Devon Dick
ON SUNDAY last, millions of Christians celebrated Christ's resurrection from the dead. This is a fundamental teaching of the Christian faith. For many Christians, the belief in the after-life gives meaning and purpose to life and hope to us all.
The resurrection of Jesus, the Messiah, addresses the issue of whether a human being will be able to live after death. Last Saturday, Rev. Linval Lewis, of the Jamaica Evangelical Associa-tion, in preaching at the funeral service of Mr. Spencer Brown, said the most important question in the whole Bible is found in Job 14:14: "If a man dies, will he live again?" This mother of all questions is at the heart of Christianity. Saint Paul placed the credibility of Christianity on the issue of the resurrection of Christ. Paul said that if Christ be not raised from the dead then preaching and the Christian faith were useless and vain activities. It also meant that there is no after-life based on Christian teachings. If Christ be not raised, then it might as well churches become community centres and pastors find something useful to do.
RESURRECTION IMPLICATIONS
In addition, this issue of the resurrection of Christ has serious implications for non-believers. It is not enough to claim one is an atheist or an agnostic. One needs to address the contention that Christ lived, suffered, buried and is now alive. Sceptics need to come with evidence that Jesus is still dead. The implications of this doctrine are so far-reaching that each person needs to wrestle with this issue.
If there is no resurrection of the dead, then there would be no end game to life that would be worth contemplating. It would mean that we have hope only in this life. Therefore, some persons would have had a very short miserable life affected by disease and poverty, while some would have had long life on easy street. Life would be one grand lottery with few getting a jackpot, while the majority suck salt and there would be no reversal a la the rich man and Lazarus parable.
If there is no life after death, then what is the purpose of life? Might as well get rich or die trying while ignoring the legitimate claims of the community, including the vulnerable aged and ill. Just join the rat race and stay ahead of the game.
FACING THE JUDGEMENT
If there is no accountability in this life and no proper justice system, then life on earth would be a jungle affair with only the strong surviving. Vigilante justice would be the order of the day. And then to find out that there will be no judgement after this earthly life for God to punish evil and reward the good, would be chaos.
Persons would have declared war and thousands of innocent persons would have been killed because of arrogant persons and it just 'go so'. Persons would cause murder and mayhem and 'get whey scotch free'. Persons would rape and rob and no punishment. Persons are held in slavery-like conditions and slave masters have nothing to fear. No sankey nuh sing suh. Everybody will face a judgement.
There is some moral order on earth. There will be a perfect moral order in the next existence. And if with all the imperfections of earth, there is a justice system and sanctions for evil, then heaven must be the forum for perfect justice. This philosophy is predicated on life after death.
Thank God, Christ is risen, which gives meaning and a goal to life.
Rev. Devon Dick is pastor of Boulevard Baptist Church and author of 'Rebellion to Riot: the Church in Nation Building'.
