As we come to the final line of our study on the Nicene Creed, close your eyes for a moment and picture a hidden room in fourth-century Rome. A small group of Christians gathers in the half-light as their bishop recites words you and I still say on Sundays: We believe in the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come.
That sentence is not a sentimental flourish at the end of the Nicene Creed. It is a lifeline. It carried believers through plagues and persecution, through disappointment and death. It anchors us now. The creed teaches us how to face our future with hope and to live our present with purpose.
This post explores why that last clause of the creed matters, and how it flows from the apostolic witness in Scripture. We will walk through 1 Corinthians 15 and then ask a practical question. If the risen Jesus is the first fruits of a new creation, how should we live today?
The Resurrection at the Center
The Christians in Corinth wrestled with doubt and division. Paul meets both with a single claim.
But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.
That is 1 Corinthians 15 verses 20 to 22.
Paul does not treat the resurrection as a footnote. He calls it first fruits. In the ancient world, first fruits were the first sheaf of an incoming harvest. They were not different in kind from the rest of the crop. They were a preview. In the same way, the resurrection of Jesus is the preview of what God intends to do for all who belong to Christ. His empty tomb is not only proof that death has been defeated. It is the opening note of a symphony that will one day fill creation.
The church has always insisted on this point. Our hope is not an escape from the world. Our hope is the renewal of the world through the risen Christ. Without the resurrection, faith is futile and sin still owns the last word. With the resurrection, forgiveness holds and the last word is life.
A World That Forgets the World to Come
We all know how easy it is to live as if this age is all there is. Work expands. Schedules crowd. Screens pull at our attention. We tell ourselves that we will think about eternal things later. Later usually means never.
The creed interrupts us. We believe in the life of the world to come. These words re-order our loves. They push back against two common extremes.
One extreme is a flat naturalism. In this view, matter is all there is. Humans are atoms arranged in complex ways. Death is a return to the dirt. Meaning is what we make in the meantime. On this view, bucket lists become sacred and the best we can do is maximize pleasure and minimize pain.
The other extreme is a vague spiritualism that floats free of the physical. In this view, we are spirits temporarily trapped in bodies. Salvation means shedding the body and dissolving into a cosmic spirit. The future is an ethereal elsewhere.
The gospel offers a better hope. The Son of God took on flesh, died in that flesh, and was raised in that flesh. The risen Jesus ate with his friends. He bore scars. He was not a ghost. The biblical hope is not the denial of creation but the redemption of creation. Spirit and body are not enemies. In the resurrection they are restored to harmony under the lordship of Christ.
This is why the creed leads us to expect a renewed heaven and earth. It also tells us the truth in love about judgment. In Adam all die. Outside of Christ, separation from God remains. Whatever imagery one uses for hell, Scripture is clear about the reality of being outside the presence of God. The creed assures believers that our end is not separation but communion. We will live with God face to face.
Echoes of Eden and the Promise of New Creation
Think back to Eden. Scripture portrays a garden where God walked with His creatures, where work was fruitful and relationships were whole. Sin fractured that harmony. Death entered and exile followed. The long story of the Bible is the story of God mending what sin destroyed.
When Paul calls Jesus the first fruits, he signals that the repair has begun. In 1 Corinthians 15 verse 24 to 25 he frames history as the reign of the risen Christ moving toward a handover. Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority, and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death.
This is battlefield language. Christ has already won decisively through his cross and resurrection. Yet he continues to apply that victory until the last enemy falls. The church participates in that drama. We resist the powers that deform lives and communities. We serve the poor and confront lies. We pray and work for healing. We do not do this because we think we can build utopia. We do this because the King has risen and his future is certain.
Picture the world to come as Scripture describes it.
Communities marked by generosity rather than scarcity.
Relationships marked by forgiveness rather than bitterness.
Land and water healed of ruin.
Work meaningful and worship unbroken.
God dwelling with his people, wiping away every tear.
That is not sentimental. It is the logic of the resurrection.
Living the Future Now
If the life to come has broken into the present through Jesus, then Christian ethics is resurrection lived forward. Here are four practices that express that future in daily life.
1. Generosity that signals abundance
When a society prizes wealth and power, the weak are forgotten. The economy of the kingdom runs on grace. God gives his Son. The Spirit pours out gifts. In Christ there is no final scarcity. The practice of generosity becomes a sign that we know this is true.
This begins with habitual giving to the work of the church and to the needs of the poor. It continues with an open home and an open calendar. It grows into a posture that asks in every season, What do I have that someone else needs? Your extra groceries can become a meal. Your skills can become a blessing. Your attention can become a healing presence.
2. Reconciliation that ends old wars
The cross does not only reconcile sinners to God. It creates peace among people who would otherwise remain enemies. To live in light of the resurrection is to become familiar with confession and forgiveness. That can mean initiating a hard conversation with a family member. It can mean refusing to nurse a grievance. It can mean choosing to listen carefully to someone who thinks very differently than you.
Every act of reconciliation is a rehearsal for the feast to come, when the church gathers from every tribe and language at the wedding supper of the Lamb.
3. Courage in the face of death
Resurrection hope does not trivialize suffering. It does remove the terror of death. To belong to Christ is to be safe in life and in death. That frees us to live with courage. We can serve in hard places. We can tell the truth with gentleness even when it costs us. We can make decisions about medical care with wisdom and trust rather than panic. We can age without despair.
Christians are not reckless. We love life as a good gift. Yet we also confess that to depart and be with Christ is far better. That confession loosens fear’s grip and makes joy possible even in the valley.
Every Sunday Is a Small Easter
Church calendars often give their biggest spotlight to Advent and Christmas. Rightly so. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. Yet the creed reminds us that Easter stands at the center of the Christian confession. The Son did not only come. He died and rose. Every Sunday celebrates that victory. Every Lord’s Day is a weekly Easter.
When you stand to say the creed, consider how your body can become a confession. If cynicism has dulled your hope, stand as an act of renewed trust. If greed has narrowed your world, open your hands as a sign of generosity. If resentment has hardened your heart, take a step toward reconciliation. If neglect has shaped your relationship to creation, choose one small act of care this week and do it in Jesus’ name.
The creed does more than end our worship service with familiar sounds. It teaches us to see the future God has secured in Christ and then to live that future now. When we say, “We believe in the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come,” we are not reciting an idea. We are declaring reality. Christ has risen. The harvest has begun. The last enemy will fall. And in Him, we will live.
Photo Credit Unsplash.com
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