Abolishing the Irreversible

"Let your hopes, not your hurts, shape your future."

                                                                                                        ~ Robert Schuller


Sometimes the very things and people we love the most, hurt us the worst.
When that happens, showing love, compassion and mercy does not come easily.
And being Christ-like is nearly a whimsical, passing thought.

Amazingly, Jesus' most powerful message of love and grace was His love for the people who betrayed Him; whether it was a disciple or Jerusalem, Jesus loved them both dearly.

Garden of Gethsemane

Judas was not the first follower of Jesus to betray Him, nor is he the last; He is simply the most famous.
When he led the mob to the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus called to him as 'friend.'
And though each of the disciples deserted Him just moments afterward, He still loved each of them.
On the Cross, though Jerusalem mocked Him, to God He prayed that His Father in Heaven would forgive them.

Most miss the fact that Jesus was re-fighting a famous battle; it was Satan's temptation from the Garden - to be obedient to self and not to God.
Jesus obliterated Adam's defiance on the Cross; yet, we should be keenly mindful that the Cross did not become common in art or jewelry for Christians until all who had seen a Crucifixion had died off.

Christianity is a religion, a faith, a way of self-sacrifice; it is a life of constantly dying to self so that the Christian may be made alive to God.
Some have compared a Cross to the execution methods of today; but an electric, gas chamber, or a firing squad cannot match the means of death which the Cross provided.
They are not nearly horrific enough.

In life and in the Church, I have learned that those who gain power or are in power or accumulate power - it is these who tend to cause suffering on others, no matter how well-intentioned their actions may be.
I have also learned that love and grace absorbs suffering for the sake of others.
That is, by His nature, the very message of Christ on the Cross - the absorbtion of death that we might live.

Have you ever wondered about the promise of the Cross and of Christ in His resurrection?
What if tomorrow you could walk outside and your spouse, parent, child or dear friend you lost to death - suddenly was walking up to your front door?
What if you would be the witness to their raising?

I'll tell you what that would mean - it would be the ultimate reversibility of the ages.

Often at the gravesides of many funerals I have heard ministers say something similar to this: 'We have come as far as we can with our friend in this world...'
And the statement is true.
But the finality of death is not so final in the face of the Resurrection.

In Christ, we learn a wonderful truth - not even death is final for God has provided for us in His Son the ultimate promise of reversibility.
One day, what God did in His Son, what He did with One, He will do again - only this time it will be on a much grander scale.

The first generation of Christians staked everything on their hope in the resurrection; today's generation of Christians do not.
But I don't know why.
Maybe it is because of materialism, maybe it is because of fallenness - I'm not sure; but I do know that if we staked our entire lives on the fact of the resurrection of Christ, we would be very different people.

In turning to the Gospels, the accounts of Jesus' Resurrection is not what one would expect. 
There are no dramatic appearances - nobody stops and doubts what they've seen.
The appearances are wispy, mysterious; they are confusing to the people who see Him.
It is as if the person who sees the Lord has been invaded by truth, unexpectedly.

Friend, sometimes God still moves that way in our lives today.
God makes Himself known to us in mysterious, unexpected ways where His truth invades our "normal" lives ever so briefly.
As a result, it can either build your hope or build your skepticism.

Like in the first century, there are those who doubt your life events where God is evident. 
There will always be those who ask, 'Where is the Body?'
My explanation is that Jesus is Risen and is alive forevermore.
Are the doubters theories better than mine?
I don't think so because of what I have seen since I have believed in that which I did not see.

Like the Resurrection, those who have had God move in their lives - in a death, in a healing, in a tragedy - it is these who believe and have a solid foundation of hope in their hearts and truly believe they can change the world.

In our world, it is difficult to help others understand the Lord and believe.
We often forget that it was very hard for the disciples to understand and believe the resurrection as well and they were eye-witnesses.
The one convincing appearance for most is when Jesus had breakfast with them; you see, ghosts don't eat fish, not even Holy Ghosts.

Yet, when they see the Resurrected Jesus and they figure it out - they find Him to be irresistible because when the Lord invades your life with His ultimate truth - He is Irrefutable.

As far as we know, every person who saw the Risen Lord believed.
No unbeliever ever saw Jesus alive after His death.
But that will change in the future as He reverses death finally and forever.

Death, disease, pain and suffering may seem like the winners in the world and it may seem like they will be here forever - an irreversible situation. The day will come when the word 'irreversible' is abolished.
But we must remember, the world we have now is because one man reversed a perfect Creation; one day the world we be brought back to its original form in the power of the Resurrection. 

And if God can do that with me and you in the future, just imagine what He can do through our lives right now, if we will only let Him be God and we be His servants.

Until next time, win one for the good guys.