He is God revealed, God alive — forever!

Leviticus 16; Psalm 19; Proverbs 30; 1 Timothy 1

The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge. There is no speech, nor are there words, whose voice is not heard. Their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world . . . . (Psalm 19:1–4)

The blind and hard-hearted say there is no God, yet God is generous in disclosing Himself. He does it in creation, by His Spirit, through His Word, in events, even in that we are made in His image. Today Christians celebrate the most astonishing revelation of God; He became a man, did miracles to prove that He is God, was crucified for this claim, buried, then rose again — appearing alive to more than 500 people.

Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, (Hebrews 1:1–3)

Yesterday I sang “This is my Father’s world . . . .” and looked out the window at that line, “I hear Him pass in the rustling grass” and rejoiced at the tall grasses rustling. They declare His presence and the sky declares His glory:

The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge. There is no speech, nor are there words, whose voice is not heard. Their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them he has set a tent for the sun. . . . (Psalm 19:1–4)

How can that be? How can the eye of a sinner who once rejected God see Him pass, know that He is here with me?

As it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him”— these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit . . . . (1 Corinthians 2:9–10)

Can I explain this? Not easily. Faith means just knowing. Without faith, I would say I’m just too dense, yet because of the Spirit of God and the Word of God, I can also say that I know!

Surely, I am too stupid to be a man. I have not the understanding of a man. I have not learned wisdom, nor have I knowledge of the Holy One. Who has ascended to heaven and come down? Who has gathered the wind in his fists? Who has wrapped up the waters in a garment? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is his name, and what is his son’s name? Surely you know! (Proverbs 30:2–4)

He made me in His image with the capacity to know Him, a capacity unlocked by faith in Jesus Christ and the miracle of forgiveness and new life. This new life is declared by an empty tomb, a risen Savior, a man of sorrows who went to a cross for me, who went to a grave that I might die to sin, and who rose from the dead to reveal what He gives to all who place their faith in Him. Not in our own wisdom. Not in our own goodness (which is like filthy rags)l. Not in our ideas of how the world came to be. Not in our own interpretations of the Scriptures. Not in our strange ideas of who Jesus is. Not in our religious rites and ceremonies. But we live in the One who died and who is now alive.

He has risen. He has risen indeed!

Joyous Easter!

Jesus left the tomb

A few years ago, a person knowledgeable about such things explained why Jesus could walk on water and suddenly appear in rooms with locked doors. He said that the space between the tiny molecules that make up matter is so large by comparison to the matter that another object should easily be able to pass through it. We sit on a chair, but the molecules of a chair are far enough apart that the molecules of our bodies (also far apart) should be able to pass through the chair, but they don’t. We walk through air, float or sink in water, but anything is theoretically possible.

Obviously we need our world to be this way, but how does it work? The Bible says of Jesus…

For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. (Colossians 1:16–17)

He controls it. In Him, all things hold together. While this principle is consistent and dependable (I can rely on a chair to hold me from passing through it to the floor), He can change the rules if need be. That is why He can walk on water and walk through walls. That is also why He didn’t need to have the stone rolled away so He could get out of the tomb.

And looking up, (the women) saw that the stone had been rolled back—it was very large. And entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, dressed in a white robe, and they were alarmed. And he said to them, “Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen; he is not here. See the place where they laid him. (Mark 16:4–6)

Today’s devotional reading says that large stone was not rolled away for Him to come out, but that they might go in! It was not the means of His exit but the means of their entrance. This makes the resurrection more than a piece of history; it makes it also a pledge and a promise, for God rolled away the stone not that Jesus might rise but that we might know he had risen. The women went into the empty tomb and saw only the place where they laid Him.

Going into a cave could be scary, never mind a stone tomb, but the women only saw grave clothes. Jesus was not there. In history, even His enemies and all skeptics have never argued or denied that His tomb was empty. They have tried to figure out what happened to His body, but no other answer fits the information we are given except that Jesus defied and defeated death. The tomb was neither cold nor eerie. It was quiet and calm, a place He merely rested for awhile and now one more assurance that He has risen indeed.

To Live is Christ — knowing God’s plans will be fulfilled

When I first met RA, she was needy, full of herself, and mad at the world. She had just become a Christian, but showing up for church was almost the only evidence. Those who knew her and picked her up each week said they dreaded those short periods with her because she was such a negative person.

However, God did not stop at forgiveness of her sin. He had more in mind for this woman and her problem-filled life. Within six months, she was transformed from an angry, attention-seeking, childish adult, to a joyful woman who never stops smiling. She says she spends hours in the Bible and in prayer. Her face shows her deep awareness of God in her life. Her problems have not changed, but she has. When I read these verses, I think of her.

I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine making request for you all with joy, for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;  (Philippians 1:3–6)

I also think of several others on my heart in whom God has begun a good work, but it seems as if He has stopped. They are not growing, at least not at my visibility level. I wonder at times if they have real faith or if God has set them on a shelf.

Then I remember that Paul knew God would finish what He started with the Christians at Philippi and my concerns become prayers of thanksgiving. God has a plan for each one of the people He saves. It might not go the way I expect or envision, but nothing is too hard for Him, and nothing can stop Him from doing what He has planned.

Today is Easter Sunday, the day Christians celebrate the greatest plan of all, God’s amazing plan of salvation. We know that we “were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from our aimless conduct received by tradition from our fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, and was manifest in these last times for us who through Him believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that our faith and hope are in God” (1 Peter 1:17–21).

God planned redemption through Christ before He created the world. Christ was revealed to us, and through Him we are saved. Our part is trusting in Him and confessing our sins — and we can do that because, “He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love” (Ephesians 1:4).

Sometimes I get anxious about those who profess Christ but seem to be stagnating in their faith. Then I remember that God finishes what He starts. I still pray for them, but with confidence, not fear.

Sometimes I get anxious about those who do not know Christ, worrying that they will perish. Then I remember that God has a plan and that nothing is too hard for Him. He can start someone on the road to heaven, keep them there, and bring them to that final destination. I still pray for them too, but the anxiety is replaced with confidence in the ability of God to finish what He starts and to do all things well.