1 Corinthians 15

20 But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have died. ²¹For since death came through a human being, the resurrection of the dead has also come through a human being;²²for as all die in Adam, so all will be made alive in Christ. ²³But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. ²⁴Then comes the end, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father, after he has destroyed every ruler and every authority and power. ²⁵For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. ²⁶The last enemy to be destroyed is death.

For the early church the resurrection was a fact! It was the life confirming part of the story of the fall and restoration of God’s good creation. Adam messed it up and Jesus cleared it up! There was no question that resurrection was just symbolic. Death is real; it’s not a symbol and the antidote to death is real; LIFE!  Resurrection is real! The enemy to all our life efforts is death but this is the good news, one day very soon death will finally be destroyed.  Our enemy was defeated by Jesus at the cross and His work was confirmed by His resurrection. The final destruction of our enemy; the forces that rage against God and His creation called the last enemy will happen very soon at the culmination of ‘His Story’ when Jesus returns to reign over all His people and death will be no more. ‘Free at last, free at last, thank God Almighty we are free at last.’ As Martin Luther King once put it… No more slavery to the fear and experience of death. And all because of the resurrection of Jesus.