Tomorrow commemorates the celebration of the Egyptian Copts of the feat of Resurrection. Resurrection was one of the signs of God’s love to man. God loved man as He created him and breathed life in him. He made him an eternal creature. Out of His love to man, He prepared earth, heaven and all the features of life for him, then created him to work in the land and preserved it. He made him the head of all creatures and gave him freedom to either be with Him or to be dethatched from Him. Hence, life turned into a responsibility man had to shoulder its consequences as it is the way to eternal life that he would live after crossing over from death which became a bridge that lead man from the earthly life to the eternal one, each one according to what he offered; either goodness or evil.This way Resurrection is the sign of love as it is the beginning of his endless eternal life.
But here we should ask, if resurrection and eternity that follows were designed out of God’s love of man, why then some people are denying their existence thinking that death is the end of man and his return to the oblivion. One wrote, “We will die, our thoughts, dreams will fade away and will go the place where we have been before we existed. We will go to the place to the same place we have been at when dinosaurs were roaming on earth. Do you remember where you have been? Exactly, we have not been and we will not be after our death” At the same time we see those who stand in confusion before the issues of life after death and its consequences. They keep wondering about death, its , its consequences and the case in which man would discover the existence of God after his death. They have no answer, but that man will have no existence. This confusion is basically because their unbelief in the existence of God, glory to His name, as in their imagination, there is a hideous image of a cruel god who seek nothing but revenge from people and control their life so they turn into puppet in his hands. Some may see that the world is full of wars and starvations not to mention their personal pain. So they decide to reject God and unconsciously they want to strip man out of his God’s gifts, freedom. Hence, they get rid of their responsibilities toward their lives, decisions and choices not to mention his role in rejecting evil and seeking goodness and help all those in pain thinking that is easier to make an end out of death than turning life into a responsibility. But Resurrection came as a ringing bell ringing at every place and time declaring that life is still a beginning that knows no end.
General Bishop
Head of the Coptic Orthodox Cultural center
