Feb 8, 2018 – Matt 28
Go & tell his
disciples: 'He has risen and is going ahead of you..." Matt 28:7
The resurrection
isn't the last chapter, but the first in our story of faith---so let’s go make
disciples.
There’s nothing worse than being at a movie or watching a TV
show and the program ends with the statement: “To Be Continued”. I remember the angst in the theater when Back to the Future II ended that way, or
when the world endured a long summer after J.R. got shot. There’s something inside humans that wants
the conclusion of the story. It’s why we
like TV shows then end a basic plot in one hour of programming. It’s also why we struggle to sleep at night
when the argument isn’t finished or the project isn’t done. We want closure. Otherwise, something in our spirit feels
unfinished.
Our desire for closure is true in everything except
death. That’s the one chapter we all
prefer never gets written. While we don’t
want a show to be continued, we don’t
want our lives to come to The End. Our sense of unfairness rises when a friend
suddenly faces death. We plead with God
for mercy & healing when a family member (even a pet), is found sick and in
danger. Life itself is the one book we want
to see written as a trilogy instead of an episode.
Jesus had faced The
End and three days later re-wrote the last chapter with a To Be Continued ending. Then Jesus spent the next 50 days proving His
existence, encouraging the disciples’ faith, and calling them to their next
season of ministry. Jesus’ death and
resurrection wasn’t the final chapter, it was the start of a new book. It became the first chapter in OUR story of
faith. Without the resurrection, there
is no book worth writing for our lives.
But WITH the resurrection, we have many chapters and volumes to
author. Matthew 28 wasn’t the end of a
story, it was the beginning of a new one.
Now the central character isn’t Jesus on earth, it is the Holy Spirit’s
turn to be the main character as He lives in us.
If someone wrote a book about your spiritual journey since
your commitment to Christ, what would be written? Would it be filled with pages of stories in
how God is leading? Would it be a short To Be Continued page, waiting for more
details? Would it be The End?
Jesus came back from the dead, and the angel told Mary: Go & tell His disciples, ‘He has risen
& is going ahead of you’… Jesus
is alive, his book is not over, and your book has begun. So if you’re waiting to write your own chapters
into His story, stop sitting around and go after Jesus. Your
story needs to be written, His story needs to be told, and God’s story needs to
be finished.
What will God write about your story today? Go... make a disciple!
No comments:
Post a Comment