In the late 1800’s, Princeton professor B.B. Warfield wrote, “Christianity is a historical religion, and a Christianity wholly unrelated to historical occurrences is just no Christianity at all.” History matters. Even people that ignore Christianity remind us that if we ignore history, we are bound to repeat it. It seems reasonable that we should learn some things from history; but too often, we either try to rewrite the history or assume that it will be different with us. A major component of the history of Christianity is resurrection. The idea of the resurrection of the body didn’t start with the resurrection of Jesus. In fact, the oldest book in the Hebrew Scriptures mentioned resurrection as an accepted reality. We read in Job 19, “I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end He will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God.” For God’s plan to be fully realized, human beings need to be fully human. Being fully human means having a spirit and a body. Some religions disregard the human body but the resurrection of Jesus not only validated its importance, it gave us hope for the resurrection of our own bodies. Jesus is referred to as the “first fruit.” What does that mean? It means that as He is, we shall be! His risen life is the believer’s risen life. We are in union with Him through faith and because He lives, we too shall live. So, when we celebrate on Sunday that He is “risen indeed,” remember there is a history as old as mankind that Christianity requires to be truly Christian. However, let’s not only see the past, let’s live in the present blessings of the resurrection and look forward to the future as well.