“It’s Friday, but Sunday is coming!”
—Tony Campolo
Some people can appreciate Peter and the way he was prone to live on the
extremes: he was bold and boisterous when he was with Christ, but when he was
separated from Christ, Peter was a pansy. He caved under the pressure, even cowering
to the questions of little girls, denying that he had ever even known Jesus at
all. (See
Mark 66-72).
We might look at the cross today as symbolic of some sort of victory, but it
was devastating in the moment. The significance of Christ's death was the
shedding of innocent blood—the perfect and final sacrifice for human sin. But
what is the significance for us if He was raised? I can’t answer that
any better than Peter:
Praise be to
the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In His great mercy He has given us
new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the
dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in
heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming
of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you
greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief
in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith—of greater worth
than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and
may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. —(1
Peter 1:3-7)
What a contrast! Yes, Jesus had to die and we had to be crucified with Him to
get to this point. But what a transformation the resurrection made to Peter and
what an astounding transformation it makes to us. In the mercy of the
Father, through the resurrection of Jesus, God has given us two crucial things:
new birth and a living hope.
Where would we be without either of those?!
Prayer: Jesus, touch me with the Truth
today. Quiet my heart that I may ponder what You did on the cross. Ignite my
heart that I may celebrate what You did through the resurrection. Amen
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