“For you do not give me up to Sheol, or let your faithful one see the Pit.” Many of the religions that have been practiced over the years all proclaim many of the same basic principles. But it is only the Christian faith that boldly proclaims that the dead shall be raised to a new life. Here we see that God’s Messiah will not die. Instead after death he shall have a new life; a resurrected life. Some will say, “Well that’s good for Jesus, but what about us?” The answer is in Romans 6. If we die with Christ, we shall certainly rise with Christ. Faith in Christ is the sure and certain hope of the resurrection to eternal life. In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul declares that “Jesus is the first fruits.” In other words, just as Christ was raised from the dead to a new and eternal life, so we too shall be raised to a new and eternal life because of our faith, our trust in God’s redemptive work through Jesus Christ. Christ’s resurrection is the down payment on our resurrections. Amen.