OUR Christian faith tells us very clearly how our death can lead us to eternal life. “Whoever keeps my word will never see death.” (Jn 8,51) That’s what Christ said.
Of course, these are words that have to be taken in faith. Otherwise, there is no way we can take them seriously, especially nowadays when there are just so many philosophies and ideologies that can sound more attractive and seductive, especially if they show and give some immediate advantages and conveniences.
Let’s hope that in our heart of hearts we can repeat St. Peter’s words: “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words of eternal life.” (Jn 6, 68)
We have to be wary of our tendency to be seduced by our worldly cultures and systems. Let’s listen to the warning given by St. Paul: “See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy…” (Col 2, 8)
And he continues: “For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and in Christ you have been brought to fullness.” (2, 9) This means that the fullness of our humanity can only be achieved through our full identification with Christ who also made it possible for us to attain it.
How? Again St. Paul provides the answer: “In him (Christ) you were also circumcised with a circumcision not performed by human hands. Your whole self ruled by the flesh was put off when you were circumcised by Christ, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through your faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead.” (2, 11-12)
The secret, therefore, of having our death as a way to our resurrection is to die with Christ. Only with him can our resurrection, our victory over sin and death, take place after our death. St. Paul encapsulated this most wonderful truth of our faith when he said, “For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his.” (Rom 6, 5)
No wonder then that Christ culminated his redemptive work with his passion and death on the cross. Only then would his own resurrection take place. Christ made this point clear when after being rightly identified by Peter as ‘the Christ of God,’ he proceeded to talk about his passion, death and resurrection.
“The Son of Man must suffer greatly,” he said, “and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed and on the third day be raised.” (Lk 9, 22)
We have to deepen our belief that with Christ’s resurrection, sin and death have been definitively conquered, and a new life in God is given to us. We are now a new creation, with the power of Christ to conquer sin and death and everything else that stands in the way of our becoming true children of God.
And so we have every reason to think that we can live forever in Christ over whom death no longer has dominion. In spite of whatever, we have every reason to be happy and confident, as long as we are faithful to Christ.
We just need to realize more deeply that Christ is alive and wants to live his life with us, because we are patterned after him. Let us not miss this most golden opportunity./PN
