This Changes Everything

 I recently watched a movie about the crucifixion and resurrection of the Christ.  Although based (loosely) on scripture, I enjoyed the movie. There were many great, thought provoking moments.  One that has been taking up space in my brain, is a scene where the tomb is found empty and the 11 apostles are being questioned about the "location of the body". At one point, the centurion questions the demeanor of one very excited and smiling apostle who responds with "don't you see? This changes EVERYTHING!". I have been pondering this since I heard it. Such a powerful and profound statement!

I can imagine the hopelessness and despair His followers felt when after 3 years of following...being hungry and tired and abused and witnessing miraculous events and hearing "riddles and stories" they didn't understand. They were witnesses of His diety and His humanity covered in love and the promise of eternal life. The word tells us they didn't truly comprehend the God's eternal plan especially the resurrection. So what was it like to witness their Rabbi beaten and bloodied, hanging from the death tree, condemned ..framed by the "holy men" of the day?  How it must have crumbled their resolve and broken their hearts to hear their Messiah cry out, "IT IS FINISHED!?  In fear, they ran and hid. Feelings of desperation must have hung----heavy in the air. I imagine they tried to encourage each other in hushed and timid voices......feeling frightened and hopeless.....grieving together.

But with the dawn of Sunday morning, the tomb would be empty and their hearts full. They would understand the words of the redeemer, the power of the mission He assigned them and HOPE would return!

This empty tomb signified the resurrection of hope! Because if He is risen, we can be too!  Because if His tomb is empty, so will ours be! It is the culmination of hundreds of years filled with promises and reminders that through Abraham's seed all nations would be blessed. Genesis 12:1-3. Over and over again God reiterates this promise, reminding His people to remain faithful, because Messiah is coming!   The empty tomb shows  us

that He is a promise keeping God. Hope for all nations!

God sets up a sacrificial system so that HIS people's will understand the sacrifice of His Son....pure...spotless...without blemish.  The sacrifice of the very best heaven had to offer to cleanse us and reunite us with our GOD always has been HIS plan. Hope for our relationship with the Father!

God instructed and inspired over 60 men to inscribe God's instructions on how to please Him.  They give us insights on how to worship, how to evangelize, how to encourage, how to live and how to love. The words help us develop the attributes that make kingdom living, and therefore heaven dwelling, a perfect fit for us. In these words He gives us a clear view of our purpose.  Walking with Him means we don't have to wonder if we are going the right way, or what we are supposed to be doing on our daily walk. Scripture tells us that God is not willing that we should perish and the tells us exactly not only what we should do, but what HE has done to insure our salvation!  Just as in the OT, He reminds us to hang on because Messiah is coming again.  He gives us encouragement to not give up. I Corinthians 15:52 and many verses tell us to be strong and let nothing move us. Hebrews says He will never leave us or forsake us. Hope for our journey earthside.

That stone rolled away and the blessing of the Risen Savior changed the world . A worldwide community of believers , a holy love, a purer heart, a deeper faith, and a heavenly hope ....yes this truly changes EVERYTHING!

Blessings,

Neva


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Third Verse

To say that my life has experienced some changes in the past few years would be an understatement and "in your face" obvious!  Cancer changes things.  The cancer world makes sure we know about mastectomies, chemo, support groups,hair loss, nausea etc. That same source says we can "overcome "; we can run races and wear t-shirts and model wigs. We can give rousing speeches, attend events and inspire everyone as we hand out pink ribbons. I read all that.  This was my fourth round with cancer and was by far the hardest battle. I remembered the feelings and phases of the other times. I remember.  I had and still have an absolute dream of a husband and a great support system, for which I am grateful. God still loves me. The tomb is still empty and God's benevolent grace pours over me  continuously. These things were and still are my daily, hourly, minute by minute strengths.  But here, at 10 months since finishing chemo, things are different. I saw a meme on Face...
Read more

Delighting

When I think of King David, I always think, "man after God's own heart".  His Psalms are an ever-present reminder to praise God. So it is no surprise that in his writings, I find my favorite verse. Psalms 37:4 "Delight in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart. " When I found myself a young widow and single parent, the immediate need for a plan for the future for my children as well as myself, weighed on my heart.  All the previous plans had Eddy in them. So it was time to consider what I (and God), wanted..where we were going, what we'd be doing!  It started off as a daunting task! My mom was a faithful Christian who had to reexamine her hopes and dreams several times.  She always went to God's word for guidance. Inspired by her example, I started reading the Psalms, because here David often put MY heartaches and joys into words. I had read them before, but this time they hit my heart differently. This gem in Psalms 37:4 did just that! ...
Read more

Reciprocal Delighting

Overwhelming gratitude sweeps over my soul every time I think about "delighting" in God!  Did you know that when we delight in the Lord, He delights in US?  So as I am striving to walk in His path, to meditate on His Word and to keep my eyes focused on Him AND when I try to remain pure, when I love others and share the good news about salvation, HE delights in Me?  That's what it says!  How blessed are we? According to the first chapter of Ephesians, it was His desire to create a people who would delight in Him. In his "commentary"  The Message, Eugene Peterson says "Long before he laid down earth's foundation, he had us in mind and settled on us as the focus of his love"   A couple of sentences later Mr. Peterson adds this parentheses "What pleasure he took planning this".   Don't you just love that?  Such a beautiful thought! And Holy scripture backs it up!  In Genesis we se that after God's created man He said " it's g...
Read more