During the lead up to Easter at Redemption Orlando, we spent Saturday evenings talking about what the resurrection of Jesus changes in our lives. Often, we view the resurrection as nothing more than a doctrine to be believed, but don’t see this world changing event as having any meaningful significance in practicality.
As we concluded this series on Easter Sunday, we focused on one of the last chapters of the Bible and its compelling promise that because Jesus was raised from the dead, he intends to make all things new. A new humanity, a new world, a new universe. And this doesn’t mean new in the sense that Jesus is going to wipe everything out and start from scratch. He’s making all things new, not all new things. He’ll make us new, the world new, and the cosmos new in terms of quality. There will be no imperfection, no evil, nothing marred or distorted from what it was intended to be.
And as good as that sounds, Jesus also intends to do something even more profound and beautiful. In Revelation 21:5, we are told Jesus will “wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” In other words, Jesus will make everything sad come untrue.
If you are a fan of the Lord of the Rings, then you likely remember the conversation Sam has with Gandalf at the very end of the book. Sam, believing not only he has died, but also everyone he loved, see’s Gandalf standing at the foot of his bed and declares,
“Gandalf! I thought you were dead! But then I thought I was dead myself. Is everything sad going to come untrue? What's happened to the world?" A great Shadow has departed," said Gandalf, and then he laughed, and the sound was like music, or like water in a parched land."
Just imagine, everything sad coming untrue. The hurts, the troubles, the things that should have never happened in this life all coming untrue. All our “might-have-beens” become “will-bes.” I think about this in terms of my grandparents. In the past year I have seen three of my grandparents go to be with the Lord. The hardest part for me has not been saying goodbye or thinking they went too soon. I had amazing relationships with all of my them, there was nothing left unsaid, and they were all blessed to live long happy lives.
The hardest thing is wishing my boys could have experienced all the things I did with them. I wish they knew Grandaddy when he could still pitch baseballs and chase them around the bases. I wish they knew Papa when he could take them treasure hunting in the woods. I wish they knew Da when her memory was fully intact, and she would give them coke for breakfast.
But Jesus says, be patient. I am making all things new, and everything sad is going to come untrue. Andrew, what you wish could have been, will be.
The late pastor Tim Keller said it like this. “The answer of Christianity to that question [is everything sad going to come untrue] is–yes. Everything sad is going to come untrue and it will somehow be greater for having once been broken and lost. Embracing the Christian doctrines of the incarnation and cross brings profound consolation in the face of suffering. The doctrine of the resurrection can instill us with a powerful hope. It promises that we will get the life we most longed for, but it will be an infinitely more glorious world than if there had never been the need for bravery, endurance, sacrifice, or salvation.”
What in your life do you long to see undone? Jesus promises that because of his resurrection he has the power undo all the evil, sadness, and heartache in this life. The only condition he places on that becoming a reality in yours is that you would come to him.
Comentarios