Ever had an invitation to get in on something big? Like something so ludicrously good you couldn’t say no? Something that you know up front could cost you a lot, but the guaranteed return if it’s even close to true, is a no-brainer?
Let me share one with you.
It begins with the Force of the Universe hovering over the darkness and separating out a time and space where life is good and whole. As each piece of life unfurls it is good and intended to stay that way as we are invited to keep it that way.
Well, it’s not rocket science – we all know the goodness and wholeness doesn’t last like we dream and hope it should. And if we are really honest, we can admit that we wreck it. We forget we are loved. We forget it is good. We try to make our own way and it just seems to break more.
We get so full of dirt and dust in the places we grow we forget who we really are. Our lives get filled with broken relationships and dreams, divided and violent communities and families, warring nations and fear.
But instead of walking away, the One who made it good says – I will not leave it like this.
Making promises to restore and breathe life into what appears too far gone. Love refuses to walk away but finds a way to enter in and get our attention.
I know it sounds too good to be true, but they say the One who made it all and knows what it will take to save it was fully unveiled in the life of the guy we call Jesus.
Like, bending over backwards to get our attention, He pours Himself into a human body and with each step of His life begins to restore the broken pieces in the places He lived – disease, hunger, pain, alienation, scapegoating of the innocent, power-mongering institutions, even nature – to good.
And just when they thought it was headed for the best, the first Easter happened. Trust me, it wasn’t bunnies and chocolate!
But they say his death on a cross in the Roman Empire 2,000 years ago shows the depths that God would go to show how much we all are loved!
They say through his death He has consumed all of the brokenness that has spread across this good earth and polluted our lives with selfishness, hatred, fear, war, and death.
His death paid the price for all the ways we miss the mark of what a human being should be.
They say when He came back to life after this gruesome death, He had defeated all the power of darkness so that He could begin to make all things new again.
And here’s the deal – His invitation to get in on this restoration life, this resurrection after death life, this God at work in the world saving what is broken life, is simple:
Turn from all the other things you trust, and follow me.
Not gonna lie – following Jesus’ ways can cost you a lot. But really, let’s be honest – have all the other things you’ve followed really brought any light to our darkness? Any healing and hope to the nations? Any restoration of all your brokenness to good? Or any power over death?
It’s a risk for sure – but the best news ever. You in?
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Melanie Koch Nichol serves as a director with Youth Unlimited YFC North Perth.
