I’m not much of a sci-fi guy, but I really liked the X-Men movies – primarily because of the character Wolverine. In the movies, Wolverine has these incredible healing powers. He can get hit by trucks, shot, beat up – and his body will just heal itself. He can’t be stopped because it’s almost impossible to kill him.
What if that was true of you? What if you couldn’t be killed? Sure, you could be hurt badly or even temporarily put out of action – but what if you didn’t die? What would you do with that superpower? What if death itself had no real power over you?
Believe it or not, this is the hope to which you and I have been called: we have a sure future because death can’t hold us. It’s exactly what Paul is telling the Ephesians near the end of our passage for the week.
“…that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.”
This is one of those times when the translations don’t fully convey what the literal Greek term does. The literal translation is something like this:
“…which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead ones…”
Paul is not just pointing out that Christ was raised from a state of death, Paul is painting a picture along the lines of “out of a group of dead men, God raised one man.” But here’s the significance: Jesus was “the firsborn from among the dead” (Col 1:17).
Don’t miss that: Paul is saying that the power God “worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead” is the same power that will raise you and I and all who hope in Him from the dead. Death had no power to stop Christ, and – if you are in Him – it will have no power over you. This is actually one of the things baptism is a picture of:
We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.
– Romans 6:4
It’s why Jesus and Paul both speak of death simply as “sleep:” it’s not final. In 1 Corinthians 15 – where Paul devotes an entire chapter to how Christ’s victory over death is also ours, he quotes Hosea 13:14
“Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?”Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.
– 1 Corinthians 15:55, 58
If you are in Christ, death can’t stop you. This is the incredible hope that you have been called to, and – as unbelievable as it is – Jesus’ victory over death for us is the core of our faith.
So let me ask again: if you knew you couldn’t ultimately be killed… what would you do?
“I don’t die. Shoot me, I’ll show you.” – Francis Chan
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