|
He Will Raise Us Up
“After two days He will
revive us; on the third He will raise us up; that we may live in his sight"
(Hosea 6:2)
The whole of Scripture is about Jesus Christ. It is
a Book of history about real people, but it is also a series of parables
which point to the Lord and our need for Him. The sacrifices and
offerings in Leviticus reveal aspects of His death as a substitute for the
sins of humanity. This is also seen in Isaiah 53:5 - "He
was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities, the
chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed."
Places like Psalm 22 and Isaiah 53 are “pictures” (like the sacrifices in
Leviticus) of the death in the future when He would die for our sins.
The Book of Hosea mentions Christ on the Cross -
God’s Solution for our need: “After two days He
will revive us; on the third, He will raise us up; that we may live in His
sight” (Hosea 6:2). In dying, Jesus paid the price for all of
humanity, for those who lived both before and after His death, everywhere
in the world. All people are offered life in Him, no matter where or when
we have lived, and no matter what our sins have been. On the cross, in
His death, our sins were paid for, and on the third day when He was raised
to life, we were raised, too, when we simply TRUST in Him.
As in this verse, we can be “revived” by Him. After
His death, He was in the tomb and the work was done. Like a seed must die
before it produces first the plant and then the fruit, He died that we
might live; truly LIVE in the sight of God. We are offered LIFE in Him,
life filled with joy that shall never end.
We are “raised up” in Him. I puzzled for a long time
about Ephesians 2:6, where it says He “has raised
us up together and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ
Jesus”. We are already there with Him. It was later that I
understood what He means: From God’s perspective in eternity, the work is
finished and we are already with Him. In the light of Hosea 6:2, we can
see more clearly what He has done. It was 2000 years ago when He raised
us up. Our need was met at that time - When we trust in Him, we ENTER the
heavenlies with Christ, who has done a perfect work that saves you and me.
That which happened two millennia ago, is real for us TODAY, when we
breathe “yes” to the Lord. In faith, we are with Him right now!
Christ’s (the Messiah’s) Cross enables us to LIVE in
the sight of God. We think we’re “alive” because we’re animated (we
breathe, move our limbs, talk, use our brains most of the time, eat, and
so on). But in the sight of God, we’re what they used to say about
prisoners condemned to death: “Dead men walking.”
Paul said it very well – “To
live is Christ and to die (to this world)
is gain” (Philippians 1:21). He went on to say, “for
I am hard pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with
Christ, which is far better…” (Philippians 1:23). If Paul had
stopped there, Christian history might have been filled with suicides, but
he continued, “Nevertheless, to remain in the
flesh is more needful for you" (Philippians 1:24). We are safe
right now in Christ, but we are also drawn to the needs of others and we
remain physically in this world so as long as Good chooses.
We now live, not for ourselves, but for God and one
another. You may not evangelize the world, like Paul or Billy Graham, but
you can pray and God listens, and God will answer your prayer because of
Christ. You can PRAY for others, and God answers what you pray for. You
can have LIFE for yourself in Christ, and you can bring LIFE to others -
through your prayers for them.
When you pray, the Holy Spirit is prompting you what
to say, and who to pray for. We don’t always understand Him and so we
pray in Jesus’ Name, who receives our requests and presents them to the
Father precisely as they should have been in the first place. We often
don’t see it, but ALL of our prayers are answered by God. He listens to
You and He responds to the need. He loves us and died for us, that we
might 1) live, and 2) be useful, even when we don’t truly
understand.
Life gets tough for us sometimes and we wonder, “Why
am I having all this trouble?” Some of the answers are in 2 Corinthians
Chapter 1 (an excellent chapter on suffering). Others are in Hosea.
Speaking of the ten northern tribes of Israel, God said (through the
prophet), “…they did not know that I healed them.
I drew them with gentle cords, with bands of love” (Hosea 11:3-4).
But they did not turn to Him, they turned away, and God continued, “the
Assyrian shall be his king, because they refused to repent.” Just
like He reached out to Israel, He is reaching out to you in love, and will
receive you in a gentle manner - Or you can go the “hard way.” It’s your
choice, but if you use your head and heart, you’ll turn to Him in
gratitude and love, right now.
Much of our trouble in life is simply because we will
not respond to the Holy Spirit and give up areas within ourselves that
ultimately would cause us harm. He wants you to yield control and trust
in Him. The typical human response is to attempt to remain in charge, no
matter what the cost, but, the price of self-direction can be very high.
The dividends from accepting His will in our life, however, include –
JOY.
It’s your choice. On the one side is the glory of
God, a life that counts for others, and personal joy for you. The other
option leads to destruction, bitterness, and ultimately for many, eternal
death. We are offered life (in being led by Christ) or death (through
self-direction). Choose to give up STRIVING to be in control, and “LIVE
in His sight.” Give yourself to Him – today. You’ll be glad you
did.
Father, I completely give my life to Christ, right
now. I understand that I have resisted Him in many areas. I give up; I
surrender. Life is too hard to go it alone, and I cannot continue, except
I give it all to You. I admit my sin of unbelief, and trust that YOU now
have control of my life. I am Yours, Lord, and I praise Your Holy Name.
In Jesus Name. Amen.
Ron Beckham, Pastor
Friday Study Ministries
www.fridaystudy.org
E-mail:
Ron@FridayStudy.org
Tel: (562) 688-5559
PO Box 92131
Long Beach, CA 90809-2131
"While
we were yet sinners, Christ died for us"
(Romans 5:8) |
