The hour is coming in which all who are in the graves
will hear His voice and come forth. —John 5:28-29
An ancient painting I saw recently made a deep impression on me. Its title, Anastasis,
means “resurrection,” and it depicts the triumph of Christ’s victory
over death in a stunning way. The Lord Jesus, newly emerged from the
tomb, is pulling Adam and Eve out of their coffins to eternal life. What
is so amazing about this artwork is the way it shows how spiritual and
physical death, the result of the fall, were dramatically reversed by
the risen Christ.
Prior
to His death on the cross, the Lord Jesus predicted a future day when
He will call believers into a new and glorified existence: “The hour is
coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come
forth” (John 5:28-29).
Because
of Christ’s victory over death, the grave is not final. We naturally
will feel sorrow and grief when those we love die and we are separated
from them in this life. But the believer does not grieve as one who has
no hope (1 Thess. 4:13).
The witness of Jesus’ resurrection is that all Christians will one day
be taken from their graves to be clothed with glorified resurrection
bodies (1 Cor. 15:42-44). And so “we shall always be with the Lord”
(1 Thess. 4:17). —Dennis Fisher
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