Since the Church’s earliest years, believers have rejoiced in a sublimely simple statement: Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again.
That is no mere objective truth. This ancient truth has now become our truth. The gospel makes it personal. Paul insisted in his letter to the Roman Christians that ‘if we have been united with [Christ] in a death like His, we will certainly also be united with Him in a resurrection like His’ (Rom. 6:5). In other words, where He goes, we go.
Of course, we cannot take credit for that. Only He can make it happen. Only He can make a valley of dry bones breathe. Only He can make those dead in sin live and breathe in the pure robes of heaven.
Still… isn’t there something about all this that seems a little unreal. After all, what does it mean to be united with Christ? Should we feel different? Shouldn’t there be verifiable evidence of this invisible reality? Often, we are told that we must simply take it on faith. And that is good, and fine as far as it goes. We trust Jesus, the One who saves us, and His apostle, the one who teaches us.
But what if I said ‘imagine you will be raised with Christ’? To some ears that sounds like it’s all make-believe, on a par with ‘imagine the king asks me tomorrow to become Prime Minister’, ‘imagine winning the EuroMillions lottery’, or ‘imagine sprouting wings and flying to Xanadu’. It sounds fanciful and, frankly, absurd. Isn’t this precisely what our atheist friends think, especially when they trot out that old cliché, ‘faith is believing something you know ain’t true’?
But hold your fire for a moment. What’s wrong with having to use our imaginations in the first place? We know that it is a gift of God in our creation; He made us with the ability to conceive of things in our minds, whether things to come or that don’t (yet) exist. This is one of the truly remarkable aspects of being human. In fact, we need our imaginations on a daily, perhaps even hourly, basis. It is not the exclusive preserve of novelists or songwriters or architects. For example, how could you do the weekly shop without thinking through the meals coming up? Or plan your diary? Or book your Keswick accommodation? And we need our imaginations to live out the Christian life, especially to have hope.
Consider this: ‘Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day’ (2 Cor. 4:16). The physical evidence is clear. Each of us is finite, vulnerable and, ultimately, dying. In Christ we are renewed and will live after we die. I believe that because I trust that Jesus rose. But I need to imagine it as well, not because it isn’t true but precisely because it is! It helps me to keep my confidence in God’s promises. They are not abstract or vague. Of course, when we do come face to face with Christ, our minds will be well and truly blown. It will be far greater than what we imagined. But don’t let that stop you imagining the wonder of it now. Because one day, every tear will be wiped away and we will see Him. I can’t wait!
