OF UTMOST CONCERN TO GOD OUR CREATOR: REDEMPTION OF HIS CREATION
THUS, THE CRUCIFIXION THEN THE RESURRECTION
On June 18, 1815, British General Wellington faced Napoleon in the battle of Waterloo – a decisive battle which would determine England’s future
To communicate the outcome of the battle, the British Royal Navy would use its system of flags to send the news across the English Channel.
Standing in the watchtower on the English side, a designated watchman gazed anxiously across the channel awaiting the signals from a ship on the other side. He held his breath, as did all of England.
Finally, peering through his telescope, the watchman spotted the flagman as he began to send a message just as the fog was rolling in. The man in the tower could see only two words signaled by the flagman: “Wellington Defeated”.
A feeling of gloom and doom came over the watchman and also the villagers who had anxiously awaited to hear the news.
As the watchman continued to gaze, the fog lifted and the message from the other side was sent yet again. This time, the full message could be seen: “Wellington Defeated Napoleon!”
Sorrow turned to joy! England would be safe. The people could now rest in peace!
On that Good Friday, when Jesus was crucified and buried, the message appeared to be: “Jesus Defeated”.
On Sunday at the break of day, the fog lifted from the minds of His followers as the full message came through loud and clear: “Jesus Defeated Death!”
Death is inevitable. We’re all going to die – physically. Jesus told His Disciples that to live again we must be born again – spiritually (die to sin and be born of the Spirit with a new nature - symbolized by baptism) . . . for living a new life in Christ in the “here and now” . . . for going to Heaven when we die. Guaranteed by His Resurrection!
On the subject of “resurrection”, Jesus had a conversation with Martha sister of Lazarus in which we gain insight into His thinking: His resurrection would be the believer’s blessed assurance of their own resurrection unto eternal life promised to all who believe – John 11:25-27 . . .
Lazarus was dead. Earlier in the week Jesus had heard that his good friend was sick unto death, but Jesus “stayed where he was for two more days”. He told His disciples that his friend’s sickness was “for God’s glory, that God’s Son may be glorified through it.”
As Jesus approached Bethany several days after Lazarus died, Martha met Him, saying, “If you had gotten here on time, my brother would not have died.” Jesus assured Martha that her brother would rise again, sooner rather than the “later” that Martha had in mind . . .
As mature Christians, we have grown accustomed to the way it is in the spiritual realm: God our Father through Christ our Lord “does all things well” based on His timing.
Good Friday reminded us that, by allowing His Son to willingly die on the Cross to save us from our sins, God did a good thing for the good of His people. Indeed, “God is working in and through all things to bring about good to those who love Him.”
Sometimes in life that which is good for us occurs sooner than expected – but, more often than not, God’s goodness in answer to prayers occurs later - at His appointed time or will occur beyond the sunset when we all get to Heaven.
In her temporary grief, Martha wished out loud that Jesus had been there when Lazarus was sick so He could have healed him. It’s as if she said to Jesus: “too late now . . . time for healing has passed.”
Then - “for God’s glory, that God’s Son may be glorified,” Jesus demonstrated that neither death nor time can prevent God . . . With God, all things are possible. With Christ, death is as if the dead person is simply asleep.
Martha thought of resurrection only as a future event – to be realized after the body spends a long period of time in the grave.
To a certain extent that is true – “The dead in Christ shall rise fist . . . be made alive . . . be joined with their souls . . . For sure, as Paul said, “to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord, and so shall we ever be with the Lord” . . . in spirit, until God’s appointed time when the dead in Christ shall rise, to receive a new glorified body to be reunited with that soul that left that old body at death.
Jesus brought resurrection into the present, making it personal by showing that resurrection also happens in the life of anyone who believes and lives in Him.
New life in Christ begins in the here and now, transitions by death into the hereafter, continues in the place Jesus promised to those who belong to Him.
When, by God’s grace, Christ was received into the hearts and lives of folks we have known or heard or read about - from then until now - yes, for you and me also - Christ has been - is now - “the resurrection and the life.” Paul hit a home run on this:
“And you he made alive, when you were dead through the trespasses and sins in which you once walked . . . But God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ!” (Eph. 2)
Our Lord’s thesis has been proved time and time again: “He who believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live!” So, when unbelievers change their minds – from a mindset of rejecting Christ to a mindset of believing and receiving Him - resurrection to new life happens. Without Him, it does not! “No one comes unto the Father except by Me.”
Jesus was speaking to a woman whose heart was aching with grief. He comforted her by assuring her of eternal life and promising a resurrection in the future, but then demonstrated His power to fulfill that promise by raising Lazarus from the dead in the present.
The wonderful promise Jesus gave to Martha is for all who willingly accept His terms - “repentance to God and belief in God’s Son as Savior and Lord”. Clearly stated: “Whoever believes in me, and lives accordingly, shall never die”.
As exciting as the Disciples’ experiences with Jesus had been, as victorious as they felt when He appeared to them after His resurrection, also they must have felt that what all they had shared with Christ up to the moment of His Ascension was only a prelude, a preface, a foretaste of what must be in store for them.
Certainly you share my feeling that now that we belong to Jesus we have just begun - even in our old age - to know and love Him in the fullness of what it really means to know and love Him.
As it was with His early disciples, surely it is with you and me - that the love of God shown to us in Jesus Christ was not, and is not, a passing “get acquainted” affair, but, will require eternity to express itself adequately and completely.
There is infinitely more in store for us in our relationship with Christ than we can possibly imagine. “Eye has not seen nor ear heard, neither has it entered into the heart of man to conceive the things He has prepared for them who love Him!”
Thus, those believers who mourned the death of Lazarus could say - and hopefully we who have had our hopes dashed by the death of a loved one, can say with them - that we have lived our lives with the Lord in a spirit of love and appreciation – all the while waiting for our own death with a bit of excitement, knowing that it will lead us into something far better than we’ve already had.
In view of Who Christ was, is, and forevermore shall be --- our only source of salvation and resurrection, our only hope of eternal life - the only question left to be asked is: “Do you believe this?”
Martha answered bravely that she did. Yet there can be little doubt that her understanding was somewhat dim . . . But, so is mine – and probably yours too! By faith, not by sight, we take Him at His Word. He not only said He would arise on the third day, He did!
A week after His resurrection He appeared to His Disciples and said to them, “Peace be with you.” Then said Jesus to Thomas - who no longer doubted but shouted “My Lord and my God”: “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe.”
What a difference unapologetic faith makes in the lives of all who believe in Christ and live for Him!
Our Lord’s Easter Message to you and me is: “Blessed are you who have not seen me in the flesh and yet believe . . . A place is prepared for you, that you may be with me for eternity . . . Peace be with you” - now and forevermore! Amen!
