Without Easter, Christmas is pointless. For that matter, so is life, in general. Before you go throwing rotten dyed eggs at me, allow me to explain. We’ve all heard stories of tragically heroic acts like someone pushing another person out of harm’s way, at the loss of their own life. We’ve heard about martyrs who were killed because they stood up for their beliefs. Even the Bible says that under rare circumstances, we typically selfish humans might voluntarily die for another person (Romans 5:7).

However, if there is no Easter/no resurrection, then we have nothing to hope for when we die. If we have nothing to hope for when we die, then why did Jesus die on the cross for us? And, if he was not resurrected as the Bible says he was, then what makes his death any different from some other well-meaning person who was in the wrong place at the wrong time? Why would God have even bothered sending his Son as the sacrifice for our sins, if when we die, our soulless bodies just rot in the ground and nothing else happens? Why would God go to all the trouble of arranging Christmas if Easter is a farce?

The apostle Paul painted a pretty blunt picture for us about this issue. In 1 Corinthians 15:17-19, he said that if Christ has not been resurrected, then not only is our faith worthless, but those who have already died believing in Christ are just out of luck, and we are to be sorely pitied for putting our hope in him only for this life. That would be quite a bummer, if that was the end of the story.

Take heart, friends, because the story is just beginning! Not only are we promised eternal life when we put our faith in Christ, but that resurrection begins even before our earthly bodies die! I love the way Peter described this phenomenon as our “living hope” (1 Peter 1:3, NIV). Oh, there will be glorious wonders to behold when we are finally on heaven’s side of eternity, but the hope that we have through faith in Jesus’ resurrection can be lived to the full today!