The last enemy to be destroyed is death

1 Corinthians 15:12-27 (TNIV) -

12 But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?13 If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised.14 And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith.15 More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised.16 For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either.17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins.18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost.

19 If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all others.
20 But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.21 For since death came through a human being, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a human being.22 For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.23 But in this order: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him.24 Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power.25 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death.27 For he “has put everything under his feet.” Now when it says that “everything” has been put under him, it is clear that this does not include God himself, who put everything under Christ.

My thoughts -

Although it may not seem like it all of the time, I'm a pretty optimistic guy. I have faith in God and in God's people. I believe that everything can be redeemed and that we have been called by God to help redeem it. Yes, bad things happen. Yes, there is, despite our best efforts, sin in this world that creates innumerable suffering. Sometimes life seems so full of pain that it's a wonder anyone can live at all in this place, and yet, at it's worst, everything can still be redeemed. Pretty optimistic, right? Almost foolishly so but that's our job. We work to reconcile humanity to God and to alleviate suffering. We work to, even in the worst situations, redeem things.

And then there's death. I've seen bodies go into the ground. I've never seen one come back up. We can speak metaphorically all we want about bringing people back from the dead. There have been situations with people very close to me where we've even written them off for dead and yet their situation was redeemed and they are now restored, redeemed, and full of life in Christ. But we never buried the body. Metaphorically they may have been "dead", but there was still something there to work with.

In the Apostles' Creed we say that we believe in "the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting". In Jesus we claim that we believe that not only was he the human incarnation of God Almighty but he was also, after his body was killed, raised from the dead and is sitting at the right hand of God Almighty now and forever. We believe these things. This is our faith. These are at the core of Christianity. And yet I still haven't seen anything come back after it's gone.

I'd like to. My hope and my faith is that they do. My hope and my faith say that, just as in life nothing is irredeemable so it is also in death. I don't know how this works. I don't know when resurrection happens. I don't know how it happens. I don't know if it's a new body, the same old body restored, or no body at all. I do know that I have buried friends and relatives and stood over a hole in the ground hoping and praying that the whole earth would shake and tear all of our cemeteries apart and restore all of our loved ones to us. I have prayed that we will all rise up and be restored and reunited. I have wept and screamed and begged and yet I haven't seen anything respond.

But this is what we believe. I have seen an awful lot of what we believe proven to be true to me in my life. I have seen an awful lot of God's promises come true. Who am I to question this one?

We all live. We all love. We all suffer. We all die. These things I have seen. My hope is now placed in that which I have not seen. My faith is now placed in that which I have not seen but hope to. Everything can be redeemed. All enemies can be defeated. Even death.