I always enjoy hearse rides.

After officiating a funeral service, I usually ride in the hearse with the funeral director to the cemetery.

I enjoy those rides because I have great discussions with funeral directors. It is especially interesting to talk with them about their beliefs in life after death because they see death all the time and are naturally confronted with this topic. But in all of the conversations (sometimes about some interesting situations and facts!), none of the funeral directors have told me they have seen a dead body raised to life.

Maybe you have not seen a physical resurrection (I haven’t), but have you ever thought about the joy that comes in seeing spiritual resurrection? We should be proclaiming the gospel and seeing this all the time–dead souls made alive again!

Ephesians 2:1-2 says, “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience.”

Graciously, “even when we were dead in our trespasses, (God) made us alive together with Christ-by grace you have been saved” (Ephesians 2:5). Once we are made alive, we are given the task of proclaiming the message of Christ (Matthew 28:18-20).

I saw a great reminder of the joy and task of participating in spiritual resurrection when I read the words from a hymn called “Soldiers of Christ, In Truth Arrayed.” Basil Manley wrote this hymn for the first graduation ceremony of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary circa 1860.

The first two verses:

Soldiers of Christ, in truth arrayed,
A world in ruins needs your aid:
A world by sin destroyed and dead;
A world for which the Savior bled.

His Gospel to the lost proclaim,
Good news for all in Jesus’ Name;
Let light upon the darkness break
That sinners from their death may wake.

I’m thankful that my soul is alive in Christ and I’m thankful that I can participate in God’s mission of seeing souls come alive!