Tim Keller tells the following story:

When my wife was growing up, every summer her family spent two weeks at a small compound of cottages on the shores of Lake Erie. Now the cottages are all gone—in fact that part of the beach is gone. Whenever she visits that childhood vacation spot, she weeps because she knows the beech is irretrievable. That sense of irretrievability is like a death. And the older we all get, the more we realize that certain losses are irretrievable; they're gone, and that sucks the joy out of our lives.

But here's where Christ's resurrection offers something unique. Even religions that promise a kind of spiritual future or spiritual bliss, only offer consolation for what you've lost. But the resurrection of Christ even promises the restoration of what you've lost. You don't just get your body back; you get the body you always wanted but you never had. You don't just get your life back; you get the life that you always wanted that you never had.

But Jesus Christ is walking proof that you will miss nothing. Nothing! It's all coming in the future. It's going to be unimaginably wonderful. There is no religion, no philosophy, and no human being who can offer this kind of future. And as Christians our hope for the future is based on the historical fact of the resurrection. So if you are not a Christian, let me ask: Why wouldn't you want that? Even if you don't like different aspects of the Christian faith, why wouldn't you want this hope for restoration? You're not being honest with yourself if you don't want that.

Editor's Note: Between the 2nd and 3rd paragraphs Keller said, "As an example, I know people who are living faithfully for Christ by saying, 'I'm not going to marry somebody unless that person can be a spiritual partner to me.' There are single people who are following Christ who may never get married. It might be tempting for them to say, 'I'll never know the joy of marriage. I've lost that joy and it's gone forever.' Or others may be following Christ by staying in a difficult marriage."