He is risen!

On Friday we considered the seven last words of Christ. Think back, again, about what happened on that Friday. Because of Christ we don’t just avoid that punishing treatment. We receive the exact opposite.

Probably no single passage reveals this more than Revelation 21, which is especially poignant when compared to Calvary:

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son. But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”

Then came one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues and spoke to me, saying, “Come, I will show you the Bride, the wife of the Lamb.” And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great, high mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God,

* * *

And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb. By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it, and its gates will never be shut by day—and there will be no night there.

God abandoned Him, yet His dwelling will be with us. He thirsted, we are given a spring of water of life. “It is finished” was Christ’s death, “it is done” is our promise of life. We don’t need a temple, because we have Christ himself. And darkness during the afternoon is replaced with light at night. He truly makes all things new. Even death can not hold Him.

“Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen. 

Remember how he told you.” (Luke 24:7)

He has risen indeed! Hallelujah!