After AD 616, the first Christian missionaries came to the court of King Edwin in Northumbria, England. In his great hall, ablaze with the light of numerous torches, they presented the Gospel. The king listened, then consulted his advisors.

One nobleman said: ‘Life is like a banquet hall. Inside is light… fire… warmth and feasting, but outside it is cold and dark. A sparrow flies in through a window at one end… and out through a window at the other end. That is what life is like. At birth we emerge from the unknown, and for a brief while we are here… with a fair amount of comfort and happiness. But then we fly out into the cold… dark… unknown future. [Can] this new religion… lighten that darkness for us?’

We who believe in the resurrection can answer, ‘Yes!’ A faulty heartbeat, a malignant cell, or a tragic accident can end life as we know it. But that’s not the end. And unless you believe that, here is what you’re left with: ‘If Christ has not been raised, then your faith is a delusion and you are still lost in your sins… believers in Christ who have died are lost. If our hope in Christ is good for this life only and no more, then we deserve more pity than anyone else in all the world. But the truth is that Christ has been raised from death, as the guarantee that those who sleep in death will also be raised.’ (1 Corinthians 15:17–20 GNT)

For the believer, the end of life on earth is the beginning of a glorious life with Christ in Heaven!