This Easter I preached on 1 Corinthians 15:58: Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm and give yourselves completely to the work for the Lord. For you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. A few kilometers away, suicide bombers tore apart churches, killing more than 250 members of the congregations, including 45 children. All of Sri Lanka mourned.
One day after the attack, I visited grieving families and those who had been injured. Their grief and suffering was immense; the attacks had broken their hearts and destroyed their lives. But there was still hope. Despite the pain, the grieving parents rejoiced that their children were safe in the arms of Jesus. This was their only comfort. Easter reminds us that death does not have the last word and that for the Christian there is an indestructible hope in death.
The attacks at Passover caused the people great pain and panic. But from a biblical perspective, this is only a temporary condition. When viewed in the light of eternity, such events remind us of the severity of eternal damnation. How much more painful would it be to be separated forever from a loving God? When we begin to understand this truth, it should also make us realize that eternal death is a serious matter that requires us to spread the gospel.
All of Sri Lanka was shocked by the profile of the perpetrators: young, educated and willing to die for their ideology. While we are filled with anger at their actions, the attacks were also a rude awakening for Christians and a harsh reminder of the urgent need to spread the gospel with even greater zeal. Therefore, when we think of the hope we share in the resurrection and how
serious is eternal death, let us be guided by the words of 1 Corinthians 15:58.
The devotional is written by Mahesh De Mel, who leads the Evangelical Alliance in Sri Lanka's mission work. Danish European Mission has been working with the Evangelical Alliance in Sri Lanka since 2010.
