Job 19:23-27

The film director Woody Allen once said, "I'm not afraid to die, I just don't want to be there when it happens." Studies have shown that most people fear death to varying degrees. This fear is so common that there is even a field of psychological study called thanatology. It examines human reactions to death and dying.

One of the biggest reasons people fear death is its apparent permanency. In our experience, dead is dead. Someone dies, and they're gone. All you have are pictures and memories. That's the way we normally think, but it is far from reality! On Easter, Christ proves to us that death isn't final or permanent at all!

Easter teaches us that Christ is the first fruits of those who have died. Just as Christ rose, "so in Christ all will be made alive" (I Corinthians 15:22). That changes everything: from the way we grieve the death of a Christian loved one, to the way we feel when our health fails, and even the way we look at our purpose in life right now.