I am reflecting on the cross of Christ this Good Friday, and anticipating celebration of the resurrection on Easter Sunday. I think I am more painfully aware today of our simultaneous joy and sorrow as I am reflecting on the cross of Christ.
It was at the cross that the fullness of God’s character was most magnificently displayed in human history. Simultaneously we see His wrath and love, His justice and mercy, displayed completely and fully in the person of Christ. Only at the cross can we reconcile all aspects of who He is…and yet there is still more.
Paul understood this unbelievably well:
2 Corinthians 1
8 For we do not want you to be ignorant, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. 9 Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead. 10 He delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again.
The power to endure in the midst of suffering and pain is made possible by the hope of resurrection. In fact, that suffering not only provides perseverance, but actually magnifies God through bringing dependency and hope.
I pray that I will live with the same reckless abandon, facing the fear of death with a dependency of hope, ready to meet my king yet fighting for His glory until I do so. May the the cross lead to understand the depth of our brokenness and the resurrection to the height of our hope.
This is the good news.
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