Why Resurrection Has Always Been Inevitable
As the entire Christian world celebrates Easter, it seems at times to be largely symbolic of new beginnings, an emergence from a dormant Winter into the rebirth of Spring, or the emergence of new life represented by baby chicks and bunnies; it also seems to discount the reality that each of us will rise from the dead as Jesus did. In a quick search of resurrection on the internet, almost every article presents arguments for the idea that Jesus rose from the dead, but few mention who else will be raised from the dead. Most argue that only true believers will be resurrected. In short, there are no clear answers to this matter.
Today, I will present some ideas I believe will demonstrate that not only Jesus rose from the tomb but that resurrection is the inevitable outcome for all of us.
We have to start in the middle of the story to establish the basis of the argument. One thing we can be sure of is that we exist in the here and now. We are not part of the matrix or a dream in our or someone else’s head. We are not a cog in a machine or part of a collective. We are unique individuals, possessing free will and blessed with knowledge based on our experiences. While we all go through similar lifetime activities, what we see and feel is singular to each of us. Our thoughts are our own and are not controlled by others, not even God.
So how did we get to this here and now, and what or who are we? We didn’t come into existence as a mass of cells in our mother’s womb.; that was merely how we came into this world. If we were simply biological creatures, we would not drastically differ from our siblings. Even identical twins have their own personalities.
Before we were children of earthly parents, we were the spiritual offspring of heavenly parents, and we were not spiritual clones either. Even in the pre-earth realm, we possessed unique characteristics, knowledge, experience, and understanding.
Our spiritual selves were not our beginning either. Before getting spiritual bodies, we were self-aware individual entities of intelligence that possessed a measure of free will. And even that was not the beginning of us. If I ventured a guess, it would be that God conceptualized us.
At each phase of our existence, we chose to continue to the next, and became embodied in different forms; each was allowing us to progress towards becoming more like our Creator.
Now that the idea that we have existed in some form or another from the beginning, it is reasonable to assume that we will continue to live forever. The question then becomes how we will be embodied.
Each phase we have passed through has made increasingly more tangible, for lack of a better word. This tangibility increases our ability to experience and learn more things, which again helps us become more like God, our Heavenly Father.
Having spiritual and tangible bodies joined together allows us to learn spiritual and physical lessons, things that we can know in no other way. Experiencing pain and suffering, along with the pleasures and joys of mortality, is essential for our progression. Having children and families is probably the primary reason for having physical bodies.
This eternal progression can only lead to one thing; being resurrected, becoming immortal, and, if we keep the covenant we make with God, enjoying the kind of life He enjoys. There can be no other option for us than to be resurrected because we cannot cease to exist, and we have to go somewhere and continue to grow and progress.
That is the message of Easter.