JourneyOnline
When God raised Jesus from the dead, he made a statement to the world – in the end, the God who started it all gets the last word. And that word is life – Jesus is alive.
We celebrate Jesus’ resurrection for one simple reason: the sin that could destroy us does not carry the day.
Jesus forgives us of our sin – personally and globally. By this I mean that in Jesus Christ our personal sin and the sin of the world will not be the ultimate determinant of life.
When we look at our lives we see powerful forces. Our mistakes shape who we are.
The terrible things done against us by others stay with us for way too long.
How we were raised, both good and bad, affects us. Uncertainty about the future stagnates us. Emptiness drains us. Meaninglessness binds us. Evil overwhelms us. Knowing that someday we will die scares us.
These forces seem to be the strongest things in the world.
But they are not. God is greater than anything we do; anything done to us; anything we’ve become; and even greater than the death we face.
Who is stronger, sin or God? Who lasts longer, death or God? What am I afraid of? God is greater than whatever I fear.
Resurrection faith is simple. It is the belief that no force we encounter is ever greater than God.
When God raised Jesus from the dead, he put his stamp of victory into this world.
Resurrection faith is also the bedrock of the church. The church is completely grounded in the belief that God wins; no one else wins; sorrow loses; injury ends; sin fails; death gets trounced.
On the last day, there is one left standing – and that one is Jesus.
I have faith that when I breathe my last breath of Queensland air, God is not done with me because God can’t help but love, forgive and give life.
Peter Armstrong is minister with Redcliffe Uniting Church Congregation
Photo : Peter Armstrong
