A summer of shock and grief has continued for me, with word that a dear niece, only in her early twenties and with all the world before her, is wrestling with disease and the spectre of cancer. It brings me to my knees in prayer and to the Scripture for sustenance.
The Scriptures are full of hope in the face of pain and uncertainty. The cross of Jesus shows the love of God reaching into the brokenness of the world, living in the midst of darkness, humbly submitting, and taking on the pain and overcoming it. The Lord's dying cry in John, "It is finished" certainly refers to his life’s work on one level, but it also means that evil is defeated: sin and death are finished. The power that brings salvation strangles evil for good.
In life, we see suffering coming from many places at all of us at some time or another. And sometimes that suffering seems more than we can bear. That is when we need God and each other the most. Whether suffering comes by disease, or accident or human cruelty, there’s nothing that we will encounter that Jesus has not known. Christ lived and was tempted and wept just like us. He suffered immensely. He died intensely. He knows what we are going through, and He is with us each step of the way. Praise God that Christ, the sinless Son of God, died for our salvation! Sin cannot and will not remove us from his loving grasp.
The eternal truth is simply this -- evil can attack us and knock us against a very hard wall, even seeming to have an advantage. But that seeming advantage is just a temporary illusion. We know Who wins in the end. Through Christ, we have the victory!
That is the watchword of the Christian life. Let us live in faith and hope, and face life courageously, living in the sure confidence that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, our Risen Lord, has triumphed over sin and death and holds us close in His mighty hands. This guarantee rests secure in His spiritual bank. In Christ, we have the victory! Amen. Amen!
No comments:
Post a Comment