Your Dead Shall Live

Your dead shall live; Together with my dead body they shall arise. Awake and sing, you who dwell in dust; for your dew is like the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead. 

Isaiah 26:19 

We live in the light of eternity. This life is only the prelude to it. Our text speaks of the resurrection of the dead. That resurrection of the dead is, in many ways, the commencement of the eternal state. Paul spoke at length of the resurrection. In I Corinthians 15, he said, ‘Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.’ His statement articulates in a didactic manner what our text says in a poetic fashion. Christ spoke directly about the resurrection, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live.’ Four times in John 6, Christ speaks of those who believe in Him and says of them, ‘I will raise him up at the last day.’ All these things point to the resurrection, the commencement of the eternal state. We know this is coming. Therefore, we are making preparation for it, and urge others to as well. The first order of business is to repent and embrace Christ as the gospel freely offers Him. The next order of business is to follow Him as He leads us along the path of life. As we follow Him, we learn to imitate Him. As we imitate Him, we grow to be more like Him. As we grow to be more like Him, He prepares us to see Him Face to face.  

Our All-Powerful God, 
we rejoice that You are the God of the resurrection. 
We praise You that because Christ lives,  
we also shall live.

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning