“Where, O death, is your victory?

Where, O death, is your sting?”

The titles of these two pictures are “Resurrection of the Dead” and “Resurrection of the Living”, respectively. They are Chris’ depictions of the time that Jesus returns in all of his splendor to bring his people home.

The Resurrection of the Dead hints to the sea, the grave, and the ground – all things that currently hold mortal bodies for now. A holding place, if you would for us to wait on Christ’s return. I love that the way he depicted the grave is that it’s torn open and the “person” is ascending, leaving the mortal and earthly realm behind. Death conquered once and for all by God’s mighty power.

The Resurrection of the Living shows the “person” ascending from the earth into the sky. You can clearly see the presence of the image leaving the body behind.

I know that there are countless nuances and intricacies of the return of Christ and the ascension of his people that we will never be able to comprehend this side of Heaven, but there are many truths that bring me a lot of comfort as a believer held within this time as well.

• Death itself has no power over those who are in Christ Jesus – our earthly mortality will cease, and the graves will no longer have their hold on those who have gone before. All will be returned and restored to Him in his time and plan
• Sickness has no power over Jesus’ work on the cross. We will all be made perfect, and our weak and wounded bodies will be fully restored to the perfection that God had in mind for us from the beginning. The pain and sickness that we feel now are fleeting and temporary, nothing compared to the restored glory that lies ahead.

I don’t know the specifics of the how and the when of this time, but I take comfort in knowing that they will take place. God has a plan to return his people to himself, and I know that he will be faithful to bring it to completion.

These paintings serve as a great artistic reminder of God’s promise to return us to him. There is something to be said about seeing a peace of art, and having it fill you with a sense of emotion. That’s really what art is all about, after all. Chris does a really good job of capturing the promise of our resurrection through Christ in these works.

Theres a sense of peace that I get when i see a visual reminder of the grave split open, that death itself can not be conquered by our King. It’s a great reminder that this world, and all of it’s pain, sickness, war, poverty, famine, and trouble is merely temporary, and will all fall away in comparison with the eternity that is in the perfection of a relationship with Christ.

Chris Cook is a premier southern artist and owner of Madison Studios, a web design, maintenance, and e-commerce and marketing company. For his artist biography, contact information, or to view more of his work, click HERE.