Piero della Francesca, The Resurrection, Museo Civico of Sansepolcro
As this weekend we remember and reflect on the death and resurrection of Christ, I invite you to ponder these verses with me:
For the love of Christ urges us on, because we are convinced that one has died for all; therefore all have died. And he died for all, so that those who live might live no longer for themselves, but for him who died and was raised for them.
From now on, therefore, we regard no one from a human point of view; even though we once knew Christ from a human point of view, we know him no longer in that way. So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us. -2 Corinthians 5:14-19
This passage illuminates the central mystery of the Christian faith: that through suffering, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, humans are reconciled to God. Through that reconciliation we can glimpse now the future transformation of all things. Bible scholars and theologians often call this the “already and not yet”. Followers of Christ are already new creations through the power of the cross and empty tomb, but we still long for the final coming of God’s Kingdom in its full power and glory. The resurrection of Jesus Christ foreshadows a glorious reality free of death, tears, and suffering which has not yet come. In the meantime, we bear witness to the transformational power of Christ in our lives, communities, and world.
How can a person who values scientific discovery also speak of such things as resurrection and new creation, which are so far removed from the reality which science can measure? Isn’t that unscientific? If you are asking these questions on this holy weekend, I want to point you to some excellent BioLogos resources on these subjects (linked below and on the sidebar):
