Alive - by Dave Smith

fallen asleep in Christ are lost. If only for this life we hope in Christ,
we are of all people most to be pitied’ (1 Corinthians 15:17–19). Put
simply, Paul is saying that without the resurrection, the Christian faith
is robbed of its power and hope.
Thankfully, that’s not how things end. Rather, as Paul confidently
went on to assert: ‘But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead,
the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep’ (1 Corinthians 15:20).
Using agricultural imagery, Paul described Jesus’ resurrection as the
firstfruits of a great future harvest – the future resurrection of all
believers.
Elsewhere Paul summarised three key facts about the future: ‘But
our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Saviour from
there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to
bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so
that they will be like his glorious body’ (Philippians 3:20–21).
Notice the focus here on the return of Christ: ‘we eagerly await a
Saviour from there [heaven]’. I remember as a child watching the film
The Railway Children. A key theme running throughout is the fact that
the father of the family is falsely arrested on suspicion of being a spy.
The oldest child, Bobbie, becomes aware of this and seeks to work
for his return. The film reaches a tear-jerking climax as Bobbie
decides one day to go to the station platform where, through the
smoke from an incoming train, she sees her father who has just
alighted onto the platform after being exonerated and released from
prison. She runs to greet him shouting, ‘Daddy; my daddy!’ They
return home and the family are reunited.
As Christians we’re looking forward to a much more glorious reunion
when, at the end of history, Jesus will return in all his glory. In this
wonderful moment we will meet with him and be reunited with all