Strengthened to Faithfulness by the Resurrection Hope

WHAT manifold assurance for the resurrection hope we find in the Word of God! As Jesus told the doubting Sadducees of his day, the very utterance of Jehovah, namely, “I am the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob,” testifies to the fact of the resurrection of the dead, for Jehovah is not a God of the dead but of the living.—Matt. 22:32; Ex. 3:6.

The resurrection hope magnifies God’s love, wisdom and power. Without it we would indeed be “of all men most to be pitied.” (1 Cor. 15:19) But with it, how strengthened we can be to faithfulness!a (Matt. 10:28) That resurrection hope strengthened Abraham so that he could proceed to offer up his son Isaac. (Heb. 11:17-19) It enabled Jesus to prove faithful until death, knowing that Jehovah would not leave his soul in Sheol nor allow his body to see corruption. (Ps. 16:10; Acts 2:24-28) And more than ever before we can see to what extent the resurrection hope is a miracle of divine mercy.

What a spur to faithfulness the resurrection hope should be to us! How it should cause our hearts to overflow in love and gratitude to our God Jehovah! True, as a class the “great crowd” of “other sheep” hope to live right through Armageddon without ever needing to die, but there have been, are and will be not a few of their number that, because of old age, sickness or accident, go down to Sheol and so will need to be resurrected. For these we can hope, not only in a resurrection, but in an early one. Of course, sooner or later all the “remnant” of Kingdom heirs will need to die and be resurrected to receive their heavenly reward.—Rev. 14:13.

When we are faced with an issue such as blood transfusion, it is truly a source of strength to know that, should we die faithful, we can expect to have an early resurrection. And, in particular, should we come face to face with violent persecution and our very lives be threatened, we can draw hope from the certainty of our being raised up if we prove faithful. Well does Jesus counsel us not to fear those who, after having killed the body, “are not able to do anything more.”—Luke 12:4.

Our Lord Jesus Christ rested his hope in the power of Almighty God to resurrect him from the dead on the third day, and he himself has been entrusted with the power of raising the dead during his thousand-year Kingdom reign. To the Christian apostle Paul, God’s provision for the resurrection of the dead was a hope that sustained him and strengthened him to face even a martyr’s death. (2 Tim. 4:6-8) It especially stimulated him to keep a good conscience toward God and man. (Acts 24:15, 16) We do well to imitate both Jesus Christ and his apostle Paul and let the resurrection hope make us courageous, strengthening us to faithfulness until we have won the right to everlasting life. So, be “steadfast, unmovable, always having plenty to do in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in connection with the Lord.”—1 Cor. 15:58.

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