God’s Glory and Resurrection
Have you ever felt backed into a corner? Wondering if there was a way to escape? Sometimes God allows us to be put into situations where His glory shows up. Easter is this month and it’s the most beautiful depiction of hopelessness being overcome by God’s glory.
One of the most beautiful examples of moving from hopelessness to pure glory is the Gospel. A friend and I used to ask people if they could tell us what the Gospel is. We’d also ask them what salvation is. In a giant church, we’d walk around and ask people and they couldn’t communicate what it was. The Gospel is simply Jesus bringing glory to a hopeless world.
The story of Easter is that we were all lost and on our way to hell. We had all of these insane rules written in the Old Testament. Those rules consisted of things like “if your brother does this sin, stone him or kill him”. It was a harsh time to be alive. When Jesus was born (the Christmas story), He was born to overcome the hopelessness of trying to reach impossible standards.
He knew His calling was death on earth - and He embraced it. His friends (disciples) freaked out and became hopeless. They denied Jesus and mourned His death. The darkest day of the Christian year is called “Good Friday”. Why is it called that? It’s called that because Jesus’ death was “good”. The earth was filled with despair and everyone was filled with hopelessness. However, that moment brought immeasurable joy and glory.
The next day - Jesus came back to life! Very few people had ever seen someone come back to life (except for those who saw some miracles of Jesus and His disciples). In that moment, we were all rescued. No more insane rules. Forgiveness was available. The only thing we had to do was thank Jesus for His sacrifice and surrender our lives to follow His plans. Who doesn’t want to follow the plans of someone who is willing to die for you?
THAT is the Gospel. A dark situation that Jesus redeemed. In return, He asks that He gets the glory for your life. You give Him the chance to show what He can do through you. His plans for you are good. They are hopeful. The Bible says, “He can do immeasurably more than you can see, think, or imagine…” (Ephesians 3:20). If you feel hopeless today, remember God has a plan and a way.