The Mysterious Tension of Life…and the Resurrection of Jesus Christ

The world we live in is a strange mix of good and bad. At once – and on any given day – we can experience the joy of living and the pain of dying. Each one of us is made in the image of our perfect God (Genesis 1:27), and each one of us is tainted by the awful consequences of our sin. Even though we live by the sustaining power of Jesus Christ (Colossians 1:17), we live under the shadow of death; for the wages of sin is death (Romans 3:23).            

It is no wonder that we can truly say, “Life is very good” and “Life is very bad.” This creation reflects the wonder, majesty, and care of our God. At the same time, this creation reflects the curse of sin against our God. We live in the mysterious tension between righteousness and sinfulness, between God’s intended perfection and our human failure, between the suffering of now and the hope of the future. 

Thank Jesus there is a hope for the future! The celebration of Easter – Resurrection Day – recognizes the most significant event in all of history. Jesus crashed into this world of ours. Though He exists outside of space and time, though He is not bound by days or locations as we are, He chose to invade this space/time realm in order to do what needed done. He took on human flesh – came incarnate (John 1:14) – to the universe in order to pay the price for the sin of human beings. He died and shed His own blood to cover our sin (Ephesians 1:7), and then He rose from the dead as the ultimate proof of His sacrifice.

Ponder this: the omnipresent and omnipotent God of creation who is not bound by space or time willingly chose to come to Earth in order to make a way that we might someday be free from the restraint of time and space and live forever with Him. When Jesus told his disciples, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life” (John 14:6), His words were so deep. We take for granted the sacrifice God has made. We depend on Him for everything – including our breath – and yet He lowered Himself to enter our sin-cursed world so that we might someday escape the sin curse.           

One day Jesus will re-make the heavens and the earth by the same power that raised Him from the dead! This world will no longer be a mix of good and bad, righteousness and unrighteousness. This new world will be a “home of righteousness” (II Peter 3:13). Everything will then be as it ought to be; no more death, no more tension between sinfulness and what should be. Everything will be right because Jesus will have made it right.           

Easter is a time to look inside and be sure we stand securely in relationship with the God of the universe by way of Jesus Christ. Jesus is the Only Way. Every person must believe the truth of the resurrection of Jesus Christ and choose to trust Jesus in every way for all of life. A relationship with Him is the only way we have real life now and perfect life then.            

The tension of this life is great. Let the hints of goodness we see in this world direct us to our good God, despite the current reality of the sin curse. Jesus came to destroy the work of sin and Satan (I John 3:8), and this reality will most certainly come to pass in all fullness one day soon.

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