“Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!” This is the famous Easter greeting used by Christians all over the world. It’s a wonderful phrase for Easter Sunday as it reminds us that in Jesus, there really is life beyond this broken world. And so, these are words to encourage each other, especially when life gets hard. When Job was caught in the most horrendous suffering, one thing that kept him sane was the knowledge that God was able to bring him life beyond the grave.

‘I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end He will stand on the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God; I myself will see Him with my own eyes—I, and not another. How my heart yearns within me!’ (Job 19:25-27)

This is the difference the resurrection makes. Even after death has done its worst, there is a new body, a new place, and a new life for those who trust in Christ. The effect this had on Job is that ‘his heart yearned within him.’ Even in his darkest hour (or perhaps because of his darkest hour) he felt his heart reaching out for what Jesus brings us today. Regardless of our circumstances, we all share this yearning with Job. C.S. Lewis famously said, ‘If I find in myself desires which nothing in this world can satisfy, the only logical explanation is that I was made for another world.’ How right he was, and it is the resurrection of Jesus that confirms this logic. The effect Easter Sunday should have, is to make you yearn for your new body, long for the new creation, rejoice that your Redeemer lives and take heart while you wait.

Written by Scott Tubman