There are countless astounding things in this world. Most probably, the most surprising is the fact that most of us seem not convinced about the significance of living holy lives. Understandably, purity of heart and life is not easy to achieve. As human beings, we daily struggle with the prospect of recurrently sinning. Despite our best efforts and wishes, we unendingly fail to take ourselves out of the plight of sinning. Most likely, with the fall of Adam and Eve, we have an inclination to sin. This however does not mean that we are completely wretched to an extent that we cannot surmount the reality of sin. In fact, Jesus’ power can help us to surmount the reality of sin. We may well agree that one of the most consoling things, which Jesus said, is that in his father’s house there are many rooms. In addition, Jesus said that once we die, he will come again to take us to his father’s house. No doubt, this is good news for humankind. Imagine a situation where human beings would die without any hope of future life. Life would be so meaningless and there would be no standards because everybody would be living in a way that would please him or her. Hope of future life and resurrection brings a lot of meaning and direction to our present life because it helps us to live with a vision for the future. Sociologically, the hope of resurrection helps to bring some order and standards in our present life. This is so because we become aware of living a style of life that will please God thereby leading us to inherit eternal life in heaven.
In this life, hope of future life in heaven brings a lot of comfort to those who are in great suffering. We may think of those who have been sick for several years in hospitals or in villages. We have so many people who find meaning in life when they think in the perspective of future life in heaven. The beatitudes, which Jesus enumerated in the episode of the Sermon on the Mount, are a great example of several classes of people who may find comfort in resurrection of the dead. Furthermore, the worth of martyrdom finds justification in future life. We may think of people like John Chilembwe and several other people who fought so hard for our hard-won independence and democracy. These people died for our sake. The lives and sacrifices of these martyrs get proper meaning when we think about them with a background of resurrection of the dead. So many people as well died for the sake of the Christian faith, which we freely practise today. During the time of the Roman Emperors especially Nero, several people who professed their Christian faith were tortured to death. God rewards people who fight for a good cause. In our daily life, we get a lot of hope for future life because Jesus overcame death through his death and resurrection. The resurrection of Jesus from the dead is a source of comfort because as Christians following Jesus, we believe that if Jesus rose from the dead, we too will through Jesus’ power rise to new life in heaven. God the father who raised Jesus from the dead will equally raise us from the dead.
However, the precondition for rising from the dead is to live a life that is in keeping with the Gospel values. We all have to strive to live holy lives, which augur well with Christian values. As Malawians, we all have an obligation to help each other spiritually in our daily lives. The devil is so shrewd. He first brings doubt of the resurrection of the dead in us thereby leading us to live sinful lives. We simply have to know that once we follow the dictates of the Devil we are simply digging our own grave. This is a tragedy, which we must avoid. Unfortunately, most of us seem to be living as if we do not care about future life in heaven. Let us pray that all of us will live worthwhile lives, which will lead us to inherit eternal life in heaven.
Fr Charles is a holder of a Masters Degree in Bioethics Theology.
