| “You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead.” |
| —Acts 3:15 |
The victim has become the Victor! The condemned has become the Conqueror! The meek has become the Strong! Let all the world see our powerful God: Vanquisher, Hero, King of Kings! We use this kind of language when we celebrate the resurrection of our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. And, well we should. Even our language fails in its attempt to exclaim the magnificence of the One who acts as the Death of Death!
How often in Scripture, from the beginning in the Book of Genesis all the way to the Book of Revelation, do we witness the Sovereign Power of our Living God?
- With His power He spoke the world into being when the elements heard the thundering voice, “Let there be light!” (Genesis 1:3)
- Sarah and Abraham saw the impossible happen with the birth of Isaac. (Genesis 21)
- The story of Joseph in the dark prison, (Genesis 41-47) whom God had chosen to rescue His people, was brought out in ignorance of God’s overruling plan by a pharaoh of Egypt.
- Another pharaoh, regarding his own power, (Exodus 5-13 and Exodus 14) refused to let the people of God escape His clutches. But, God’s almighty power brought them through the Red Sea in an impossible rescue.
- King Nebuchadnezzar thought he had killed the insolent Hebrew children in his fire by heating it seven times hotter, and binding them in ropes (Daniel 3). God showed up and did the impossible for them, rescuing them from the flames without so much the smell of smoke on their clothing.
- Peter, in the New Testament (Acts 12), tied with double chains, escaped because God’s servant came and touched him with the words, “Quick, get up!”
- Paul and Silas likewise, (Acts 16:16-40) in the innermost cell bound hands and feet, escaped by means of an earthquake suddenly sent by Almighty God.
The Resurrection story of Jesus should not have surprised His followers. His God, the God of Abraham; the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego; the God of all those for whom Jesus performed miracles; and so many more, acted on that first Easter morning, as He had throughout history. He has always acted to rescue His chosen people, even from our fiercest enemy, Death.
When we pray according to His will, we should believe this One of whom we ask favors. He, the God of the impossible, waits to do wonderful things for us, even using a world-wide pandemic to accomplish His mysterious and powerful will.
This Season of Eastertide, when recounting the powerful story of Jesus’ resurrection from the dead, let us remember that He has given us that power to use for His purposes through prayer. What a privilege to share His power to bring about His holy will in our world. He wants to overrule the powers of death in our lives and bring about new life! He wants all people everywhere to know Him. The Apostle Paul, writing in Philippians 2:8-11, admonishes us to exalt Jesus:
He humbled himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.
