The Resurrection

It has been a little over six months since I toured the land of Israel with this great group of friends.  It was a trip of a lifetime that profoundly changed me in ways I didn't fully comprehend at that time.  Shortly after our return to the States, a series of circumstances in my life had me completely leveled before the Lord.  As I brought my heartache before my heavenly Father and clung to him in a time of great darkness, there were continual flashbacks of all I had seen and experienced in the Holy Land:  the beautiful Mediterranean Sea, the Sea of Galilee, Mt. Carmel, Nazareth, Jericho, Bethlehem, Jerusalem, etc. Places where great men and woman of faith and our Savior himself lived and walked and participated in God's covenant plan of redemption.  They obeyed, they struggled, they pressed on in faithfulness - some even to the point of death.  Their trust in God resulted in obedience with eternal reward.

Love

One place in particular this hit home was the Place of the Skull where the Lord Jesus Christ died for the sins of his people.  Here the Savior paid the ultimate sacrifice for me.  Here the Savior modeled the essence of genuine love for me.  And, here I was reminded of the surety of the Father's love.  Whatever would come my way throughout life nothing could separate me from his love.  (See Romans 8.)

Hope

But as we all know, the story didn't end here.  As we rounded the corner after viewing the place of death, we came to the Garden of the Tomb, the place of life and victory.  Jesus Christ conquered the grave.  As the victorious Savior and King, his people inherit a living and eternal hope.  This hope is my inheritance in heaven, and not only has it been given to me, but it is being kept secure for me.  So therefore I can rejoice even in the midst of suffering knowing that God is using the trials of life to prepare me to receive that inheritance.  (See 1 Peter 1.)

The Resurrection is the life of God's people.  May we learn to rest in his love in even greater ways and truly rejoice in the hope that we've been given through Christ.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you,  (1 Peter 1:3-4)