What Does It Mean?
Do you ever wonder what all of this is about? At “this” picture me — as if we were speaking in person — gesturing vaguely at everything around us. There is so much about the world that is confusing and seemingly absurd. We frequently do not know why things happen. Our daily lives can seem futile, and we can find ourselves discouraged with the state of things. Of course, that discouragement points to our God-given sense that things are not as they should be. It is part of the human condition to carry with us a sense of our separation from God. When I first became a believer, that was the first point of theology that made sense to me. It was in keeping with what I observed about myself and the world around me.
The book of Genesis begins with the story of the first man, Adam. He disobeyed God, thereby bringing sin, and the cost of sin, which is death, into the world. Romans 5:12 says, “ . . . just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned.” We inherited Adam's sin nature just as we inherited his humanity. A holy and just God cannot abide lawlessness (which is what sin is) and so, like Adam, we are separated from Him, spiritually dead, and physically dying. This is the meaning of Death.
You're probably aware of this, but the dead are not able to do anything. They can't get a drink of water, brush the dust off their face, or ask their neighbors to turn their music down. In our spiritually dead condition, it is only God who can enable us to cry out, as Paul did, “Who will deliver us from this body of death?!!? ”The wages of sin is death, and the only being worthy to triumph over death for all time is the Son of God, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We who are dead in our sins need a savior and only Christ will do.
Paul explains, “But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man's trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many. And the free gift is not like the result of that one man's sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification. For if, because of one man's trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ” (Rom. 5:15-17).
When Jesus died on the cross, although He was sinless, He took the punishment for our sins upon Himself. Three days later, He rose from the grave. He ascended to Heaven and is alive today and forevermore. We who believe in Him are given the free gift of God's grace and, although we will still die in this fallen body, yet we will live with Him eternally in glory. We who believe in Him know that His plans will not be foiled. He will work all things for good and He will be victorious. We may not understand how and why, but we know that He was able and was willing to save us while we were dead in our sins. That is the power of our God and that is the good news of the Gospel.
What a glorious God and Savior He is to have given us this path to salvation. Indeed, God's glory is what existence is about. Paul says in Philippians, “Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so 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” (2:9-11).
Today we especially commemorate the death and resurrection of Jesus. But this is what all of life is about. If you have not put your faith in Jesus Christ, do so today. He is the only way out of the bondage of sin, the only source of life and atonement with God. If you are a Christian worshiping with us today, I encourage you to keep the good news of the Gospel always in the forefront of your mind. Let the love that God has shown you be your response to this world. Do everything to draw closer to Him and His church and know what He has revealed about Himself in His Word. In everything you do, seek to glorify Him because that's what all of this is about.
