In Chapter 17 of the gospel of John Jesus sums up his purpose and prays for the conclusion to His time on earth. In His prayer He reveals His heart for us all.
John 17:20 – 23
“I do not pray for these alone, but also for those will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as you, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: I in them and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.”
Today, we celebrate not just a victory over the cross, but the completion of God’s desire and the answer to His prayer. That we may all be one with Him and the Father. That we may know that He loves us and have made it possible for us all to be together for all time. It has always been a simple love story of God putting His family back together again and what it has taken to accomplish this amazing task.
There is no doubt that people will continue to complicate it. They will continue to try and show that God really wants to judge people and find ways to reject them. It’s absolutely not true. He has done everything in His power to redeem us and put us in a situation that guarantees our success and victory because He loves us. We alone bear the responsibility if we fail to stand with Him in that day for it will be our choice alone that could separate us.
Today, we are thankful for the cross and all that it produced for each one of us. We are thankful for a God who was willing to lower Himself and stand in our place. There is no explanation for why He would do it. I have never had a person in authority over me take the blame for a mistake I’ve made and yet God has chosen to do it for my greatest failure. Today, I celebrate. Today, we celebrate!
Happy Easter! The Lord has Risen!