If you’ve had a rough day, a tough week or a less than stellar year thus far, would you allow me to gently turn your eyes to a reason we can celebrate? Three words will help us get there. Ready? They are: He is Risen! Three days after Jesus’ death on the cross, God raised Jesus from the dead! What a reason to rejoice! While it doesn’t change any difficult circumstances in our lives right now, it does give us an encouraging eternal perspective and reminds us of the hope we have in Jesus.
We see this hope in the earliest portions of Genesis in the creation account. The Creation Museum, a place I had the pleasure of experiencing on my recent visit to Kentucky, stays true to its name and has displays, exhibits, short films and more, taking its visitors back in time to the days of the beginning of the world.
Genesis 2:7 tells us, “7 Then the Lord God formed a man[a] from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.”
It was the Lord God who literally breathed life into Adam. Think about that for a minute. Our God is a giver of life, and not just a temporary life on this earth. His desire is for something far greater. He desires for us to have eternal life with Him in heaven. He sent His one and only Son to bring that to fruition.
John 6:33-35 says, “33 For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”
34 “Sir,” they said, “always give us this bread.”
35 Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”
Jesus gives life to the world! In a time when our world is in distress, we know that those who believe in Jesus have hope.
John 10:10 reminds us, “10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” Jesus desires abundant life for us and He tells us how to get it. He says in verse 9, “I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved…” He reiterates this same idea in John 14:6, “6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
We are given, by God, a way to experience eternal life. In the days of Noah, there was one way to be saved. There was one door on the Ark and those who entered it were saved from the destruction of the flood. Today, that door is Jesus.
Just before Jesus was arrested, in John 17:2-3, he looked to heaven and prayed,
“Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. 2 For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. 3 Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.”
The only TRUE God, who breathed life into Adam, is the same God who raised Jesus and brought Him back to life after 3 days!
If you, or someone you know has not yet looked to Jesus, be encouraged by what Jesus says in John 6:40: “40 For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.”
Look to the Son and believe! He will breathe new life, eternal life, into you.
If you have already looked to the Son and believed, may you radiate His glory in your everyday life.
Let us go be radiant as we remember our Risen Savior and the LIFE He has given us. Happy Easter my friends.
Go Be Radiant 