Some modern theologians want to see many of the miracles in the Bible as metaphors, not as realities, they even see the resurrection as a metaphor alike and therefore cannot see the power found in it.
In order to talk about resurrection, the first thing we should do is talk about the person of Christ, then, He, in great power and glory, rose again on the third day and left the grave empty. And that Christ was resurrected is what keeps the church with a living hope that it will also be resurrected on the last day. Without a literal, historical, bodily resurrection, the entire Christian message collapses, for the apostles did not preach metaphors but realities they witnessed with their own eyes.
The great hope of the church of Christ is the resurrection, that this mortal body will be clothed with immortality. The apostle Paul described this glorious moment with great detail so that the church might understand that the resurrection is not symbolic language but a real transformation that God will perform in His people. This is essential for our faith because the gospel not only promises forgiveness but also eternal life in renewed bodies suited for glory.
51 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
54 So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.
55 O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?
1 Corinthians 15:51-55
Imagine for a moment this great promise and materialize it in your mind, make it literal for a moment, because it really is literal, it is how it will happen, this is not a metaphor, it is a perfect picture of the Lord’s day. When Paul speaks of the last trumpet, of the dead rising, and of incorruptibility, he is not appealing to symbolic language but to the very foundation of the Christian hope. The Christian faith does not rest on feelings or allegories, but on the historical fact that Christ rose and that His resurrection guarantees ours.
Years and years without seeing your family member or friend who died in Christ, and on that day, no matter that his body was disintegrated or thrown into the sea, yes, on that glorious day, God will raise him from wherever he is and from whatever state he is, and that mortal body will be made immortal, and that corrupt body will be made incorruptible. The power that formed man from the dust of the earth is the same power that will call forth every believer from the grave, from the waters, from the dust, from the ashes. Nothing can oppose the voice of the One who said, “I am the resurrection and the life.”
Beloved brothers, if we do not believe in the resurrection of the dead, then we also do not believe in the Gospel, and if Christ did not rise, we will not do it either. But this is the difference, that Christ was resurrected with power and that gives us the living and latent hope that we in that day will rise together with Him. The empty tomb is the greatest testimony that our hope is not a fantasy but a divine decree. The resurrection is the final victory of God over death, the final declaration that those who belong to Christ will never be abandoned to corruption.
Let us hold fast to this truth, for it strengthens us in trials, comforts us in grief, and reminds us that our story does not end in the grave but in eternal glory with our risen Lord.