Hope Beyond This Life

The ancient Greek historian Herodotus (fifth century bc) wrote about

a tribe that, at a birth, began a period of mourning because they antici-

pated the suffering that the infant would face if it lived to adulthood.

However alien to us the ritual might seem, there is some logic to it.

Millennia later, an advertisement in America in the early twentieth

century read “Why live, if you can be buried for ten dollars?”

Life can be hard enough, we know, even if we believe in God and in

the hope of eternity. Imagine, though, how hard it is for those who have

no hope of anything beyond the short and often troubled existence here.

More than one secular writer has commented on the meaninglessness

of human existence, since we all not only die, but we all also live with

the realization that we are going to die. And this realization is what

makes the whole project of human life, which is often hard and sor-

rowful in and of itself, seemingly null and void. One thinker referred

to humans as nothing but “hunks of spoiling flesh on disintegrating

bones.” Rather macabre, but, again, it’s hard to argue with the logic.

Of course, in contrast to all this, we have the biblical promise of eternal

life in Jesus. And that is the key: we have this hope in Jesus and what

His death and resurrection offer us. Otherwise, what hope do we have?

Read 1 Corinthians 15:12–19. What is Paul saying here about how

closely related Christ’s resurrection is to the hope of our own res-

urrection?

Paul is explicit: our resurrection is inseparably tied to Christ’s resur-

rection. And if we don’t rise, then it means that Christ has not risen, and

if Christ has not risen, then—what? “Your faith is futile; you are still

in your sins!” (1 Cor. 15:17, NKJV). In other words, when we die we

stay dead, and forever, too, and thus, it all is meaningless. Paul says in

1 Corinthians 15:32, “If the dead do not rise, ‘Let us eat and drink, for

tomorrow we die!’ ” (NKJV).

If our present existence as carbon-based protoplasm is all there is,

and our “threescore and ten years” (if we are fortunate; more if we don’t

smoke or eat too many hamburgers) are all that we get—ever—we’re

in pretty tough shape. No wonder Ellen G. White adds, “Heaven is

worth everything to us, and if we lose heaven we lose all.”—Sons and

Daughters of God, p. 349.

Think about how precious our hope and faith is. Why must we do

all that we can, by God’s grace, to preserve it?

Read for This Week’s Study: 1 Cor. 15:12–19, John 14:1–3,

John 6:26–51, 1 Thess. 4:13–18, 1 Cor. 15:51–55.

Memory Text: “And this is the testimony: that God has given us

eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life;

he who does not have the Son of God does not have life” (1 John 5:11,

12, NKJV).

Though writing in Greek, all the New Testament writers (except

Luke) were Jews, and they of course approached the nature of

human beings from the wholistic Hebrew perspective, not from

the Greek pagan one.

Thus, for Christ and the apostles, the Christian hope was not a new

hope but, rather, the unfolding of the ancient hope already nurtured

by the patriarchs and prophets. For example, Christ mentioned that

Abraham foresaw and rejoiced to see His day (John 8:56). Jude stated

that Enoch prophesied about the Second Coming (Jude 14, 15). And

the book of Hebrews speaks of the heroes of faith as having expected a

heavenly reward that they would not receive until we receive ours (Heb.

11:39, 40). This statement would be meaningless if their souls were

already with the Lord in heaven.

By stressing that only those who are in Christ have eternal life (1 John

5:11, 12), John disproves the theory of the natural immortality of the

soul. Truly, there is no eternal life apart from a saving relationship with

Christ. The New Testament hope, then, is a Christ-centered hope, and the

only hope that this mortal existence will one day become an immortal

one.

Further Thought: Read Ellen G. White, “In Joseph’s Tomb,” pp.

769–778; “The Lord Is Risen,” pp. 779–787; “Why Weepest Thou?”

pp. 788–794; “The Walk to Emmaus,” pp. 795–801; “Peace Be Unto

You,” pp. 802–808, in The Desire of Ages.

Modern sentiment doesn’t allow for something like the resurrection of

Jesus. However, the historical evidence is so strong that even those who

can’t accept the reality of the Resurrection are forced to admit that many

people believed that they had seen the resurrected Jesus. Thus, much of anti-

resurrection apologetics is the attempt to explain what could have caused all

these different people to believe that they had seen the risen Christ.

Some have argued that all the disciples hallucinated the resurrected

Jesus; others that Jesus hadn’t really died but only had swooned and

then come back to life after He had been brought down from the cross,

and when He had reappeared, His followers thought that He had been

raised from the dead. And (believe it or not) some have argued that

Jesus had a twin brother whom the disciples mistook for the risen

Christ. In other words, the historical evidence is so strong for Christ’s

resurrection that these are the kinds of arguments people concoct in

order to try to dismiss it. With the Resurrection itself so important, we

should not be surprised by all the good reasons we have been given to

believe it.

“The voice that cried from the cross, ‘It is finished,’ was heard among

the dead. It pierced the walls of sepulchers, and summoned the sleepers

to arise. Thus will it be when the voice of Christ shall be heard from

heaven. That voice will penetrate the graves and unbar the tombs, and

the dead in Christ shall arise. At the Saviour’s resurrection a few graves

were opened, but at His second coming all the precious dead shall

hear His voice, and shall come forth to glorious, immortal life. The

same power that raised Christ from the dead will raise His church, and

glorify it with Him, above all principalities, above all powers, above

every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in the world

to come.”—Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 787.

Discussion Questions:

Ê “ ‘It is finished’ ” (John 19:30) and “ ‘He is risen’ ” (Matt. 28:6,

NKJV) are two of the most meaningful statements ever made. How

do they complement each other within salvation history? What

great hope is found in these words for us?

Ë At first the religious leaders wanted guards at the tomb to keep

the disciples from stealing the body of Jesus. Later they paid the

guards to say that the disciples did steal the body. How does this

account help to reveal the reality of Christ’s empty tomb, and why

is that empty tomb so important to us as Christians?

“The First Fruits of Those Who Have Died”

Read 1 Corinthians 15:20, in light of Deuteronomy 26:1–11. In what

sense did Paul refer to the risen Christ as “the first fruits of those

who have died” (NRSV)?

The offering of “the first fruits” was an ancient Israelite agricultural

practice with deep religious significance. It was a sacred recognition of

God as the gracious Provider, who had entrusted His stewards with the

land where the crops grew and were ready to be harvested (see Exod.

23:19, Exod. 34:26, Lev. 2:11–16, Deut. 26:1–11). The first fruits

indicated that the harvest was not only starting but also revealing the

quality of its products.

According to Wayne Grudem, “in calling Christ ‘the first fruits’ (in

Greek aparchē), Paul uses a metaphor from agriculture to indicate that

we will be like Christ. Just as the ‘first fruits’ or the first taste of the

ripen­ing crop show what the rest of the harvest will be like for that

crop, so Christ as the ‘first fruits’ shows what our resurrection bodies

will be like when, in God’s final ‘harvest,’ he raises us from the dead

and brings us into his presence.”—Systematic Theology (Grand Rapids,

MI: Zondervan, 1994), p. 615.

It is worth remembering that Jesus came out of the grave with a glori-

fied human body, but He was still carrying the marks of His crucifixion

(John 20:20, 27). Does this mean that the risen children of God will

likewise bear the physical marks of their own sufferings? In the case of

the apostle Paul, will he still carry in his glorified body the “thorn in

the flesh” (2 Cor. 12:7, NKJV) and “the marks of the Lord Jesus” (Gal.

6:17, NKJV)?

Until his death, Paul “was ever to carry about with him in the body

the marks of Christ’s glory, in his eyes, which had been blinded by

the heavenly light [see Acts 9:1–9].”—Ellen G. White, The Story of

Redemption, p. 275. But this does not mean that he or any other of the

glorified redeemed will be raised with the marks of their own suffer-

ings (compare with 1 Cor. 15:50–54). In the case of Christ, “the marks

of this cruelty He will ever bear. Every print of the nails will tell the

story of man’s wonderful redemption and the dear price by which it was

purchased.”—Ellen G. White, Early Writings, p. 179. His marks are

what guarantee us that all of ours will be forever gone.

Christ will forever bear the scars of His crucifixion. What does

that reveal about God’s love for us and what it cost to save us? How

does it show, too, how much the Godhead has invested in saving us?

Witnesses of the Risen Christ

Read John 20:11–29 and 1 Corinthians 15:5–8. How did the disciples

react when they first met the risen Christ?

The two angels at the empty tomb told Mary Magdalene and some

other women that Jesus had risen (Matt. 28:1, 5–7; Mark 16:1–7; Luke

24:1–11). But soon Jesus Himself appeared to them, and they worshiped

Him (Matt. 28:1, 9, 10; John 20:14–18). He appeared also to Peter (Luke

24:34, 1 Cor. 15:5) and to the two disciples on their way to Emmaus,

whose hearts were burning while He was speaking to them (Mark 16:12,

Luke 24:13–35). When Jesus came into the Upper Room, the disciples

were initially terrified and frightened, but then they were filled with joy

and marveled at what had happened (Luke 24:33–49, John 20:19–23).

A week later, Jesus came again into the same room without opening

the doors, and then even Thomas believed in His resurrection (John

20:24–29).

During the 40 days between His resurrection and His ascension,

Jesus “was seen by over five hundred brethren at once” (1 Cor. 15:6,

NKJV) and by James (1 Cor. 15:7). Jesus joined some disciples at the

shore of the Sea of Galilee and had breakfast with them, followed by

a talk with Peter (John 21:1–23). There might have been other appear-

ances of Jesus (Acts 1:3) before the final one at His ascension (Luke

24:50–53, Acts 1:1–11). Paul also considered himself an eyewitness to

the risen Christ, who appeared to him on the road to Damascus (1 Cor.

15:8; compare with Acts 9:1–9).

When the other disciples first told the absent Thomas they had seen

the risen Lord, he reacted by saying, “ ‘Unless I see in His hands the

print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put

my hand into His side, I will not believe’ ” (John 20:25, NKJV). A week

later, Jesus reappeared to the disciples, now with Thomas present, Jesus

said to him, “ ‘Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach

your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but

believing’ ” (John 20:27, NKJV).

Then Thomas confessed, “ ‘My Lord and my God!’ ”

And Jesus added, “ ‘Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have

believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed’ ”

(John 20:29, NKJV).

“ ‘Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.’ ”

Even if you have not seen for yourself the resurrected Christ, what

other reasons do you have for your faith in Jesus?

Many Arose With Him

“Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to

bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split, and the graves

were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were

raised; and coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went

into the holy city and appeared to many” (Matt. 27:51–53, NKJV).

What does this incredible account teach us about the resurrection of

Jesus and what it accomplished?

An earthquake marked the death of Jesus (Matt. 27:50, 51), and

another one marked His resurrection (Matt. 28:2). At the moment

Jesus died, “the earth shook, the rocks split and the tombs broke open.

The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life.

They came out of the tombs after Jesus’ resurrection and went into the

holy city and appeared to many people” (Matt. 27:51–53, NIV). These

saints were raised glorified as witnesses of Christ’s own resurrection

and as prototypes of those who will be raised at the final resurrection.

Thus, right after the resurrection of Jesus, many of the Jewish people

were given powerful evidence to believe in His resurrection and thus

to accept Him as their Savior, which many did, including many priests

(see Acts 6:7).

“During His ministry, Jesus had raised the dead to life. He had

raised the son of the widow of Nain, and the ruler’s daughter and

Lazarus. But these were not clothed with immortality. After they

were raised, they were still subject to death. But those who came

forth from the grave at Christ’s resurrection were raised to everlasting

life. They ascended with Him as trophies of His victory over death

and the grave. . . . These went into the city, and appeared unto many,

declaring, Christ has risen from the dead, and we be risen with Him.

Thus was immortalized the sacred truth of the resurrection.”—Ellen

G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 786.

Humanly speaking, the chief priests and elders had great advantages.

They held the religious power of the nation and were even able to convince

the Roman authorities and the crowds to help them with their schemes. But

they forgot that “ ‘ “the Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind and

bestows it on whomever He wishes” ’ ” (Dan. 4:32, NASB). Their lies were

contradicted and invalidated by the existence of those resurrected saints.

No matter how bad things can get now, why can we trust in God’s

ultimate victory for us as we still struggle in this fallen world?

“ ‘He Is Risen!’ ”

The victory of Christ over Satan and his evil powers was secured on

the cross and confirmed by the empty tomb. “When Jesus was laid in the

grave, Satan triumphed. He dared to hope that the Saviour would not take

up His life again. He claimed the Lord’s body, and set his guard about

the tomb, seeking to hold Christ a prisoner. He was bitterly angry when

his angels fled at the approach of the heavenly messenger. When he saw

Christ come forth in triumph, he knew that his kingdom would have an

end, and that he must finally die.”—Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages,

p. 782. And though Christ’s humanity died, His divinity did not die. In

His divinity, Christ possessed the power to break the bonds of death.

Read Matthew 28:1–6; John 10:17, 18; and Romans 8:11. Who was

directly involved in the resurrection of Jesus?

During His ministry in Samaria-Peraea, Jesus stated that He Himself

had power to lay down His life and to take it again (John 10:17, 18). To

Martha He said, “ ‘I am the resurrection, and the life’ ” (John 11:25).

Other passages speak of His resurrection as an act of God (Acts 2:24,

Rom. 8:11, Gal. 1:1, Heb. 13:20). Even a mighty angel of the Lord was

involved in that glorious event (Matt. 28:1, 2).

Meanwhile, Matthew 28:11–15 reveals the futile and foolish efforts

of the leaders to continue fighting against Jesus. The Roman guard told

the leaders “all the things that had happened” (Matt. 28:11, NKJV).

Implicit in this account is the idea that the guards saw the Resurrection.

If not, what would their words mean? An angel came down from

heaven, moved the stone, sat on it, and the guards fainted? The next

thing that they knew the tomb was empty? Maybe, while the Romans

were unconscious, the angel took away the body of Jesus? Maybe the

disciples did? Or someone else stole it? Whatever happened, the body

of Jesus was, obviously, gone.

An angel from heaven coming down, the men fainting from fear,

and the tomb being empty would have been disconcerting enough to

the religious leaders. But that they “gave a large sum of money to the

soldiers” (Matt. 28:12, NKJV) to keep these men quiet implied that

whatever the soldiers told them disturbed them deeply. And what they

told of, of course, was the resurrection of Jesus.

Some scoff at the idea that the first people to see Christ resur-

rected were Romans. Why? In what ways is this truth symbolic

of what was to come: the gospel going to the Gentiles, as well?

A Sealed Tomb

Christ’s mission seemed to have ended (and even failed) with His

death on the cross. Satan succeeded in instigating Judas to betray the

Savior (Luke 22:3, 4; John 13:26, 27) and the chief priests and elders to

demand His death (Matt. 26:59, Matt. 27:20). After Jesus was arrested,

“all the disciples forsook Him and fled” (Matt. 26:56, NKJV), and

Peter denied Him three times (Matt. 26:69–75). Now Jesus was lying

in a tomb hewed out of a rock, closed with a large and sealed stone,

protected by Roman guards (Matt. 27:57–66), and watched by invisible

demonic powers. “If he could, he [Satan] would have held Christ locked

in the tomb.”—Ellen G. White, Manuscript Releases, vol. 12, p. 412.

During His earthly ministry, Christ had foretold not only His death

on the cross but also His resurrection. Using the Eastern inclusive

language—in which a fraction of a day stands for a whole day—Jesus

mentioned that “ ‘as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly

of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights

in the heart of the earth’ ” (Matt. 12:39, 40, NKJV). On other occa-

sions Jesus underscored that He would be killed but on the third day He

would rise again (Matt. 16:21; Matt. 17:22, 23; Matt. 20:17–19). The

chief priests and the Pharisees were aware of those statements and took

measures that they hoped would prevent His resurrection.

Read Matthew 27:62–66. How did these actions only help provide the

world later with more evidence for the resurrection of Jesus?

All security measures taken to keep Jesus locked in the tomb only

made His victory over death and the hosts of evil even more noticeable

because of all the precautions and measures that His enemies took to

try to make sure it would never happen.

Also, these men surely had heard of the miracles of Jesus; they had

seen some of them, too. And yet, they thought that a guard over the

tomb could stop Him, the one who was able to do so many miracles,

from being resurrected?

Also, they put a guard around the tomb in case of—what? That the

disciples might steal the body and then claim that Jesus had been resur-

rected from the dead? When the people would ask, “Where is the risen

Jesus?” They could say: “Just take our word for it.”

If nothing else, their actions revealed just how afraid the chief priests

were of Jesus, even after He died. Perhaps, deep down, they did fear

that He just might be resurrected after all.

Read for This Week’s Study: Matt. 27:62–66; John 10:17,

18; Matt. 27:51–53; John 20:11–29; 1 Cor. 15:5–8.

Memory Text: “When I saw him, I fell down at his feet like a dead

man. He put his right hand on me and said, ‘Do not be afraid. I am

the First and the Last. I am the One who lives; I was dead, but look,

I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys to death and to the

place of the dead’ ” (Rev. 1:17, 18, NCV).

Central to the Christian faith is the resurrection of Jesus. Paul

made this point very powerfully when he wrote: “For if the dead

do not rise, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen,

your faith is futile; you are still in your sins! Then also those who have

fallen asleep in Christ have perished” (1 Cor. 15:16–18, NKJV). We

will look at this in more detail next week.

Thus, no matter all the emphasis Paul put on Christ’s death, and how

important it was—“For I determined not to know anything among you

except Jesus Christ and Him crucified” (1 Cor. 2:2, NKJV)—it really

does us no good apart from His resurrection. That’s how crucial the

resurrection of Jesus is to the entire Christian faith and the plan of

salvation.

However, it’s hard to understand why the resurrection of Christ and

with it our resurrection are so important if, as many believe, the dead

in Christ are already enjoying the bliss of heaven as they have “gone

home to be with the Lord.”

All that aside, this week we will look at Christ’s resurrection and all

the convincing evidence He gave us to believe in it.

Further Thought: Read Ellen G. White, “Gethsemane,” pp. 685–

697; “Calvary,” pp. 741–758, in The Desire of Ages; “Repentance,”

p. 27, in Steps to Christ.

“I saw that all heaven is interested in our salvation; and shall we be

indifferent? Shall we be careless, as though it were a small matter whether

we are saved or lost? Shall we slight the sacrifice that has been made for

us? Some have done this. They have trifled with offered mercy, and the

frown of God is upon them. God’s Spirit will not always be grieved. It

will depart if grieved a little longer. After all has been done that God

could do to save men, if they show by their lives that they slight Jesus’

offered mercy, death will be their portion, and it will be dearly purchased.

It will be a dreadful death; for they will have to feel the agony that Christ

felt upon the cross to purchase for them the redemption which they have

refused. And they will then realize what they have lost—eternal life and

the immortal inheritance. The great sacrifice that has been made to save

souls shows us their worth. When the precious soul is once lost, it is lost

forever.”—Ellen G. White, Testimonies for the Church, vol. 1, p. 124.

Discussion Questions:

Ê Hebrews 10:4 says, “It is impossible for the blood of bulls and

goats to take away sins” (NIV). So, how were people saved in Old

Testament times? How can the analogy of a credit card—which

you use to make payments but later on have to pay for the credit

card bill—help us better understand this subject?

Ë Read 2 Corinthians 5:18–21. If Christ died for the sins of the

whole world, why won’t everyone be saved? Why does personal

choice play a crucial role in determining who will be saved by the

Cross and who will be lost despite the great sacrifice made in their

behalf?

Ì What are some things that “worldly wisdom” teaches that are

“foolishness” to God? What about the idea that all the incredi­

ble design and beauty of the world is purely a chance creation?

Or that the universe arose from absolutely nothing? What other

examples can you think of?

Í Think about the final question on Tuesday’s study. What about

the Cross, and what happened there, makes the idea of salvation

by works so futile, so erroneous, and so contrary to the plan of

salvation?