We're here with the Jones family for spring break and having a ball. Upper 80's, breeze always blowing, and the bluest water I've ever seen. We've done nothing but sit on the beach, swim and snorkel, eat, play games, read, and just generally relax and enjoy the glories of God's creation. Internet is spotty at best, so this is a wild guess as to whether this actually goes through or not. But if it does: Happy Easter! He is risen! More pictures to follow, Lord willing, but just a few brief thoughts I had the other day about Easter--
The nation of England stood on edge. What would happen in the critical and climatic battle of Waterloo? There were no TV’s or radios or cell phones or computers, so the people waited to learn the fate of the great British general, Wellington, as he faced Napoleon. Wellington’s fate would be their fate, and the people waited.
A signalman was placed on the top of Winchester Cathedral with instructions to continually watch the sea. When he received the message, he was to pass that message on to another man on a hill. That man would pass it to another and so on until the news of the battle finally reached London and then across England.
Eventually a ship was sighted through the thick fog of the English Channel. The signalman on board sent the first word--”Wellington.” The next word was sent--”defeated.” Then the fog moved in again and blocked the ship from view. “Wellington defeated!” The message was sent across England, and despair and gloom descended across the countryside.
But after two or three hours, the fog lifted. The message was not finished. And the signal came again: “Wellington defeated the enemy!” As the word spread, England revived and rejoiced.
Is that not the story of Easter? The message of the cross seemed to be--”Christ defeated.”
Satan wins, and Christ’s defeat spelled our certain defeat. Our fate is determined by His, and sin and death and despair have won. End of story.
But after three days, the fog lifted... and the tomb was empty. The message was not finished and the signal comes again, ringing words by the angel--”He is not dead! Come see the place where they laid Him. He is risen, just as He said!” “Christ has defeated the enemy,” and we are saved. Forever.
“It is finished” was His cry on the cross. And so it is. That is the end of the story--because “it is finished,” we are not. Not ever. Because Christ finished the work of paying for our sins on the cross, because He died in our place, and because He rose from the dead, defeating the enemy of sin and death and satan.
And because “it is finished”--we are not. We can never fall too deeply that He cannot lift us up and redeem us. We can never run too far that He cannot find us and bring us home. We can never fail too greatly that He cannot redeem even the worst failures and use them for good. We cannot become too entrapped in destructive habits or addictions that He cannot free us. We cannot become too hopeless and hapless that He cannot bring recovery and restore hope. There is no pit too deep, no situation too desperate, no gap too wide, that His power and love are not deeper and greater and wider still.
Because Christ said “it is finished”--we are not. Not ever.
Might our lives ring with the reality of the words, “It is finished” and “He is risen!” Our salvation, our hope and our joy in a Roman cross and an empty tomb.
He is risen! He is risen indeed!
To God, the Author and Finisher of our Salvation, be all the glory.
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