Overcoming the Inevitable

Jesus said to her, "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.
Do you believe this?"

--  John 11:25-26

Few people like to talk about it, but it's something we'll all have to face one day. It's not a trip to the dentist's office, an audit by the IRS or even a ballet recital. It's something much more inevitable:

DEATH.

Why do so many people worry about death? For those who aren't Christ-followers, death represents the unknown. It's a gaping black hole. And who knows what's at the bottom of that pit or who's on the other side? And besides, death is just so...final.

What we don't know or understand frightens us. It frightens us a lot.

That doesn't sound very reassuring. So here's some good news, but it's only for Christ-followers. If you've accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you have absolutely nothing to fear from death. In fact, death is simply the transition between our relatively brief existence on Earth and an eternity of joy with Jesus. From Revelation--the final book of the Bible--we learn that our troubles, tears and sorrows will be things of the past. That sounds like something to anticipate rather than fear.

How is this possible? In short, it's the Easter story. After Jesus willingly died on a cross to pay the enormous debt for our sins, He proved that He was indeed God's Son by fulfilling Old Testament prophesies and rising to life. The huge boulder that had once sealed His grave was rolled away--and the tomb was empty! And so was the devil's greatest weapon against mankind: the inevitability of death.

The Easter story reveals an obvious truth: one day, death will take us all. But there's some very good news in this sobering thought. If you've surrendered your life to Jesus, death can't keep you. It's already been defeated through Jesus' triumphant resurrection.

When Easter morning arrives this Sunday, remember that it means much more than chocolate rabbits, jelly beans and colorful hard-boiled eggs. Easter is really a celebration about overcoming the inevitable and defeating the unbeatable. You can therefore believe Jesus' promises and have supreme confidence in your eternal future.

It's the amazing Easter story. He conquered death long ago so you don't have to worry about it today.