Month: April 2024

Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
1 Corinthians 15:20

Waiting

Daily Devotion – April 4, 2024

Devotion based on 1 Corinthians 15:20


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The next time you walk through a cemetery, look at the gravestones. Some are simple, with the name, date of birth, and date of death. Some add a word or two about the deceased: “Beloved Father,” “Devoted Mother,” “At Rest.” Others may have an etching of a favorite hobby. Others offer the reader an endearing sense of fun; for example, one woman’s gravestone contains the recipe for her world-famous fudge. Still others, without apology, go straight for the laugh with remarks such as, “I knew this would happen,” or “Please deactivate my Facebook.”

The vast majority of the gravestones, however, do seem to have one thing in common. Almost all of them look backward—to the past, to what has been, and the life the person has lived.

There are a few gravestones, however, that take a different approach. Some choose to look ahead. “Gone from our sight,” one reads— “Gone from our sight, but soon to rise again in glorious resurrection.” Another says, “Death is not the end; it is merely a sleep awaiting resurrection.” Still another says, “In memory of a life lived, and a resurrection yet to come.”

The gravestones that look ahead are wonderful reminders of what you and I have in Jesus Christ. God the Son entered our world of sin and death. On our behalf, he lived a life of perfect goodness. In our place, he took our every wrong to Calvary’s cross, where he suffered and died to wash us clean. Then he rose from death. In addition, the apostle Paul tells us that Jesus’ resurrection from death is the first of the many resurrections yet to come—that on the Last Day, Jesus will return and summon our bodies from our graves. He will reunite them with our souls. And then—all who trust in Jesus—in glorified, perfect bodies, will live in the presence of the Lord forever, freed, once and for all, from the presence and effects of sin.

The body of the Christian, therefore, is not just resting. It’s waiting. The best is yet to come.

Prayer:
Lord Jesus, because of you, the bodies of our fellow Christians have something wonderful in store. Thank you. Amen.

If Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. . . But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead.
1 Corinthians 15:14,20

Remembered

Daily Devotion – April 3, 2024

Devotion based on 1 Corinthians 15:14,20


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“He’s not really dead as long as we remember him.” “As long as we have memories of her, she will always be with us.” In times of grief, it’s easy to say these things. Well-intended? Yes. Solid and meaningful? Not really.

For instance, how much do you know about your great-great-grandparents? In terms of real years, they walked on this earth not too long ago. And yet, for most of us, they are little more than old pictures in an album. Memories fade. Quickly. And the same will apply to you and me. Sure, there might be smartphone footage of us uploaded into the cloud. But do people truly remember us after we’re gone? Real memories rapidly go away.

Which brings us to Jesus. When God the Son entered our time and space, he did not come to soothe us with sentiment. He did not come to comfort us with clichés. He came to confront what was killing us. What was killing us was the guilt of our sin. The consequence of our having severed our relationship with God was that sin and death rushed in to fill the void.

And so God the Son arrived in the person of Jesus Christ. On our behalf, he lived the life of perfect love that you and I have failed to live. In our place, he suffered and died at Golgotha to pay our debt of sin in full. And then—to make clear that he really is who he claims to be, and he really has done what he has promised to do—Jesus rose from the dead.

In 1 Corinthians 15, the apostle Paul does not simply say that Jesus is alive in our memories. He speaks of it as an actual event. And he’s candid. “If Christ has not been raised,” Paul says, “our preaching is useless, and so is your faith.”

“But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead,” Paul later says. Jesus lives. And because he does, we too shall live. Not through others’ memories. But in reality. With Jesus. Forever.

Prayer:
Living Lord, in you I will never be forgotten. Never. Praise be to your holy name. Amen.

After my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God; I myself will see him with my own eyes—I, and not another. How my heart yearns within me!
Job 19:26,27

My Own Eyes

Daily Devotion – April 2, 2024

Devotion based on Job 19:26,27


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From Chicago, you take a 16-hour flight to Muscat International Airport, located on the southeastern corner of the Sinai Peninsula. From there, you’re in for a long drive—over 500 miles through the barren desert. Once you arrive at the city of Salalah, you still must work your way through another 20 miles of narrow, winding roads to reach a hilltop. There, you will find a small, modest building. Walk inside, and there, in the center of the floor, you will see it—the traditional site where the Old Testament believer Job lies buried.

Stand there for a moment in that tiny room. Let your eyes rest on the rectangular grave. What remains of Job’s body? Dust? A few bone fragments, perhaps? This would come as no surprise to Job. He understood very well the nature of death in this sinful, broken world. He understood that, upon death, the physical body breaks down.

But Job understood something else. He knew that even after his body had decomposed in death, there would come a moment when he would see God with his body resurrected and restored. Or as Job himself proclaimed, “Yet in my flesh I will see God; I myself will see him with my own eyes—I, and not another.”

Beneath the rectangle in the floor of that tiny hilltop room, Job’s body will not remain as grains of dust and bits of bone. His body will rise. He knows this because his Redeemer has promised to raise him. And he knows that his Redeemer will keep his promise because Job knows that his Redeemer lives.

Whether you are looking at the grave of Job on a remote hilltop or the grave of your loved one who has died in the Lord, or whether age or illness has made it clear that your own body does not have long to live—one beautiful truth stands tall. Jesus has conquered sin and death at the cross. He has risen from death. In him, we stand forgiven. Eternal life awaits.

Prayer:
Lord, one day I will see you with my own eyes. How my heart yearns within me. Amen.

I know that my Redeemer lives.
Job 19:25

Long Night

Daily Devotion – April 1, 2024

Devotion based on Job 19:25


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The year is 1759, and on a British warship, a young man by the name of Samuel Medley is facing a very long night. In a recent battle, Medley sustained an injury to his leg. The leg is getting worse. Medley might die. The surgeon has just told him that if the leg is not better by morning, he will have to amputate.

In another sense, Samuel Medley has been facing a long night for a long time. As a boy, he learned about Jesus from his grandfather. Since then, however, he has not given Christianity the time of day.

But on that ship, facing death, facing a long night of dark despair, Samuel remembers. He remembers what his grandfather has taught him. He looks to his long-forgotten Redeemer.

Perhaps you are facing a long night. Perhaps you already fear that your sleep tonight will be restless and haunted. Or perhaps you’ve been facing a long night for a long time. Maybe—just maybe—your relationship with your Redeemer has been dismissive, thoughtless, listless, and apathetic, and for that reason, there’s been a despairing darkness in your life that’s hard to define, but it’s there.

Jesus saw Samuel Medley on that ship. He carried him through that long night. At dawn, the ship’s surgeon discovered that the leg was better. There was no amputation. Samuel Medley lived. The long night set off a chain of events that drew Samuel closer and closer to his Redeemer by the power of the gospel. One day, he entered the pastoral ministry, proclaiming the message of the cross and the empty tomb to all who came to listen.

He also picked up a pen. He began to put into words the joy and comfort the Christian has in Jesus’ resurrection. He based what he wrote in the proclamation of Job, the Old Testament believer. When Job found himself in the darkness of grief and loss, he declared, “I know that my Redeemer lives.”

From Samuel Medley’s long night came a hymn of Easter joy. In the forgiveness Christ has purchased for us, we have that same joy. In Jesus, our long night is over.

Prayer:
Lord Jesus, you live. Because you do, my long night is over. Thank you. Amen.