Cremeens
We are creatures of hope and reach for it wherever we can. When I was in middle school, I tried out for every sport hoping to make the team, but no one wanted me. My hopes were dashed.
I remember at one point having my hopes set on a particular job. I made it far in the interview process only to be passed over for another candidate in the end. My hopes were seriously dashed. Some of you may feel hopeless in your marriage, in your depression, in an addiction or because of the loss of someone.
Yet we, as Christians, are a people of hope, and our hope is built on the person, purpose and promises of God. We experience this powerfully through the peace of the cross and the power of the resurrection.
The first step on this journey of hope is to recognize that there is only one Savior, and it is not you. It is not me, or your pastor or the most spiritual person in the world. It is Jesus. We turned the world upside down and Jesus turned it right-side-up. Paul explained this in II Corinthians 5:21: He made the one who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
I liken it to a social security number that is used for background checks. Now, imagine you have a spiritual social security number. God runs it and up comes a file of every sinful thought, every sinful word and every sinful action. How long would that file be? In Christ, God highlights the whole file and hits delete. Gone. Just a pure white screen. As good as that is, God took it one giant step further.
He ran Jesus’ spiritual social security number — every perfect thought, every perfect word and every perfect action. Then God highlighted it, copied and pasted it into your file. When God looks at you, He doesn’t see your list of sins and failures. He doesn’t see you as a failure. He sees Jesus. There is only one Savior, and it is not you. And that is really great news. That is hope.
Our second step on the journey of hope is that there is only one solution, and it is not yours.
You see, death seems to always win and every funeral reminds you. But the empty tomb reminds us that God showed up — that it was impossible for death to hold Jesus down (Acts 2:24).
See the beauty of the resurrection. Jesus died a real death. But the grave was not strong enough. The grip could not hold. Jesus won and death lost the war. You don’t worship a lifeless Savior; you worship a life-giving Savior because it was impossible for death to hold Him. Death is the uninvited guest, and Jesus made him leave. That’s good news. And that’s hope.
The invitation is to lean into the person, purpose, and promises of God every day and lay your concerns at the entrance of the empty tomb. Yet I’m concerned we keep the peace of the cross and the power of the resurrection inside the box of history as if we needed Jesus to get into the kingdom but are on our own to navigate its struggles. But that is a big lie. You need Jesus in all the minutes and moments of your life.
Some of you have a marriage on life support. The divorce papers are on the desk with a pen nearby. But if you would let me, I would walk with you over to the empty tomb, hold your marriage next to it and point you to hope.
You see, if God can raise the dead, then He can resurrect your marriage.
Some of you are riddled with depression and anxiety. You’ve lost all hope and are ready to give up. But if you would let me, I would walk with you over to the empty tomb, hold your anxiety and depression next to it, and point you to hope: If God can raise the dead, then He can carry you through your depression and anxiety.
Some of you are navigating impossible grief. You lost someone you love. But if you would let me, I would walk over with you to the empty tomb, place your grief, and point you to hope. Death is not the end, and the empty tomb proves it. God will carry you through it.
Jesus gives us a truth to hold on to: If God can raise the dead, then He can carry you through anything and everything. And if it was impossible for death to hold Him then it is impossible for anything to hold Him back from doing everything He wants to do for you. B&R — This article was excerpted from a sermon preached at Long Hollow on June 7, 2024.
