SALVATION
But this creative God, this marvelously beautiful God, had a plan. In the midst of the rebellion and subsequent rusty scourge, God wanted to bring about resurrection. Life breathed into death.
And he would do it in the most unexpected way.
A small carpenter in a poor village grew perfection in the person of Jesus. Hidden away in the humble rural communities of Galilee, grew a perfect man. He was God’s son. But, hidden he was.
As soon as he burst onto the scene at 30 years of age, the scourge of the fall chased him. Seeking to swallow him in the wake of the unstoppable march of evil, political powers, religious powers, the fall of man sought to kill God himself.
And God allowed this death to take his son. He gave his son to provide a stop to the endless cycle. Death took Jesus. A vivid, horrid, public death. Nails. Rough hewn and splintered timbers. His body stopped. The blood stopped circulating. No heartbeat. Skin becomes cold. Rigor mortis. The pallor of death. The unmistakable out of place look of death took over.
And the world mourned for 3 days. Grave, death, mourning. Dark. Dank. Hope is lost.
But, in the grave, hope was fermenting. Life was coming out of the grave. History’s endless cycle of violence and death was beginning to reverse…And Jesus rose from the dead.
But, it wasn’t a resuscitation job. He wasn’t just given breath again, but he was transformed.
After the resurrection, Jesus appeared, walked through walls, ate, and then ascended. He was transformed. In body and spirit.
And death was defeated. Death, the ultimate loss became the ultimate loser. And, the greater force put into the universe, furiously takes the lead: life. Love.
Jesus showed the power of God’s resurrection. This resurrection is returning us towards our original design: created to love, created to walk in unity, created to express hope to the world.
Creation is being restored. Creation is being brought back to Jesus.
And, through that resurrection, death now fades into the background…and life begins again.
31 So, what do you think? With God on our side like this, how can we lose? 32 If God didn’t hesitate to put everything on the line for us, embracing our condition and exposing himself to the worst by sending his own Son, is there anything else he wouldn’t gladly and freely do for us? 33 And who would dare tangle with God by messing with one of God’s chosen? 34 Who would dare even to point a finger? The One who died for us—who was raised to life for us!—is in the presence of God at this very moment sticking up for us. 35 Do you think anyone is going to be able to drive a wedge between us and Christ’s love for us? There is no way! Not trouble, not hard times, not hatred, not hunger, not homelessness, not bullying threats, not backstabbing, not even the worst sins listed in Scripture: 36 They kill us in cold blood because they hate you. We’re sitting ducks; they pick us off one by one. 37 None of this fazes us because Jesus loves us. 38 I’m absolutely convinced that nothing—nothing living or dead, angelic or demonic, today or tomorrow, 39 high or low, thinkable or unthinkable—absolutely nothing can get between us and God’s love because of the way that Jesus our Master has embraced us.
Romans 8:31–39 (The Message)
It is through our faith and our obedience that our lives are transformed. Jesus has saved us from violence, from shame and from the lies of the enemy.
Today, think of someone in your community group. Write out a simple prayer for them and send it to them in a card or a text message.