First Corinthians 15:42-44 shows us that when a Christian dies, he is not buried, but is "sown." We know that to sow something and to bury something are two entirely different things. For example, when you bury a piece of copper in the ground, that is all there is to it; it will not grow up again. But if you sow a grain of wheat into the ground, it will grow after a few days. When a Christian dies, he is not like a piece of copper buried in the ground, but like a grain of wheat sown into the earth. One day he will spring up again. He can spring up again because he has the life of Christ within him. This life is a life that cannot be imprisoned by death, because the life of Christ is the resurrection life. This life is in the believer. This is why he will resurrect one day. Because Christ is our redemption, He will make us grow. Christ will not be imprisoned by death. A regenerated Christian has Christ within him. Christ is his redemption, and he will inherit a resurrected body which is incorruptible, glorious, strong, and spiritual.

This is not all. Because Christ is our redemption, some Christians will not see death, but will be raptured. There was a young girl who once asked a preacher, "Does it not take a great effort for a Christian to be raptured away?" For a child, the rapture takes great effort. But we know that the rapture is not something according to our concept. A Christian is raptured because Christ is in him. Christ is his redemption, and Christ will take him away.

Christ as our life is the foundation of the Christian life. The first step in our salvation is regeneration. The last step in our salvation is the redemption of our body. But from beginning to end, the basis is Christ as our life. The relationship between Christ and us is a life relationship. In other words, it is an indissoluble relationship. Christ does not become something outside of us. He has come into us to be our life. A relationship in life is an indissoluble relationship. If we have not received Christ as our life, we have nothing to do with Christ. But since we have received Christ as our life, we have an indissoluble relationship with Him. After Adam sinned, God immediately guarded the way of the tree of life with the cherubim and a flaming sword which turned every way (Gen. 3:24). He did this because if Adam had eaten the fruit of the tree of life, he would have bonded an indissoluble relationship with God. Thank God that our relationship with Christ is a relationship which Adam did not have; it is an indissoluble relationship. Even God Himself cannot dissolve this relationship. This life lives in us all the time, and it is bringing us into glory, into eternity. What a great power this is! What a glorious hope this is!

May the Lord open our eyes to see that God has put us into Christ and made Christ our wisdom: righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. May the Lord show us that of all the gifts He has given us, none is greater than His Son. May the Lord show us that Christ is the gift and also all the gifts. He is the singular gift and also the plural gifts. We have to learn to know Christ as our wisdom. We have to learn to know Christ as our righteousness, we have to learn to know Christ as our sanctification, and we have to learn to know Christ as our redemption. May the Lord deliver us from foolishness and darkness so that we realize that there is no matter or thing in the spiritual realm. All we have is just Christ.