Because He Lives: Our Faith Is Not in Vain
‘Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that here is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then no even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that He raised Christ, whom He did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.”
-1 Corinthians 15:12-19
On the day our daughter passed from our arms and into the arms of Jesus, our hospital room was filled with both grief and hope. As we cradled her tiny body in our arms and watched her breathing slow, peace came over her face that had previously been tense from deformity. Her features relaxed, and she briefly opened her eyes to look at us one last time. We wept and told her to go to Jesus. It was a sacred moment because in my mind’s eye—and almost palpably—I saw Jesus kneeling in front of us, holding out gentle hands to receive her spirit, encouraging us with His presence that she was loved and would be safe with Him. We said goodbye that day and our hearts shattered… but they were also filled with hope. Now we look forward to a glorious reunion when we will one day join her in heaven with our Savior and be together forever.
We do not grieve as the world grieves—without hope. For those who don’t know Christ, hope is a wish, a crossed-fingers kind of faith flung out into the universe, never knowing if anyone hears or cares. Just wishing for the best. Or, it is a hope placed in a deity made of stone or wood or a historical figure who died and stayed dead.
Because of the resurrection of Christ, we know a different hope. We have a faith based on assurance and conviction (Hebrews 11:1). The resurrection proved that Christ is who He claimed to be—the very Son of God. During His last days before His death, Jesus told His disciples that He was going to the Father and would be preparing a place for them and one day would take us to be with Him forever (John 14:2). Then, He was killed at the hands of the Jews and the Romans, and His disciples grieved. How would He save them now? Had they misunderstood Him?
But three days later He appeared to them in the flesh, living, breathing, eating, resurrected. And later, He ascended into heaven with the promise of His eternal presence and eventual return (Matthew 28:18-20; Acts 1:10-11).
And so our grief is confined to this lifetime. The joy of life with our daughter—knowing her and loving her in person—has simply been postponed, but never in question. We know that we will spend eternity with Jesus and with our daughter. We know that our tears will be wiped away for good, and that sorrow and pain will be no more (Revelation 21:4).
Our grief is a sanctifying grief. As we have pressed into Jesus in times of great distress, we have found Him to be a sold rock, full of compassion (2 Corinthians 1:3-4), so very near to our broken hearts (Psalm 34:18), and full of love and faithfulness. A life-altering valley with the potential to break us has instead strengthened our faith. Our Savior is real and lives and offers this same hope to everyone.
And in that, our grief has purpose. It is a testifying grief, telling others about the deep love of Jesus, His nearness and love, and His strength and comfort when we thought we could not survive this. And that is the hope we can offer others, because there is not a person on this planet whose life has not been touched by grief in some form or other. And without hope, grief is all-consuming and deadening. It is endless and dark and snuffs out any light. But Jesus is the light of the world who has overcome the darkness (John 1:1-5). And we are light-bearers who reflect and carry the light of Christ—our great hope—to a dark and hurting world.
Christ’s resurrection has made all the difference in our faith, hope, and grief. Our faith is not in vain, our grief is not without hope. The light shines, in this life and for all eternity.
- Abigail
Hope Mom to Sarabeth Marie
Abigail is mama to her toddler daughter and to Sarabeth who went to be with Jesus seven days after her birth in January 2018. She and her husband, Chad, live in Berea, KY on the family farm where they raise cattle. In addition to being a stay-at-home-mom and teaching piano part-time, Abigail blogs on Facebook and Instagram at A Healing Gratitude where her desire is to share Sarabeth’s story in a way that highlights the goodness and love of God and demonstrate how gratitude can lead to greater healing.
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