“Jesus paid it all. All to Him, I owe. Sin had left a crimson stain. He washed it white as snow.”
“He is risen. He is risen, indeed!”
Traditional sayings and phrases in the traditional church. But why do we say them? Why do we praise Him? Why do we celebrate Good Friday when it was the day that our Savior was nailed to a tree?
Friday is only good because Sunday was coming! We know now what the people in Jesus’ time did not know. His sacrifice was required to allow Him to fully conquer death. Imagine following Jesus then. You’ve heard the prophecies, believed a Savior was coming, and then you see Jesus beaten, bloodied, and lifted onto a cross. In that moment, it must have felt like everything had fallen apart… like death had won. God allowed Judas to be tempted to the point of betrayal. God allowed Jesus to be captured, tortured and killed. But what the enemy saw as his victory was just a necessary step in Jesus living out the biggest comeback story yet.
Do you find yourselves in those seasons? Your circumstances or the life that has been dealt to you looks dismal. I thought God was the ultimate protector and Savior. You think. How could He be letting this happen to me? Why is He allowing harm to come to my family? Why has death, pain and hardship been winning the war that it is waging in my home?
Don’t forget what Easter showed us. In this fallen world that we live in, God may allow pain, hardship and even the schemes of the enemy, but He uses it all to showcase His redeeming glory and majestic power! You might not see the redemption on this side of Heaven, you might not know the impeding victory that is coming from your dire circumstances. But we know that our Savior lives! Even in the silence, even in the doubt, He is working. The same Jesus who conquered the grave is still moving, still redeeming, still writing comeback stories. The enemy does not get the final say. My God is bigger than the schemes of the enemy. The enemy will not overtake me. He will not overtake my family.
Because Jesus died and came back to life:
We are forgiven and redeemed. Like a slave up for auction in a crowded marketplace, we were living slaves to sin. Jesus was able to take our place. He bought us and stands in our place.
Our future is now secured. Through Christs’ perfect sacrifice, He bridged the chasm that had been created between man and God. When we trust in Jesus and His redeeming love, our eternity is sealed. Jesus had to depart so that believers could receive the Holy Spirit.
Before, the Spirit would come upon believers and then depart. But now we get to enjoy the full presence of the Spirit every single day! The question isn’t what can the Holy Spirit do? It’s what can’t He do through a life that’s fully surrendered? It fills us up and gives us power. Wonder working power in truths and discernments. Does your life taste like the fully incorporated syrup in a glass of cold milk? There’s a difference in how you let Him be used in you. It’s a challenge, are you fully plugged in?
It’s pretty frustrating to jump on your tablet to play a game, only to realize that it wasn’t charged. If we aren’t regularly pouring into our time with the Lord, our spiritual lives can look a lot like that dead tablet. So much potential, so many capabilities, but powerless. We need to be regularly plugged in to the Word of God, not just sitting next to it. Because Sunday already proved it:
The grave is empty.
The victory is won.
And Jesus is still bringing dead things back to life.