The Resurrection and Coronavirus
By David Pfeiffer
In responding to the coronavirus pandemic we find ourselves in, the UK Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, has followed a clear path: “We will be guided by science.” We should be very thankful for the development of technology and medicine through scientific research. We very much hope that, in time, a vaccine for this pernicious virus can be found.
However, I believe that there is a real danger here that many may well have succumbed to: the false sense that we are in control of our destiny. Science to us has become what magic was to the medieval period – a means of seeking to have total control over our environment and lives. As a man recently said to me in response to the concerns of global warming, “Science will find a way.”
But surely, this pandemic has highlighted to us that we are not in control. The world has been brought to a standstill by an infinitesimally small organism. We have turned to science; but have we turned to God?
The letter to the Ephesians highlights to us that there is a realm beyond what we see – the realm of spiritual personalities and forces. Ephesus itself was the magic capital of the Roman empire. The Ephesians needed to have their eyes continually opened to the all-conquering resurrection power of God on their behalf.
This is what we need to know. We need to know it in the face of the coronavirus – that our ultimate hope lies not in vaccinations and science but in the resurrection power of God. And we need to know it because we face a far deadlier disease than COVID-19.
This resurrection power was first at work in our Lord Jesus Christ. It led to him being raised from the dead and seated at the right hand of the heavenly Father (Ephesians 1:20). As such, he now reigns victorious over every power in heaven and on earth (Ephesians 1:21-22). The risen Christ now exercises that dominion for the good of the church, his own body (Ephesians 1:22-23).
This power that was at work in Christ is now at work in believers (Ephesians 1:19) and is the subject Paul takes up in Ephesians 2:1-10. He highlights the tremendous and gracious nature of this Divine power by reminding the Ephesian believers of what they once were (2:1-3). In short, they were dead, dominated and doomed:
Dead. Death is separation. When someone dies physically, their soul is separated from their body. Spiritual death, of which Paul speaks here, is a human being’s separation from a loving relationship with God. We are his enemies. We are dead in trespasses and sins; that is to say, we are hostile to his law and gracious rule in our lives.
Dominated. We walk according to the course of this world. We belong to the kingdom of darkness which is run on the God-denying principle of creation-worship rather than creator-worship. We are dominated by the lies of Satan who whispers, “God is a kill-joy; make sure you take control of your own destiny and grab your own happiness and pleasure with all your heart, soul, mind and strength.” We are dominated by our own selfish ambitions and desires. We are turned in on ourselves, as Martin Luther would put it.
Doomed. We are children of wrath. God is rightly and righteously angry with us, and without a radical transformation, we are heading to hell.
This is a dreadful but accurate diagnosis of the human condition without Christ. It is a far worse condition than COVID-19; sin is a far deadlier disease.
BUT GOD! This is how verse 4 begins, and it signals the utterly breath-taking life-transforming power of God to those who believe. If we compare the beginning and ending of Ephesians 2:1-10, we see that God has effected a thorough transformation in the lives of believers. From walking in trespasses and sins, we walk in good works. Notice the language of creation in verse 10 – “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works.” This is a new beginning, a new creation.
Once we were dead, but now we have been made alive by the regenerating power of God’s Spirit (v5). Once we were dominated, but now we are seated with Christ in the heavenly places (v6). Once we were doomed, but now we relish the prospect of an eternity experiencing the lavish kindness of God (v7).
All of this is because of God’s undeserved, uncoerced and extravagant grace. Paul can’t get over it and can’t stop writing about it. How the grace of God should utterly amaze us! Why, o why, such love to me?!
This lavish grace that God will continue to exhibit towards us into eternity points us forward to a time when there will be no coronavirus or any virus. The language Paul uses at the end of Ephesians 1 also takes us forward to then. How? By taking us back in time; indeed, back to the Garden of Eden. The dominion Christ has now (Ephesians 1:20-23) echoes the language of Genesis 1:26 and 28 where Adam was given dominion over every living creature. It also echoes Psalm 8, a Psalm of David, reflected in the reigns of David and Solomon but only fulfilled in our Lord Jesus (Hebrews 2:5-9)
Genesis 1 and 2 is a beautiful picture of God’s people in God’s place enjoying his benevolent presence and blessings. However, Adam failed as God’s vice-regent so that the dominion he had was marred and broken. He allowed Satan to dominate him rather than casting him out of the Edenic Temple. Sin and death reigned over him as it would the whole world (Romans 5:12-14).
Christ came as the last Adam to reverse the curse. In his death and resurrection, he has succeeded where Adam failed. And he has done so for the church. He has done so to recover Eden, indeed, enhance Eden for his people in the New Heavens and New Earth. Whereas Adam was given the task of dominion in an untainted good world but failed, Christ has been given that task in a sin-infected world and succeeds.
Through union with him we too will receive resurrection bodies like his glorious body (Philippians 3:21). These bodies will never grow old or tired. They will never experience any virus or disease. There will be no cancer in the New Heavens and New Earth. We will fill the earth, reflecting the glory of our risen head, Jesus Christ!
We should be thankful that the image of God still remains in man. Our seeking to have dominion over the coronavirus through the use of the God-given gifts of science and research should be applauded and encouraged.
But what ultimate difference does this make if we are still dominated by sin and Satan? What difference does it make if we are already dead? What difference does it make if we are doomed?
Only Christ and the resurrection power God gives in union with him is this world’s ultimate salvation. We have a message to proclaim that is relevant not only for now but for every age and every person. May men and women, boys and girls have their eyes opened to their need for Christ this Easter. May they cast themselves on Him alone and join the chorus of all those who praise him for his amazing grace.
David Pfeiffer is the minster of Whaddon Road Evangelical Church in Cheltenham, UK, and a minster in the Evangelical Presbyterian Church in England and Wales.
