the impossible
Last week, the Christian Church around the world retraced the steps of Jesus Christ during his last days on earth: his journey to crucifixion, his death & his supernatural resurrection. These last days are referred to as "Holy Week.” During this week, we remember humankind’s need for atonement for the sin we are slaves to: jealousy, lying, apathy/inaction, hate, selfish ambition, exploitation, oppression, idolatry, lust…the list goes on and on. Sin—both sin we’ve committed and sins committed against us—leads to pain, anguish and oppressive mental, emotional, physical and spiritual heaviness.
But thanks be to God—there is a Savior. For our God is not willing that any should perish from the crushing weight of sin. Rather, He turned with tender compassion to his created ones by allowing His divine Son to stand in judgment and receive the sentence for sin—in your place and in mine.
When Jesus set aside his divinity and came to earth as a baby 2,000+ years ago, He allowed Himself to be subjected to all that we experience as humans: disappointment, pain, temptation, humiliation, betrayal, grief, suffering, to the extent that he sacrificially submitted Himself to the worst known criminal’s punishment: crucifixion upon a Roman cross.
When Jesus—being both fully divine & voluntarily (and temporarily) human—submitted to this unspeakable & underserved atrocity, He revealed the true motivation & responded with the majestic power of the divine God by coming back to life on that one and only: Resurrection Day.
And for the next forty days, Jesus appeared to many, many documented witnesses. These witnesses—upon engaging directly with the resurrected Savior & upon seeing with their own eyes the evidence of His divine power over sin & death—were at last forever freed from the weight of their sin! They were, in fact, so deeply impacted, they dedicated the remainder of their lives to sharing the news of God’s mercy to the world…even unto death as martyrs.
At last sin—inflicted or incurred—need not exercise crippling control over us! For through Jesus Christ’s act of love by his death & resurrection: forgiveness, freedom & new life are accessible to each of us (no matter what you’ve done or what has been done to you).
For God’s love for all of humankind has been proven. What was once impossible for you & I—is possible with God.
We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. (Romans 6:9-11 ESV)