According to some estimates, as many as 70 billion cells in your body die every day. That’s a 7 with ten zeros behind it! This normal process of cell death—called apoptosis—is perfectly natural and even beneficial for our bodies. Nevertheless, it points to a much harsher reality. One day our body—not just some cells inside us—will die. Even before our body fully develops, we experience injuries and pain and disease, all symptomatic of the deeper weakness and mortality of our bodies. It is only natural to fear death and the unknown that comes with it, but God promises us that death does not get the final word. Because of Christ’s resurrection from the dead, we are assured that we too will experience resurrection and conquer death. The same power of God that raised Christ from the dead is now at work in us and gives us new life (see Ephesians 1:15-20, Romans 8:11).

Paul tells us that the body we have now is a perishable body (1 Corinthians 15:42). It gets tired easily. It wears out. It gets old. But at Christ’s return, our weak and worn out bodies will be raised from the dead and will become glorified, resurrected bodies. We will no longer be subject to the pains and diseases that sin brought into the world. We will no longer be under the power of death but will live eternally with our God. Paul describes this reality for us in 1 Corinthians 15:52b-56. “For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: ‘Death is swallowed up in victory.’ ‘O death, where is your victory?’ ‘O death, where is your sting?’ The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” 

For those in Christ, death is not the end of the story. Unlike many in the world who have no hope, we do not look at death and conclude that life is pointless and meaningless and therefore we ought to live for maximum pleasure in the here and now. As Christians we look at death and see an eternity beyond it and realize that this life profoundly matters because what we do with these short 70 or 80 years on planet earth impacts our eternity. Thus, we ought to be diligent in working for the Lord: “Therefore, my beloved brother, be steadfast, immoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.” Christian, when you give your life to the Lord, it is not in vain. He will reward you with eternal life and with an imperishable body.