68. Весна

Spring is an image and sign of the resurrection of the dead. What happens during spring will also happen in the resurrection of the dead, as we see in the Holy Scriptures and we believe. During spring, all the heavenly creatures are renewed. So during the resurrection everything will be renewed, according to God’s true promise. “Behold, I am making all things new,” says the Lord (Rev. 21:5). “There will be a new heaven and a new earth,” and so on. (Isa.65:17). “According to His promise we look forward to new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells” (2 Peter 3:13). During spring, all creation, as we see, comes to life. Likewise, at the resurrection of the dead, all human nature will be revived. During spring, all grass and greenery comes from the bowels of the earth and appears in its own form. So on the last day, dead people will come out of their graves and each will appear in his own image. “For the time is coming in which all who are in the tombs will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who have done good will come forth into the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil into the resurrection of condemnation” (John 5:28-29). In winter, trees and grass seem withered, but in spring their vibrancy appears. So to those who do not know the resurrection of the dead, the dead seem to have perished. But holy faith teaches us that their life will appear on the last day. During winter, both dry and strong trees are the same, but in the spring their difference is recognized. So in the present age and in death itself, the righteous and the wicked have the same appearance. But at the time of the resurrection of the dead, a great difference between them will appear. During spring, strong trees and grasses are clothed with foliage and various flowers. So in the resurrection of the dead, the bodies of the pious and righteous will be transformed into a new, bright, favorable and beautiful appearance, according to God’s unfaithful promise. “But our citizenship is in heaven, from where we wait for the Savior, our Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body so that it will be conformed to His glorious body” (Phil. 3:20-21). “Beloved! We are now children of God; but it has not yet been revealed what we will be. We only know that when He is revealed, we will be like Him, because we will see Him as He is” (1 John 3:2). “Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father” (Matthew 13:43). Dry trees and grass, both during winter and during spring, have an unchanged and identical appearance, that is, unpleasant and black. So wicked and godless people, both now and then, will have an unpleasant, even more likely, stingy appearance. Christian! You see in spring the image and sign of the resurrection of the dead. You see what kind of resurrection there will be for the righteous and what kind of sinners there will be (then everyone will receive according to their deeds). Live now the way you want to be resurrected then. If you long for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the next century, live not contrary to this, but worthy of it. If you want to have participation with the pious, righteous and saints then, live now piously, holy, righteously. What a person has inside now will appear outside then. Is there piety? Then it will appear. Is there wickedness and hypocrisy? Then it will appear. Then “the children of God and the children of the devil will be recognized”; then “the sheep will be separated from the goats” (1 John 3:10; Matt. 25:32–33). If we want, beloved, to achieve the resurrection of the righteous, we must now be spiritually resurrected with the risen Christ, “so that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life” (Rom. 6:4). “Awake, you who sleep, and rise from the dead, and Christ will give you light” (Eph. 5:14). “Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection” (Rev. 20:6). You might be interested in: