the cry of the angel, ''He is risen," on that resurrection morning. its origins are deeply rooted in the oldest book in the Bible.
It was Job, in the oldest book in the Bible, who first placed into Biblical print that question of all questions about man's mortality or immortality when he rhetorically cried, "If a man die, shall he live again?" (Job 14:14) Then. after speculating on the fact that even a tree has a hope of a new life when a sprout springs from its stump, he goes on to resoundingly answer his own question when he affirms, "I know my redeemer liveth. and that He shall stand at the latter day upon the earth .. and though my body be destroyed .. yet in my flesh shall I see God.". (Job 19:25-26)
Man's quest for such immortality permeates all history and transcends all cultures. The pharaoh's were buried in preparation for the possibility of an after-life. So were the nobility and religious elite of many other cultures on every continent. The search for immortality prompted the Spanish explorer, Ponce de Leon, to explore what is now the state of Florida, searching for a reputed fountain of youth. Of course, he did not find it, but came to the end of his mortal life at the point of an Indian's arrow
Charlatans and con-artists throughout the centuries have taken advantage of man's ceaseless search for an answer to the riddle of immortality. The ancient alchemists, with their fraudulent formulas and elixirs of life, give testimony to the absurdity of some aspects of that endless quest.
Even today we see .continuing manifestations of such sad seeking. The New Age movement, which is nothing more than a revival of certain aspects of Hinduism and ancient Eastern mystic religions, plays upon man's innate spiritual hunger and thirst for spiritual immortality. Re-incarnation, spiritism, channelling and the like, are all based upon a certain presumption of the possibility of individual renewal or resurrection of life.
But for Christians the matter is settled once and for all in the gospel record of Christ's victory over death, hell and the grave that wonderful resurrection morning. It is surely as the apostle Paul once said, "If Christ is not risen, we are of all men most miserable" The risen Christ is the Christian's blessed hope. When man faces death, the common denominator of all mankind, what other hope would suffice? The Christian's quest joyously ends at that empty tomb where an angel once cried, "He is not here, He is risen!" Pastor John White
The Blessed Hope
There rests within the breast, Of those who wait for Him,
A fervent, burning, hope for rest, From sin in every limb,
Longing ever to be free, From the prison of this flesh,
By faith the empty tomb we see, And our hearts are filled with bliss.
And echoing as we pause and listen, The angel's cry, "He is risen!"
It was Job, in the oldest book in the Bible, who first placed into Biblical print that question of all questions about man's mortality or immortality when he rhetorically cried, "If a man die, shall he live again?" (Job 14:14) Then. after speculating on the fact that even a tree has a hope of a new life when a sprout springs from its stump, he goes on to resoundingly answer his own question when he affirms, "I know my redeemer liveth. and that He shall stand at the latter day upon the earth .. and though my body be destroyed .. yet in my flesh shall I see God.". (Job 19:25-26)
Man's quest for such immortality permeates all history and transcends all cultures. The pharaoh's were buried in preparation for the possibility of an after-life. So were the nobility and religious elite of many other cultures on every continent. The search for immortality prompted the Spanish explorer, Ponce de Leon, to explore what is now the state of Florida, searching for a reputed fountain of youth. Of course, he did not find it, but came to the end of his mortal life at the point of an Indian's arrow
Charlatans and con-artists throughout the centuries have taken advantage of man's ceaseless search for an answer to the riddle of immortality. The ancient alchemists, with their fraudulent formulas and elixirs of life, give testimony to the absurdity of some aspects of that endless quest.
Even today we see .continuing manifestations of such sad seeking. The New Age movement, which is nothing more than a revival of certain aspects of Hinduism and ancient Eastern mystic religions, plays upon man's innate spiritual hunger and thirst for spiritual immortality. Re-incarnation, spiritism, channelling and the like, are all based upon a certain presumption of the possibility of individual renewal or resurrection of life.
But for Christians the matter is settled once and for all in the gospel record of Christ's victory over death, hell and the grave that wonderful resurrection morning. It is surely as the apostle Paul once said, "If Christ is not risen, we are of all men most miserable" The risen Christ is the Christian's blessed hope. When man faces death, the common denominator of all mankind, what other hope would suffice? The Christian's quest joyously ends at that empty tomb where an angel once cried, "He is not here, He is risen!" Pastor John White
The Blessed Hope
There rests within the breast, Of those who wait for Him,
A fervent, burning, hope for rest, From sin in every limb,
Longing ever to be free, From the prison of this flesh,
By faith the empty tomb we see, And our hearts are filled with bliss.
And echoing as we pause and listen, The angel's cry, "He is risen!"
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