[Cue scary music] Darkness falls. An innocent man hangs on a cross. Religious symbols destroyed. The earth quakes. And dead people come out of the grave and head to the city.
Is it the Zombie Apocalypse? No. It’s just GOD destroying the enemy. The last enemy that will be abolished is death (I Corinthians 15:26 NASB).
The death and resurrection of JESUS… I’m so familiar with it, have taught it so much, that I worry it has become too simple for me. Something I say from rote without thinking? JESUS died for my sins. And HE rose again. Yes, HE did. It’s a personal thing. Everyone must choose whether to make him LORD or reject him.
But then I read the verses on HIS resurrection and find these strange accounts. Darkness. Earthquakes. The temple veil ripping. And people, dead and buried, walking around.
What?
Death. We live in a fallen world. Death is common. Death is promised to us.
Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned—Romans 5:12 NASB
We teach it to children, “death is a part of life.” And so it is… now. But not always. It was not there in the beginning. GOD created. Adam and Eve were in fellowship with HIM.
There is a debate. If Adam and Even hadn’t sinned, would there have been physical death? Some say yes, others say no. If no death, then what about overpopulation? What about… what about the fact that we lived in a reality where death is so part of our being that it is impossible for us to imagine life without it?
Whatever might have happened, the reality today is there is death. And it’s painful. Either for the one dying, the loved ones grieving, or both. But I talk of only physical death.
What about spiritual death? We, as fallen humans, have an emptiness that only GOD can fill. But we are not always able to recognize and identify it. We fill it with everything but GOD. But Adam and Eve knew. They knew fellowship before and brokenness afterwards.
JESUS came and died on a cross. A gruesome death. A death of a criminal. JESUS, who is part of the triune GOD, experienced physical death. And separation from ONE whom HE had always had fellowship with.
Before anything. Before any creation, time, thought, GOD was. And is. And will be. Just like we cannot separate our minds from a life without death, we cannot understand a GOD who is not bound by time.
So before anything, the triune GOD was in fellowship. And then HE created. And HE grieved when HIS creation rebelled. And HE stepped down and entered into HIS creation. And HE died.
An amazing thing. HE died. But in death, like in everything else, HE was so much more than it. Death could not keep its sticky paws on HIM. We, fallen creatures who are bound to time and space and death and sin… found ONE who is not. JESUS came from the grave because the grave could not hold him. Resurrection. Life. Life everlasting.
No wonder the dead Christians got up and walked around. They were resuscitated, for a while at least. The dagger that CHRIST used to piece death---death that could not hold CHRIST—it overflowed. A shaking of creation occurred. Earthquakes. Darkness. Religious symbols being destroyed. The ripping of the veil... granting access to GOD for all who come through CHRIST. And the dead walking around. Death pierced. Death destroyed.
The zombie apocalypse? An idea of not being fully dead but not fully alive either. Undead. Fallen humans writing about things we do not understand. “If the grave cannot hold the dead then they must be zombies.” Undead creatures roaming the night.
But as with all things pertaining to CHRIST, the grave could not hold the HIM. And instead of being an undead being wondering the night, we have a GLORIOUS risen SAVIOR. HE not only saved HIMSELF but will save all who come to HIM.
Unbelievable, some say. Not possible, others say. I don’t understand it, I say. But I trust the ONE whom the grave could not keep. Death is destroyed. The "already" but the "not yet." We are in limbo--death's destruction is not not fully realized, yet. People still die. But death’s days are numbered. And I’m standing with the ONE who came out of that tomb in a glorified body. The ONE who ate fish and appeared for forty days to witnesses. The ONE who ascended into the sky. The ONE who promised the HOLY SPIRIT and delivered on Pentecost.
Yes. My SAVIOR has risen indeed. For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that HE shall stand at the latter day upon the earth. Job 19:25 KJV
On my tombstone I want written... this promise…
My flesh may be destroyed, yet from my flesh I will see GOD. Job 19:26
Enough said.
