The Dead Will Be Raised

Friday, December 27, 1985, was a day of much sorrow for our family.

After four days in a coma, my sister Eleda passed away, and the day of her funeral had arrived. Prior to the funeral service, we went to the house where she used to live. Arriving there, I met Henrique, her little three-and-a-half-year-old son, who was innocently playing as if nothing had happened.

Soon he approached me and asked, “Uncle Ronald, do you know that my mother died?” Surprised by his question, I replied, “Is it true? And where is your mother now?” “My mother is in the church!” he stated. “And what will happen to her?” I asked him. His touching answer was, “My mother will remain at the church cemetery, but when Jesus returns, she will be raised from the dead.” Henrique’s words reflected the explanation given to him about what was going on. But his words were loaded with unquestioning hope: “But when Jesus returns”! In fact, that hope has been cherished by Christians throughout the centuries and has been one of the prevailing themes of Adventist preaching. The dense clouds of pain, sorrow, and despair seem to vanish when we hear hymns full of hope, such as “Jesus Is Coming Again,” “When We All Get to Heaven,” and “We Have This Hope.” The expectation of Christ’s second coming and the resurrection of the dead are not fantasies or merely “life vests” for moments of existential crisis.

They are predominant themes in the New Testament, with a solid prophetic foundation, an obvious Christocentric motif, and profound existential relevance.

This hope comes to us as a valuable legacy with ever-increasing value. Christ’s second coming is much nearer now that when Henrique spoke those touching words. So, let’s take Paul’s counsel seriously: “And do this, understanding the present time: The hour has already come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light” (Romans 13:11, 12, NIV).

Soon our hope will be fulfilled!