This is radical stuff: it claims that death is and was defeated by death. How can that work? Death is the punishment of God on rebellious humanity. Death entered the world by one man, Adam. Life entered the world by one man, Jesus Christ. Christ was a perfect man. As a man, He broke none of God's holy laws for a perfect life, so He did not deserve death. Yet, out of love He became man and was crucified to take the punishment for our sin. God punished Him for the sin we have committed. Christ became an atonement for us. Many people have died on behalf of others, even been crucified for others. Yet, one thing makes Christ's death different from every other. He rose from the dead! Death had no power over Him, God, the Father raised Him from the dead on the third day after the crucifixion.

But how can this release us from the bondage and inevitability of death? Christianity says that if you believe Christ died for your rebellion against God then Christ's atoning sacrifice will save you. To believe in Christ is to pass from death to life: to pass from a state of living death, and believe in a death that makes you alive. In believing in Christ you die to yourself, the passions and desires of your rebellious nature, and you become alive in Christ - living in the power of His resurrection. The Apostle Paul said that he 'died' daily that he might know Christ Jesus and the power of the resurrection.

The Bible is saying then, that those who live without acknowledging God in their lives are dead, because life is only found in Christ Jesus - the one who defeated death. If you are dead to yourself and alive in Christ you have true and eternal life. Dying with Christ, means that we may share in His resurrection and obtain the inheritance of eternal reconciliation with God.

Perhaps Christ's resurrection seems too hard for you to believe. But the evidence of the empty tomb is clear. Jesus appeared not only to His family, His disciples, but 500 people on a mountain! Those who wrote about Him were ordinary men, who when He was arrested and crucified forsook Him and fled. Yet, after they saw Jesus risen from the dead they became brave and courageous and stood up before their enemies to preach. When they preached about His resurrection, with His grave close at hand, no one went to the tomb to prove that His body was still there.

Ruth Powell is the co-president of the Christian Union. She is a second year student of English Literature.