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“Imagine” was the famous Beatles song released in 1971.  It was written and sung by John Lennon, the leader of the Beatles. It became an all-time favourite.  Many around the world heard this song and marvelled at the lyrics.  The song was also included in many films, performances and events.  At the 2006 Winter Olympics, Peter Gabriel sang the song during the Opening Ceremony.  John Lennon invites people to “Imagine there’s no Heaven, it’s easy if you try; no hell below us, above us only sky”.  The world is described as one big brotherhood – “Imagine all the people living for today, living life in peace and sharing all the world”.   Truly an imaginary and utopian world!

From the Christian’s perspective, the Apostle Paul told his readers about the reality of life after death – resurrection.  He wrote, “If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised.  And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith.” (1 Cor. 15:13, 14)  When you examine carefully, there are various evidence for the resurrection of Jesus – the empty tomb, appearances of Jesus after His death and the existence of the worldwide Christian faith.  Initially Jesus’ disciples were frightened and fled away after His capture.  But after His resurrection, the disciples were changed men and ten of his Apostles died martyr’s death.  How would one explain what gave the men so much courage?  Lee Strobel was an award winning journalist at the Chicago Tribune.  In his book, “God’s Outrageous Claims”, he shared his own journey of faith in Jesus Christ.  He wrote, “I used to consider the Resurrection to be a laughable fairy tale.  After all, Yale Law School had trained me to be coldly rational, and my years of sniffing for news at the Chicago Tribune had only toughened my naturally cynical personality.  But intrigued by changes in my wife after she became a Christian, I spent nearly two years systematically using my journalistic and legal experience to study the evidence for the Resurrection and the credibility of Jesus’ claims to being God.  I emerged totally convinced and gave my life to Christ”.

The is no “Imagine” in the resurrection of Jesus.  It presents the realistic world we live in and provides us the genuine hope of eternal life – life after death.