Easter Sunday "The Resurrection Proves Everything"

C.S. Lewis captures the language of the curse in his book The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe when he describes Narnia as once being a place of vibrant colors and warmth. However, since the White Witch cursed the land, it is now always winter. Through the high fantasy of a mythical world, Lewis was emphasizing the reality of the effects of sin on the natural world

The prohibition against eating from the tree of knowledge, the creation of Eve, and the serpent are all inseparably linked together in the same chain for a common assault on the tree of life.

All have come from God the Creator, and yet now, strangely, they form a common front with humankind against the Creator.

Genesis 3:1–7 ESV

1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” 2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, 3 but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ” 4 But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. 7 Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.

Has God Said! (the rallying cry of the cross and the resurrection)

This introductory thought that has now become the rallying cry of sin is placed front and center in the garden narrative. Adam and Eve had a clear directive from God but doubt is the very thing that caused the fall to take root so quickly.

Remember we ended last week by looking at Pilot and his final words to Christ before sending him to the cross. “What is the Truth.” I think this is the same question that is tied to “Did God really say that.” The doubt of God and his plan for creation has been the very thing that continues to keep people out of the kingdom of God. But, what drives the narrative of doubt in our lives?

Though they have an original capacity to be incorporated into the divine life God has planned for them however, their impatience got the best of them. Not wanting to be raised into a gradual life with God, they tried to achieve finality on their own, to graft themselves into the body by force. The desire to arrive at a speedy solution left them unfit for the glory of God.

Mankind wants to close down when God tells us to watch and to wait. We push our own way and agenda when God tells us to hold out for an even greater glory to come.

Some believe that it was some 6,000 years from creation in the garden until the death and resurrection of Christ.

You want to talk about waiting a long time for the reversal of the fall. Then after the prophecies were given in the OT there was some 400 silent years between the Old and New Testaments before Christ’s birth. It has not been over 2,000 years since the resurrection of Christ.

Generally speaking, we are bad at waiting. Our tech usage is one way we recognize our growing inability to wait for anything, but as believers looking at the historical arc of God’s story, we can only deduce that waiting has meaning.

The time spent waiting for a message or event can be just as meaningful as the message or event itself. “Waiting ultimately reorients our stories: We are not the primary actor on a stage of our own making or choosing.

Rather, God is the hero of the story.

Will we be content to wait on his work? In these in-between times, what character will be formed in us as individuals and as a culture? Technologies give us the illusion of god-like power and control: summoning up any piece of information with one simple click, purchasing anything with a quick swipe, and expecting others to operate around our own schedules. But they can’t overcome the limits of our creatureliness—nor should we want them to.

The created order—with its boundaries of time, space, and body—is not an imposition on our freedom but the life-giving water in which we swim. Limits are part of what makes us human. They show us more of who we are—creatures, not the Creator”

BIG IDEA: The Resurrection proves what God KNEW all along.

Note: from the very beginning God His perfect plan for those who wait on Him; He knew the plan for the reversal of the Universal sin problem through the fall; and he Knew that he would one day come to earth in the form of a man to secure His plan.

1. The Resurrection Proves that the best things come to those who wait.

Corrie Ten Boom

“There is no Panic in Heaven! God has no problems, only plans.”

The fall in the garden took place because man was unwilling to wait on God.

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN WE ARE UNWILLING TO WAIT ON GOD?

Sin comes when we take a perfectly natural desire or longing or ambition and try desperately to fulfill it without God. Not only is it sin, it is a perverse distortion of the image of the Creator in us. All these good things, and all our security, are rightly found only and completely in Him.

How God Feels About Humanity We serve a God who created our humanity, weeps at the fall of our humanity, became our humanity, and is redeeming our humanity.

It has now seemed like an eternity since that first Easter at the tomb. However, the call for you and me to wait on God is an invitation to trust and hope.

* Waiting on God means learning that we don’t have to know all the answers.

Deserted By God

Have you ever felt deserted by God? or that no matter how hard you pray God is not listening. That sense that God has somehow forgotten you down here on earth, leaving you feeling isolated and directionless. Don’t feel as if you are all alone. If we were all honest many of us have those feelings on a semi-regular basis. We may not admit it because we don’t want people to think our faith is weak or we have somehow done something to cause these feelings.

But, through faith we can affirm God’s loving presence, even when he seems silent and we feel deserted. James 4:8 tells us to draw near to God and he will draw near to you. This is a promise despite how you feel. The biggest problem I see in the Christian walk is many believers are not walking by faith they are walking by their feelings and emotions.

Several years ago, for no apparent reason I wen through a period of what I can only describe as depression. I had to learn to trust God for his presence despite how I felt. Eventually, as I continued to open his word daily and seek his face, while still in that depression, I gradually regained my ability to sense and hear him.

Many of us have walked the Emmaus road. Overwhelmed by sorrow. Plagued by questions. We wonder where God is. When, all along, he walks beside us.

*Waiting on God means learning to lay all your questions at His feet

GOD’S SHOULDERS ARE WIDE ENOUGH TO HANDLE ALL YOUR DOUBTS!

Have you ever wondered if this is the very best that God has for you? Or, have you ever cried out to God and said really, “what were you thinking?” And finally, “Do you really expect me to show up every Sunday and tell everyone how great you are?” Then, when I became silent, God spoke to my soul. He had an answer for each and every question.

The Upper Room While Waiting

Have you ever wondered what the room must have been like where Jesus followers waited after they had seen their master brutalized and murdered. You have to understand even, though only John was at the actually crucifixion they had seen people brutally beat and murdered by the Romans most of their lives.

There must have been many questions running through their minds as they waited and prayed. Possibly one of the questions may have been is this as good as it gets. Is this the very best God has to offer.

Trusting God when we do not hear him ultimately strengthens and purifies us. If our faith is based on a lack of struggles and afflictions and absence of doubt and questions, that’s a foundation of sand. You remember Jesus of the wise and foolish builders. One man chose the most expedient which was to build their house on the sand and when the storms came and they will come his house crumbled. The other man in the story built his house on the rock of the firm foundation of Jesus word and when the storms and wind came his house held firm.

The foundation of the resurrection of Christ and his ability to handle whatever happens to you in this life is rock solid. It never changes despite the times you may feel that you have received the raw end of the deal in this life.

*Waiting on God means learning to Change our Perspective

Silence is a Matter of Perspective

There is a sense in which God is never silent. He has already spoken in his word and by becoming man and dying for us on the cross, purchasing our eternal salvation.

What we may perceive as silence may actually be our inability, or in some cases (certainly not all) our unwillingness, to hear him. Fortunately our short term hearing loss as God’s children is not permanent. And given the promise of his resurrection, it certainly will not be permanent.

Psalm 19:1 Tells us that “the heavens declare His glory, and the sky proclaims His handiwork.” So, you see the reality is that God is speaking everyday, as you walk outside and see the very heavens declaring His glory through His creation.

When you can’t hear God what do you do?

You keep showing up and opening His word!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Day after day, to look at what he has already said - and done - and contemplate and memorize it until we realize this is not silence but is God speaking to us. Naturally, there remains a subjective sense in which we long to hear God in a more audible personal way. God spoke to Elijah in “a low whisper.” (1 Kings 19:12)

So, here is the problem, a low is not easy to hear - especially all around us the wind is howling? Perhaps the greater problem is that we have so filled our life with all of this noise that we do not recognized God’s voice.

I have raised 2 Children and have learned the phenomenon of selective hearing. I don't know if you have experienced this phenomenon in your house. Your kids see your mouth moving but they hearing something completely different than what you said. It’s the same many times with our spouses. In marriage counseling we teaching a thing called active listening. This is the exercise of repeating back to the person you are communicating with what you think you heard them say. Try it sometime, I will tell you in my experience rarely do we get it right.

Why does God sometimes speak in such a quiet voice. Perhaps it is to bring us to the end of ourselves. To prompt us to be still and seek him and to build our faith and eventually speak more clearly or heal our hearing problem.

Note: God has spoken the loudest and most clear revelation when He sent his Son Jesus to the Cross and then brought Him back to life, where His is seated at the right Hand of the Father in Glory.

It does not take super-hearing to hear this reality. The very creation itself is crying this reality out with grownings too deep for words.

What can we do when God seems silent and life is dark? (Maybe you are here this morning and this is your experience)

We can pray with the Biblical writers who call out to God.

Psalm 28:1 ESV

1 To you, O Lord, I call; my rock, be not deaf to me, lest, if you be silent to me, I become like those who go down to the pit.

Psalm 83:1 ESV

1 O God, do not keep silence; do not hold your peace or be still, O God!

Job 30:20 ESV

20 I cry to you for help and you do not answer me; I stand, and you only look at me.

We also remember that, however, long the silence may seem, God promises that it will not last forever.

Zephaniah 3:17 ESV

17 The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.

Just because we do not hear God audibly speaking does not mean that he is not rejoicing over us with shouts of joy.

The blood bought promise we have today is that the day is coming when this brief life will be followed with an eternity in which children will “see his face.”

Revelation 22:4 ESV

4 They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads.

John 20:1 ESV

1 Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb.

2. The Resurrection Proves that the reversal is complete

The new life given to Christians by God through Jesus Christ may not be best described as a ‘second chance’.

“Think of a kindergartner taking a calculus test. Because he’s only 5, the little tyke bombs the test and receives an ‘F’ atop his page. The teacher might show mercy, tear up his exam, and forgive his failure.

But the lad will not rejoice when a fresh, identical test is placed in front of him for a second attempt. While some Mensa-in-waiting kindergartner might pass calculus, there’s zero chance a fallen human can pass the test of God’s law.

As Scripture declares, ‘None is righteous, no, not one’ (Rom. 3:10). And since there’s zero chance humans will obey God perfectly, why would Christians spread news of a God of second chances? Is it good news to get a second chance at the impossible?”

Inverting Eden: The Reversal.

That departure of humanity from God is explicitly reversed in the resurrection of Jesus, clearly illustrated in John: “Finally the first verse of John 20 completes the structural reversal of Genesis 1-3. The timing of Mary’s arrival at the tomb mirrors the first day of creation, ‘first’ day of creation in Genesis, and the ‘darkness’ mirrors the state of the world prior to divine intervention (Genesis 1:2-5).

The end of John’s account of the passion goes all the way back to Genesis 1:2 and the end of John’s passion marks the resurrection as the victory over sin and death and inaugurates and new Creation. Again in verse 19 John makes a point to mention on the “first” day of the week in the evening when it was dark while the doors were locked where the disciples were hiding in fear, Jesus came and stood among them.

The light came and stood in the midst of the darkness. Jesus came to dispel the darkness of the incomplete covenant and reverse once and for all the affects of sin and darkness on His people.

HOW DOES THE RESURRECTION PROVE THAT SIN HAS BEEN REVERSAL

John 11:25–26 ESV

25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?”

“I am the resurrection and the Life”

Let’s go back to Jesus warning to Adam and Eve in the garden. “If you eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you will die. Remember Satan’s weapon against mankind was to get him to doubt God’s goodness and his word. I think it is also worth noting that Eve added to what God said by saying, he said we cannot even touch the tree. (How are we still adding to God’s words today.) Here was the lie.

(1) God is a liar you will not die.

(2) You will become like God knowing Good and evil.

So, here is what happened. As long as Adam and Eve believed God, they would have life - abundant life, full of the joy and sweetness of fellowship with God. But when they turned to their own understanding it opened a whole new door to evil and blinding complexities of truth that mankind was never meant to shoulder.

So, now God has pronounced the curse on them that all of mankind who are sinners fall under the curse and experience it’s effects on our lives everyday.

When Jesus said that He is the resurrection and the life, in essence He is saying that I have come to reverse the affects of the curse.

*The Reversal becomes Real when we Believe It

Note: There is a clear difference between “believing something,” and “believing something to be true.” Some people ascribe to different beliefs however, do they really believe what they are saying. When does a belief become true for us.

“Whoever believes in me, though he dies, yet shall he live.”

Why is believing so vitally crucial for the Christian life?

Remember the whole reason for the fall was a failure for Adam and Eve to take God at His word. “They exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the creator. This is dishonoring, a treason of such magnitude that a holy God cannot tolerate and be righteous. Such guilt must receive it’s penalty which is death.

But “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son that whoever believes in him will not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:16). Jesus takes our hijacked life and pays the penalty for this treason by bearing our curse (Galatian 3:13) for everyone who will trust his word over Satan’s or their own understanding. And everyone who believes in him will be raised from the dead with Jesus at the resurrect (1 Cor. 15:52-53).

*The Reversal becomes Real when we are Born of the Spirit

So, when does a person have their spiritual birth?

John 3:6 ESV

6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

Paul goes on to tell us in 2 Cor. 5:17 that if anyone is in Christ Jesus they are a new creation the old has passed away and the new has come. Our bodies and sinful nature along with them will die (except for those who are alive at Jesus’s return 1 Cor. 15:51).

When a person believes in Jesus they are born again, the new self that Paul is referring to is the inner man the soul of a person that now is imperishable and will not die. Our bodies will one day be put in the ground and undergo the decomposition process of this fallen world.

The Question Jesus asks is the one of the single most important Question you will ever be ASKED!

DO YOU BELIEVE THIS?

If you respond with one of these answers............

I think so.....

I grew up in a Christian home so I believe what my parents believe I guess.....

I’m a Catholic, Baptist, Methodist, Assembly of God........

The only right answer is how Martha responded to Jesus

John 11:27 ESV

27 She said to him, “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.”

Notice the first word “YES” followed by “I BELIEVE.”

There are no almost, close enough, I got there by the skin of my teeth with being born again in Christ. You have either gone through the cleansing flood of Jesus Christ into the new life with Him or you are still wondering around in the darkness of the fall at creation.

The majority of the world is sill wondering around in the fog of this world saying, “I think so, I’m basically a good person, I grew up .........” But the question in front of you this morning is “DO YOU BELIEVE THIS?”

If you answer any other way than “YES I BELIEVE” then you are still of the flesh and are dead men and women walking the Halls of the world today.

Romans 5:12–21 ESV

12 Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned— 13 for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law. 14 Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come. 15 But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man’s trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many. 16 And the free gift is not like the result of that one man’s sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification. 17 For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ. 18 Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. 19 For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous. 20 Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, 21 so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Notice the great lengths with which Paul goes in Romans 5 to declare this new creation, drawing a parallel between Jesus and the old Adam from the garden. “The human family has its roots in Adam and Eve, and our original relationship with God has meaning, purpose, and foundation in the first couple, who first experienced God’s compassionate voice towards them.

I think that it is interesting that all throughout the reading of the Old Testament we have a tendency to look judgmentally on the nation of Israel and their lust for idol worship just like their original parents Adam and Eve. However, is the Old Testament not more about the Grace of God.

Even though they fell short whatever they did, God still came back to them and had a plan that manifested itself through the death and resurrection of Christ. Which means the the plan should be front and center in the Church today. Every time we gather for worship we are declaring the risen Lord who rules and reigns in your life and mine. We are also proclaiming how god’s plan of serving and reconciling the world to himself begins with you and me.

Life that was once distorted by Adam and Eve’s sin is now reversed by Jesus Christ and the new life we have through His resurrection.

3. The Resurrection Proves that God came back for His plan

Note: The plan that God had for yours and my redemption was already in place from the very beginning.

Pursue the Lost

“In my neighborhood, on almost every light pole, there are signs for lost dogs or cats. When I first noticed these signs, I felt a tinge of sympathy. … But nothing seemed to happen. The seasons changed. The pictures grew faded because of the weather. And yet, many of the signs are still up today. I can’t help but wonder: is anyone actually looking for these animals? Do they expect me to do all the work? Did the owners just put up signs and assume the pets would read them, realize they’re missing, and saunter on home? This is not the way God seeks.

The shepherd doesn’t just put up a sign that says, ‘Hey, I lost a sheep.’ He leaves the 99 behind and goes after the one who is missing” As believers, we need to be reminded that we were once the one who was lost, and God came in pursuit of us to save us by his grace. When we remember our own desperate need for grace, we will be more likely to extend it to others. We will also be more likely to break out of our comfortable “holy huddle” at church, surrounded by people who already know Jesus, and will want to cooperate with the Father in pursuing the lost and sharing God’s love with them.

As believers, we need to be reminded that we were once the one who was lost, and God came in pursuit of us to save us by his grace. When we remember our own desperate need for grace, we will be more likely to extend it to others. We will also be more likely to break out of our comfortable “holy huddle” at church, surrounded by people who already know Jesus, and will want to cooperate with the Father in pursuing the lost and sharing God’s love with them.

Genesis 3:9 ESV

9 But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?”

Notice that God comes back and calls out to Adam and Eve in the Garden. He doesn’t leave them in the despair and nakedness of their sin.

Michael Bird | Biblical Commentary

Romans (Listen to the Story)

In the cathedral of Romans 5–8; 5:12–21 is like a room of stark contrasts. It is the darkest corner of the building, yet the brightest lamp shines in it. It’s a room where the blackness of human evil casts its shadow, but a luminous ray of brightness pierces through it. The mystery of evil’s origins hangs in the air like a heavy fog while the candles on a messianic menorah push the darkness back. In this passage, we see both the hideousness of human evil and the hidden plan of God to redeem it.

*God’s plan releases one and condemns the other

One of the Most Difficult Scriptures in the Bible

I believe that Romans 5:12 and later in verse 18 are some of the most difficult texts in scripture. Maybe not difficult to roll off the tongue but difficult to understand.

In Adam “all sinned” ; consequently God’s condemnation fell on all people after him. What Adam did had ramifications for our standing before the Father.

In broad terms, we find federalism represented by the United States government. Voters select representatives to stand in for them and represent their needs and desires during the lawmaking process.

When legislation comes up for a vote, the representative is supposed to do what the voters he represents would do if they were present in the legislature. The federal representative whom voters send to Congress is elected because the voters believe he will do what they would do if they were lawmakers themselves.

Biblical federalism works in a similar fashion, at least with respect to Adam. The first man, Adam, stood in our place and did what we would have done had we been there in the garden of Eden.

We did not choose Adam or tell him what we wanted to do; rather, God appointed him. But God makes perfect choices, so if He wanted someone to make the choice we would have made in the same circumstances, there was no better option than Adam. We would have sinned as well if we had faced Satan in Eden. Our elected officials do not always vote as we would; this was not the case with Adam.

Adam’s choice are our choices, so we share in the consequences of Adam’s sin. His transgression is passed on to us, or placed on our record, so that God regards us as guilty though we never ate the forbidden fruit ourselves.

Somewhat, but not exactly the same as if you are driving the get away car for a robbery and in the process your friend shoots someone. You are still implicated in the shooting even though you were not the one pulling the trigger. Its as if you are standing at the tree with Adam and Eve approving of what they are doing.

Note: So for all who choose Christ they are now released from from the law of sin and death and pass from guilt to innocent.

2 Corinthians 5:21 ESV

21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Jesus also foresees Jesus’ work as our federal representative. God promises that the woman’s seek will crush the serpents head. Jesus is that seed, he is the agent of God’s judgement and justice towards the world. For by His obedience in our place He crushed Satan, securing our right to stand before the Lord uncondemned.

Men and women stand or fall before God based on our identity with the federal head, Jesus Christ.

All people start out under Adam’s headship, condemned to death and destruction. But when we believe, we come under the headship of Christ and inherit all the privileges He has purchase for His people.

The only way to escape the penalty of sin and death is if you are in Christ and have received his pardon on your life.

*God’s plan gets back what was lost, only better

Jesus restores to life what Adam forfeited for humanity by his sin in the garden. Yet the life that Jesus brings is far better, for Jesus actually makes His people completely righteous, and the life he gives us can never be lost.

Romans 8:28–30 ESV

28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. 29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.

Notice that Revelation 21:2-22:5 tells us that “nothing detestable will enter the new Jerusalem. If Jesus were to merely restore his creation back to its original state in Eden, we would have to be on the lookout for the serpent, for he tempted Adam and Eve in the garden. But if nothing detestable can be presented in the new creation, we will never be threatened by Satan again.

The safety of the new city is also conveyed to us in the open gates.

Revelation 21:25 ESV

25 and its gates will never be shut by day—and there will be no night there.

Ancient cities typically had walls for protection with gates that could be closed to keep out enemies. If the gates are never closed, that means that there is no threat that the city - the people of God must guard against. We see in Revelation 22:1-2 that the tree of life will be restored in the new heaven and earth.

Revelation 22:1–2 ESV

1 Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2 through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.

The tree is not only restored but there will be more than one tree and it will bear twelve fruits. The idea here is the permanent fulness of the life to come in the new creation.

No more night, and there is not more sun or moon either.

The Lord himself will provide all the light that his new creation needs. (Rev. 21:22-25)

The absolute glory of God will fill his temple. No privileges will be greater than to see God face-to-face, to experience His beauty without any intermediary.

One of the greatest longings of the human heart is for security and safety. Many people spend their whole lives seeking security and safety in this world only to come up empty and lacking. We seek to secure ourselves and our families, financially, and physically, and in a host of other ways. It is good and right for us to protect our families, but we must remember that everlasting security comes only through trusting in the Lord.

Only He can protect us forever, and He is bringing a new creation in which we will experience eternal safety.

CONCLUSION

“Longing to leave her poor Brazilian neighborhood, Christina wanted to see the world.

Discontent with a home having only a pallet on the floor, a washbasin, and a wood-burning stove, she dreamed of a better life in the city. One morning she slipped away, breaking her mother’s heart. Knowing what life on the streets would be like for her young, attractive daughter, Maria hurriedly packed to go find her.

On her way to the bus stop she entered a drugstore to get one last thing. Pictures. She sat in the photograph booth, closed the curtain, and spent all she could on pictures of herself. With her purse full of small black-and-white photos, she boarded the next bus to Rio de Janiero.

Maria knew Christina had no way of earning money. She also knew that her daughter was too stubborn to give up. When pride meets hunger, a human will do things that were before unthinkable. Knowing this, Maria began her search. Bars, hotels, nightclubs, any place with the reputation for street walkers or prostitutes.

She went to them all. And at each place she left her picture—taped on a bathroom mirror, tacked to a hotel bulletin board, fastened to a corner phone booth. And on the back of each photo she wrote a note.

It wasn’t too long before both the money and the pictures ran out, and Maria had to go home. The weary mother wept as the bus began its long journey back to her small village. It was a few weeks later that young Christina descended the hotel stairs.

Her young face was tired. Her brown eyes no longer danced with youth but spoke of pain and fear. Her daughter was broken. Her dream had become a nightmare. A thousand times over she had longed to trade these countless beds for her secure pallet.

Yet the little village was, in too many ways, too far away. As she reached the bottom of the stairs, her eyes noticed a familiar face. She looked again, and there on the lobby mirror was a small picture of her mother.

Christina’s eyes burned and her throat tightened as she walked across the room and removed the small photo. Written on the back was this compelling invitation.

‘Whatever you have done, whatever you have become, it doesn’t matter. Please come home.’ She did.”

We are never too far from God’s reach because Jesus stands in our place and declares us righteous because of his work on the cross and secured our homecoming on Resurrection Day!!!!

Today can be your Resurrection Day, God is in the business of bringing dead things back to life.

The Stone is rolled away, and Eternity is now available for all who will believe. Where will you be at the second resurrection of the dead? Will you still be waiting for more proof, or the right time?