Resurrection I ~ A Stunning Hope: 1 Corinthians 15:12-19, especially vs. 15:
"...we have testified of God that He raised up Christ...."
How many around us today, exalted by technology, ride jubilantly upon a wave of products and devices - like surfers who have caught the proverbial "big one"! Of course, surfers know that waves move inexorably toward shore. The exhilarating moment ends at the beach - a boundary that cannot be passed. There are limits in the physical realm upon which technology depends, and there is a finale when the "big one" crashes on the shore.
We may draw a corollary from St. Paul: since we have a hope not in this life only but in Christ Who is eternal, we are of all men the most blessed (vs.19). We do not depend for our faith and hope upon that which may be concluded from repeated tests in the physical realm, but upon an unrepeatable event of this world that provides a stunning hope in God Who is unseen. Christ is preached: He is risen from the dead (vs. 12).
Resurrection is the Apostolic proclamation, an announcement more than a message, and one that is truly on the order of incalculable declaration. Christ is risen! This is the Faith of the Apostles, this is the Faith of the Fathers, this is the Faith, which the Church celebrates with great joy. Resurrection bridges the present world to the great spiritual Kingdom of God that is beyond physical measurement. The Resurrection of the Lord Jesus connects the two realms forever, for as is said in the Orthros on the Feast of the Ascension, "our fallen nature hath been honored by sitting with the Father."
Resurrection is the restoration of spirit and soul to a transformed physical body, an act of God superseding the "normal" expectations of the natural world (1 Cor. 15:52). Resurrection must not be confused with immortality of the soul - life apart from the body, nor is it reincarnation into another body, nor is it revivification of this mortal body that decays and changes. God will restore body, soul, and spirit to that which He intended at the Creation - that is Resurrection. Christ took on our flesh, trampled down death by death, and will bestow Resurrection upon us.
St. Paul's assertion is pertinent: "...if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen" (vs. 13). Most who deny the Resurrection accept the fact that Jesus was a man, but observe: His Resurrection reflects back on His humanity, disclosing Incarnation, revealing that in Christ, God became man. If He took to Himself all that we are by nature, it was the Divine gateway for entering into Hades in order to triumph over death. Earlier the Apostle told the Corinthians, "...I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified" (1 Cor. 2:2); and the present assertion now complements the Apostle's earlier remark.
Materialist scoffers find the proclamation of the Apostles to be empty, pious delusion (vss. 14,15). Saint Paul says that to agree with them empties the Faith of its content (vs. 14), makes the Apostles liars, and throws away all hope for ourselves, and all men. Instead of a stunning hope, we would face the drear prospect of a terminating physical existence (vs. 15-17).
Christ is risen! This is the testimony of faithful men, honest witnesses, observers who saw His death and "looked upon, and...handled...the Word of life" (1 Jn. 1:1) before His execution and after His Resurrection. Therefore, we have an ineffable hope of stunning impact. "The dead shall arise, some to everlasting life, and some to reproach and everlasting shame" (Dan. 12:2 LXX). Sins are forgiven (1 Cor. 15:17). Our loved ones "who have fallen asleep in Christ" (vs. 18) are, as Dionysios the Areopagite says, "in comfort and unshaken hopes, as [they] attain the goal of the divine contests." Let us reject the common pursuit of momentary satisfaction (vs. 19).
The body with all its senses shall, in its perfection, enter into Paradise. Deem us worthy, that in Thy Kingdom we should have an inheritance. (St. Ephraim the Syrian, Hymn on Paradise.)