“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” Before anything else existed, God was. Then God chose to create a universe and fill it with stars and planets. God chose to fill one planet with water and vegetation and everything that would be needed to sustain life. After that, God created animals of all types to live on this planet we call earth. Finally, God saw fit to create humans. He formed us out of the dust of the earth, in His own image, and breathed the breath of life into us. Everything was perfect. And how did we repay this gift of perfection? By rebelling and choosing to do the one thing He’d asked us not to do. But God still loved us. Despite our rebellion and betrayal, God chose to set in motion the plan He’d had prepared before anything existed. He chose to offer us a thread of hope. He chose to send Jesus for us.
No one expected Him to come as a baby. No one had seen it in the prophecies. They knew He was coming, that was clearly evident. But they were expecting a great, conquering king. No one was looking for a baby. Yet that’s how He chose to come to earth. How He chose to extend the thread of hope to us, as one of us. As one who’d go through the same things we did. One who was like us in every way, except one. He was perfect, sinless. Entirely God and entirely human, He entered the world as a helpless infant, unnoticed by all but a few – His earthly parents, and some shepherds. The Great God of the universe willingly chose to give up heaven and come to earth as one of us so that He could show us the way – so that He could be the way – we could reconcile with God.
For 33 years, Jesus lived among us. He walked with us, talked with us, ministered to us, and taught us about God the Father. He explained and exemplified the Mosaic laws of how we are to live, redefining a few along the way. He showed us who God is and how much He loves us. Then, Jesus willingly allowed Himself to be arrested, abused, and ultimately crucified, all for us. And all seemed hopeless. Even those closest to Jesus doubted Him and missed the thread of hope He had given them. The promise that His death was far from permanent.
Three days after the death of Jesus, a few women went to His tomb, planning on taking care of His body. To their shock, these women were greeted by angels who informed them that Jesus was not in the tomb, but was risen, resurrected from the dead, just as He’d promised. The women were, of course, overjoyed and ran to tell the others who’d followed Jesus. Not long after that, the disciples interacted with Jesus themselves and finally saw the thread of hope that God had woven through time. Once they saw the hope of reconciliation with God and understood the promise of His return as the long-expected King, they eagerly shared it with everyone they met. Thousands heard the good news and many chose to believe and restore their relationship with God. These new believers joined together for fellowship, and encouragement, forming the first churches. Their belief and faithfulness allowed God’s thread of hope to continue to be woven through time until it reached us, today.
Now it is our turn to take this thread and share the reconciliation and restoration it offers with those around us. Our hope lies in God’s love for us. In Jesus who came to earth and willingly surrendered His life for us. Our hope lies in the resurrection – in the fact that the tomb is empty – in the knowledge that our God has power over death itself. We have hope in the promise that one day He will return to the earth and take us home with Him. We have hope in the certainty that He was and He is and He is to come. Forever and always. And we have hope in the fact that this great, and powerful God cares for us. In the fact that He loves us.
Our Faith, Hope, & Joy 