Ewald Schmidt

“And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you.” Romans 8:11 (NIV)

Dylan Thomas, the poet, probably said it best: “Do not go gently into that good night. Rage, rage against the dying of the light …” With this poem, he put our human struggle against our own mortality into beautiful words. We see death as the biggest enemy we ever face. I have hatefully stared into the face of death standing next to the graves of family members. I experience the animosity every time I, as a pastor, stand with people who need to say their goodbyes to a loved one who has died. Death hurts those who stay behind. Its impact on our lives feels so absolutely final.

The Apostle Paul had given us a glimmer of hope when he said in 1 Corinthians 15:26, that death is the final enemy to be conquered. Here he states why we do not have to fear death any more. The Spirit of the Lord, who has raised Jesus from death is the same Spirit residing in us, as believers, in Christ. The promise we need to hold on to, is that the Holy Spirit will raise us from the dead, just as he has raised our Lord Jesus. Our biggest enemy was already conquered nearly 2 000 years ago. Death has no permanent hold on us any more. Yes, we still suffer the pain and loss of death, but for the child of God, this is a temporary state! We are living with the hope that we will be raised from the dead. We cannot fully comprehend what this means yet, but it fills us with hope. Hope is one word that has lost some of its meaning through overuse in our daily walk. We use “hope” to express a faint possibility that something good might happen. The original meaning of “hope” is something sure that is going to happen, at the right time in the future. There is no uncertainty, only its time of fulfilment did not arrive yet. 

This is the promise of the Holy Spirit; that at the right time in future, every believer in Christ shall conquer death. He is the living guarantee that this is true.

Prayer: Lord, I am intensely aware that I am small and weak. I can see the shadows in my life getting longer, my days are going by so fast! But Lord, I trust in you. I believe that my walk with you are for much longer than the earthly years given to me. Thank you for the promise of life everlasting. Help me then to walk this path through life with you boldly, always trusting your lead for where we are going. Amen.