'Faith' is a very special word.  Although it is used by some people to mean 'following a religious system', the Bible speaks of faith in the person and work of Jesus Christ.  He was punished for our sins and raised to declare that all who trust in Him are justified.  A Christian’s faith is based on a personal relationship with the Creator God who can raise the dead.  He starts everything and has the ability to bring spiritually dead people to life – Jesus lives in their hearts enabling them to live a new life (Ephesians 3:16-19).

Abraham was 'as good as dead' (Romans 4:19, Hebrews 11:12) - he was 100 years old when Isaac was born.  But he believed that God could give new life to his body to father a child.  Abraham also believed that God could bring his son back from the dead (Genesis 22:1-5; Hebrews 11:19).  Although Abraham made many mistakes, God credited righteousness to him - not because of his good works but because he believed in the God who could give new life (Genesis 15:5-6).

Faith in a life-giving God is not intended to be a tranquiliser for the weak minded, a tradition for obsessives or a fantasy for mystics.  It is rooted in the confidence that the Creator God has life-giving power to raise the dead. 1 Corinthians 15:19-20 says, "If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.  But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep."  True faith in God believes that He raised Jesus Christ from the dead; that He will give us a new relationship now; and a new physical life after death when Jesus comes again.

Resurrection-faith should shape every part of life.  We believe in the Life-giver, a new start when we are born again, and an eternity with a new body.  He is also the Life-sustainer (Hebrews 1:3) with whom each new morning sees a fresh expression of His love (Lamentations 3:22-24).  So, is anything too hard for the Lord (Genesis 18:14)?  Trust Him today at work, at home; in the joys, with the sorrows; when you cannot see and when the darkness closes in.  He is the God of the new start, the healer of the sick, the guide to the blind, the husband of the widow, the hope of the nations: and He raises the dead!