How to know there is a resurrection

“How do we know that it is true?” Well, Paul gives the answer in 1 Thessalonians 4:15: For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord. This is not some myth that was current in Paul’s time. This is not some fancy of his imagination that helps him and so he wants it to help you. He says, no, by revelation of the Lord. And it seems that this is not something quoted elsewhere in the Bible, but it is a revelation from the risen Lord Jesus to Paul, his apostle and servant. That is what apostles were—people who received revelation and gave to us the Word from the Lord.

And how important it is for us to realize how much we need that very thing. How else are we to know what are the plans of God for history? And who else knows them, except God himself? Where else can we learn about the future of the world and life beyond the grave, but from him who alone is the Alpha and Omega of all things? Why then should we appeal to the fancies and opinions of men—or charlatan spiritualists—neither of which can ever penetrate the grave? They cannot do it. They do not know the future. But we have a word from the Lord to tell us this truth. My friends, if the Bible is true—and it can be shown to be true by many proofs—then God’s Word is that message to which we must affix our hope and commit ourselves in faith. How do we know? Because God’s Word, by revelation from the Lord, has said it is so.

Well, there is one last way to consider that matter, because the vital question is not only, How can I know there will be a resurrection and all will be raised? but the question that follows is How can I know what I will experience when I, on that day, am raised again in my body? Will I be raised to the glory of eternal life, or will I be raised to the condemnation of eternal punishment, which I deserve for my sins against God? Well, my friends, the answer to that vital question is found in our relationship now to the Lord Jesus Christ. We are talking about the grave and mighty things of eternity, and inevitably they bring us back to the present—that eternal destiny is determined right now by our relationship, or lack thereof, to the Saviour Jesus Christ. That is how Jesus put it when he spoke about these very things: All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out (John 6:37). If you come to Jesus, he will receive you into his salvation. He has pledged himself in his own Word. Jesus sets before our feet today the very matter that, on that day, will determine our eternal destiny. For this is the will of my Father, Jesus said, “that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”¹

Richard D. Phillips