GodReflection: God Is Risen

In the Beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word Was God. – John 1:1

With the arrival of December, I set out to explore the underpinnings of the tradition of Advent.  The Advent focus is to direct hearts and minds to Christ second coming.

The observance reminds Christ followers of the times God has come to earth. It is a time to contemplate the wait, the mystery, the incarnation, and the redemption, all pointing to the return of Christ.

God will once again break into history.

God will open all tombs.

Nothing is more critical to the wait than the resurrection. It is the sign that God will in fact raise me to life again. It is God’s confirmation that Jesus conquered my sin and the death it would otherwise bring about.

The two thousand year-old resurrection of the Holy God Jesus is vital to my now and my future. I base my faith in the story upon reality. Paul describes the importance of the resurrection:

And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised.

For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.

Again, the great mystery emerges.

Jesus the Word was present at the beginning. He the Word was with God in the beginning. He the Word was God. He the Word is risen.

I will be 67 years old in a few days. I am past the point of needing to prove anything. He has proven Himself over and again to me in the past. However, the fact of the risen God increases daily in its importance and in its reality.

Because He was raised by God from the dead, and because I place my trust in Him, I will one day experience the greatest Christmas presence since the birth of the manger baby. I will witness His return to take me to a new earth with a new heaven.

There I will enjoy for eternity a life in the presence of God, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. There I will enjoy life as God created it to be.

There I will live without the heritage of Satan and without the presence of sin that causes all of the wrong and hurt in my current world.

The risen Lord makes possible the final advent of God. I wait with enormous expectation.

Stay tuned.

Dr. Gary J. Sorrells – Reflecting on God’s final advent upon planet earth.

Gary@GodReflection.org