I ran across this quote from D.A. Carson recently: “I’m not suffering from anything a good resurrection can’t fix.”
It’s simple, maybe a bit glib, but behind it is a bedrock of gospel hope. As we prepare to celebrate our Lord’s resurrection from the dead, we can be encouraged that our current groaning is light compared to the glory of eternity with Christ.
1. Suffering is Real
Suffering is real. Life is hard. In this post-garden world, it’s easy to slide into despair. We look around and ask, “Where is God?” We cry out with the saints of old, “How long, O Lord?”
Romans 8:22–23 tells us that all of creation groans. And not just creation—we groan. Each new day brings with it some fresh reminder that the world is not as it should be: a lingering pain, a hard conversation, a broken relationship, another headline, another tear.
And yet, the groaning itself is not meaningless—it’s pregnant with hope.
2. The Resurrection: God’s Answer to Brokenness
God does not leave us in this overwhelming state of woe. He enters in.
Christ’s resurrection is the firstfruits of what is to come (1 Corinthians 15:20–23). In Jesus Christ, we are given more than a momentary fix—we are given a promise. A living, breathing, risen Savior is the sign that the restoration of all things has already begun.
The resurrection is not just spiritual; it is physical, embodied, and restorative. Our weary, groaning bodies will one day be renewed, restored, and resurrected. The very flesh that suffers now will be clothed with immortality.
As Revelation 21:4 declares, “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes.” That means the tears you cry today are not forgotten—they are counted. And one day, they will be wiped away forever by the hand of the King.
3. Our Suffering Points Us To the Resurrection!
Suffering isn’t final. Pain has an expiration date.
Jesus didn’t just suffer—He suffered to the fullest. He drank the cup of God’s wrath to the bottom, so that we, united to Him by faith, would never have to. But His story does not end on the cross. It does not end in the tomb. The silence of death is broken by the shout of victory—He is risen.
That same resurrection power is what gives us the courage to endure. As Paul says in 2 Corinthians 4:16–18, “So we do not lose heart… For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison.”
We are not wandering from pressure to pressure, or from struggle to struggle—we are moving from mercy to mercy. If you are in Christ, your life has been caught up into a bigger story. Your pain is not the end. Your tears are not wasted. Your struggles are not random. They are being re-written into the grand narrative of redemption.
Whatever you are going through—whether it’s chronic illness, deep grief, burnout, or hidden wounds—if you have been united to Christ by faith, you are not alone. You are not forgotten. You are part of a story that ends in glory.
Your life is being translated from tragic pain to triumphant grace.
4. Not an Escape, But a Promise
The resurrection doesn’t erase our questions, it directs them to the One who is the Answer. It doesn’t remove the ache, but it gives the ache meaning.
The resurrection does not answer every “Why?” or “How long?” but it answers with a “Who.”
In Christ, you are redeemed. In Christ, you are made new. In Christ, your suffering is not in vain. And in Christ, we know: this is not the end.
That’s not escapism. That’s promise. That’s what anchors us.
Conclusion
So, let Carson’s quote land with fresh force:
“You are not suffering from anything a good resurrection can’t fix.”
That’s not denial—it’s defiant hope. Hope in the One who was crucified, buried, and raised. Hope in the One who will come again to make all things new.
And that changes everything.
Dear reader, where do you turn for hope?