Post-Easter Thought: Where is Jesus Now?
In recent messages and devotionals, we established that in the incarnation, Jesus was God in human flesh. As the Son of God, He came to earth, was born a baby, lived as a man, gave His life as a sacrifice for our sins on the cross, and on the third day was resurrected from the grave, conquering sin, death, and Satan. His is the victory! He won the war! The final outcome has been determined and yet we know the end will not come until He returns again as described in the book of Revelation.
So you might ask, where is Jesus now? The Apostle Paul explains in Romans 8:34b "Christ Jesus who died - more than that, who was raised to life - is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us." Wow, what an amazing statement! Jesus, our Lord and Savior, gave of Himself fully on the cross and now He is at the Father's right-hand continuing to intervene on our behalf. Stop for a moment to take that in. The Son of God intercedes for you right now!
Most of you know that in the church, we say "GOD IS GOOD all the time. ALL THE TIME God is good." We say this because we know God's character is eternally good. This doesn't mean that He is good simply because good things happen to us. As we know from experience, and have seen in recent weeks with the coronavirus, life is full of hardships and even tragedy. Paul's life itself was one of suffering and persecution, and yet He knew God's goodness.
Understanding what Paul went through - and knowing what some of you are going through today - makes Romans 8:35-39 even more meaningful as it goes on to say: "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword . . . No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
In spite of the difficulties of life, take heart. You are a conqueror, because Christ is interceding for you and loves you. Stay safe and healthy.
