While Christmas is so much a celebration of the past . . . the coming of Immanuel . . . the giving of God’s greatest gift to the world, . . . as I think about it, Easter is so much a celebration of the future. While the consideration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead reminds us again of the surety of the foundation of our faith, it also is intended to cause us to glance heavenward and to consider a time to come when we too will be raised in newness of life.

As believers, we’ve already experienced a foretaste of what awaits us. We have already undergone a spiritual resurrection . . . having been once dead in trespasses and sin but now made alive in Christ (Eph. 2:1,5) . . . having known what it is to be given a new mind . . . a new heart . . . a whole set of new senses attuned to the things of the kingdom of heaven. While we’re still the same people, since being born again, we have been made new creations in Christ . . . old things have passed away . . . behold, the new has come (2Cor. 5:17). And so, as I read the latter part of 1Corinthians 15 this morning, and consider again the resurrection of the Savior . . . and am reminded of the resurrection already experienced by the saved . . . I am also again blown away by the reminder of what is yet to come.

“As was the man of dust [Adam], so also are those who are of the dust, and as is the Man of heaven [Jesus], so also are those who are of heaven. Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the Man of heaven.” (1Corinthians 15:48-49 ESV)

We . . . or, making it personal, I . . . shall bear the image of the Man of heaven. Sit back and chew on that a bit.

Ever wonder, when you were a kid, what you were going to look like when you got older? Well how about giving a thought or two to what we shall be like when we come into the kingdom. Paul says that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God . . . that which is perishable can’t move into that which is imperishable. And so, we shall all be changed (15:50-51). We will be raised imperishable . . . we will be raised in glory . . . we will be raised in power . . . we will be raised with a spiritual body (15:42-44) . . . we will be raised to bear the image of the Man of heaven! Go figure!

This morning I also read of the transfiguration in Mark’s gospel. After ascending a high mountain with Peter, James, and John, Jesus is transformed before their eyes. “His clothes became radiant, intensely white, as no one on earth could bleach them,” records Mark (Mark 9:3). Matthew adds that His face shone like the sun (Matt. 17:2). If I am going to bear the image of the Man of heaven, am I going to glow too? Could be!

Think about it . . . not only will we behold Him when we come into His kingdom . . . we shall be like Him! That work has already begun on the inside. The sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit shaping us into the image of God’s beloved Son . . . but there is a physical work yet to be done when the dead will be raised imperishable and we shall be changed (1Cor. 15:52). My mortal body must put on immortality . . . and when this happens, “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?’ ” (15:53-55).

Yes, Easter is so much about a victory in the past . . . the greatest of all victories . . . when Jesus conquered sin and death. But it is also about a victory to be anticipated . . . “thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (15:57). In a very real sense, the best is yet to come.

And so, it occurs to me that I can miss some of the mystery and magnificence of the Easter celebration if I only think in historical terms. Yes, He is risen . . . He is risen indeed! Praise God! Hallelujah! But the empty tomb points to a future day . . . a day when those in Him will rise . . . to be sure, we will rise indeed! And we shall bear His image . . . for His pleasure . . . for His glory . . . forever and ever. Amen?