"In Him was life, and the life was the light of men." John 1:4
The life of the Lord Jesus Christ has illuminated the entire world. That truth can not be denied on this Easter morning. But the Lord's light that has illumined this world comes not just from what He did, but also from who He was. "His life was the light of men."
"Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it up again." John 10:17
"That I may take it up again..." As we look toward Good Friday and think about the last week of the earthly life of Jesus, we must be reminded that the real beauty of the Savior's sacrifice is not found in its despair. Despair is a sight that the Father never longs to see. Why would He? An artist doesn't want to see his work despised, and that's what life is - it is God's work and He says its beautiful.
"But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone." Hebrews 2:9
What a beautiful provision for what would appear to be so terrible and wasteful of an end - a life that was crowned for death.
If you knew that the flowers that you planted and tended in the early spring would die before they ever gave forth their first summer bloom, would you have handled them with as much care? If you knew that the plane would drop from the sky in mid flight would you have placed on it your greatest and most precious possessions? The answer most likely is "no." But, you see, this isn't a plant or a plane, this is a human soul.
here was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat on it." Matthew 28:2
Surely that angel could have done more than just sit there on top of that tombstone. After all, rolling away the stone from the tomb of Jesus was a great thing, an important thing, something that will forever be remembered. But to roll that stone aside and then sit on it? What good was that? What did that accomplish? A great deal, that's what.
When Young, Southern Baptist…And Irrelevant? was first published in the Baptist Courier in late February, I didn’t anticipate the response and conversation that it has generated across the Southern Baptist Convention. In fact, I have been amazed at how the simple, personal reflection that was first drafted in October of 2010 out of concern for our vision and mission as a denomination has struck such a deep chord with so many Southern Baptists.
"...but we shall all be changed..." 1st Cor. 15:51
It's a question that I have asked myself many times over the years: why is the Bible, and even Son of Man Himself, so silent about what awaits - the destiny and destination of - the sons of men?