“At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16: 11)
The Basket Case Chronicles #180
“Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.” (1 Corinthians 15:18–19).
If the dead are not raised, then those who have died in Christ are dead and gone. If the dead are not raised, then those who have fallen asleep in Christ have simply perished. If our hope in Christ is only a “this life” thing, then Christians truly are a pitiable lot. We, of all men, are most to be pitied. We are miserable, because we are consoling ourselves in our current miseries with a future glory that will never happen.
Paul says elsewhere that our current sufferings are not worth comparing to the glory that will be revealed in us. But, of course, this only makes sense if that future glory really is revealed in us. If nothing of the sort is going to happen, if the dead are not raised, then we are letting far too many opportunities for pleasure pass us by.
Amen.
Great reminder.
This seems to be atheists main objection to Christianity, not that it’s factually mistaken but it leads its followers into a self abnegation that is a waste of life. They don’t seem to grasp that in order for a thing to be wasted it must have a purpose in the first place.