Filed under: Uncategorized
I know: I’m a few days late. Easter was last Sunday. But I’ve been mulling over a few things. And once again, they’re embarrassingly elementary. Basic. But nonetheless powerful.
Indeed, our God – the God of Abraham, Isaac, and David, who came in the flesh as Jesus Christ and left His Spirit to dwell in us – is the God of redemption. He redeems we who were slaves to sin. Buys us out of that nature, and sends us into the liberty of discipleship. Our Redeemer.
He is the God of reconciliation. The One with whom we broke relationship seeks us, pursues us, loves us, forgives us, and actively reconciles Himself to us and us to Him. “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God.” He is the Mender of broken relationships. The Balancer. The one who reconciles what is owed against what can never be repaid; who instead gave His own Son as payment for our debt and credits to us His own perfect righteousness.
And He’s the God of restoration. The God who sees what once was, but has been perverted, smeared, smothered, defaced and deformed by sin, and restores it to its original and purposed glory. The God who embedded His own nature and value in humanity at the point of creation, who made us capable of emotion, relationship, and choice, and has since been restoring us to His original design. Indeed, when we made the wrong choice that shattered and ruined the masterpiece, He chose to see what He intended rather than what had become of His creation. And He set about restoring it.
But maybe more significant than all else, He is the God of resurrection. The God of dead things brought to life. The God who takes what is currently dying and resuscitates it, causing in it an active life. The God who takes what is already dead and gives it new life.
I know of no greater picture of God’s great love, justice, and creative genius than His will to kill sin and self – the parasitic killer in humanity, its host – only to breath His own Life into and over death.
I know no greater act of omnipotence.
Our God takes what has been long dead – what is buried and rotten, and has been grieved and forgotten – and speaks it back to Life. Breathing, pulsating, moving, growing, loving, giving… Life.
Dead hopes.
Dead dreams.
Dead hearts.
Dead minds.
Dead careers.
Dead relationships.
Dead passions.
Dead works.
Dead faith.
Dead souls.
Dead people.
And then…Life.
Wow.
2 Comments so far
Leave a comment
amy courts: en route 
Amen! The more I think about how much we have done to offend Him, and how much He has done to redeem us, the more I am blown away at His love, and how much he does and has done to free us from the slavery of sin. We deserve nothing but death, and choose nothing but death, yet He teaches us, reproofs us, corrects us, and trains us in righteousness, that we may be redeemed – not only saved, but useful to Him. What great love, far beyond my comprehension.
Comment by Josh May 6, 2009 @ 11:16 amelementary and basic are the heart of all our faiths. it’s what makes jesus so universal. what makes him home for everyone. it’s beautiful. we don’t have to be any kind of literary genius or scholar or brilliant scientist to understand, appreciate and LOVE him.
and i read that end list over and again about a million times. there is such acknowledgment in reading those words, and a quiet power and connection in seeing them. knowing that we all endure dead spells in our lives and hearts, and to know that we’re not alone might be the most comforting thing in the world. especially knowing that there is hope. beautiful, enduring, unbiased hope.
Comment by leanna marie jackson May 6, 2009 @ 12:27 pm