The Prophet Job asked an important question which many people have, “If a man dies, will he live again?…” (Job 14:14 NIV) Probably most people would like to think that there is something beyond this life. The thought that everything ends at the grave is repugnant. In contrast, the thought of being resurrected from the dead and being given a new body that will last forever is very appealing.
But suppose the resurrection never takes place. What would it mean if the grave is the end of everything?
Some people actually welcome this idea because it means that there is no accountability. They will never have to pay for the wrongs they have committed in this life.
However, this also means that there is no justice either. If the resurrection does not take place, and people do not have to pay for what they have done, then wrongs can never be righted.
Also, without the resurrection, life is ultimately without meaning. What does it matter what we do or what we achieve if it all ends at the grave? King Solomon wrote, “…in the grave, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom.” (Ecclesiastes 9:10 NIV)
Without the resurrection, we will be separated from our loved ones for all eternity. Once we die, we will never see them again.
Without the resurrection we will also be eternally separated from God. There is something in our hearts which longs to be in God’s presence. The Psalmist wrote, “My soul yearns, even faints for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.” (Psalm 84:2 NIV) But we will never be with God if there is no resurrection.
If there is no resurrection, we have no hope. The Apostle Paul writes, “If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. …you are still in your sins. …If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men.” (1 Corinthians 15:13-19 NIV)
Eventually, Job was able to answer his own question through the eyes of faith, “I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God; I myself will see him with my own eyes – I, and not another. How my heart yearns within me!” (Job 19:25-27 NIV)
Do we have the same kind of faith and hope that Job had?