The Miracle
in Giggles on January 24, 2022
Last week was a hard week.
My husband received word that one of his former employees suffered a tremendous loss. The man’s wife and two young daughters were killed in a house fire while he was at work.
This man’s whole world literally went up in flames.
How do you cope with that? How do you make sense of the senseless? How do you go on?
On top of that devastating news, a young friend of mine was dealing with a milestone anniversary of the passing of her mother. An anniversary no one in our friend group has been able to reconcile. It doesn’t seem real that so much time has passed since we last saw her. We’ve yet to come to terms with the fact that she is truly gone…and that’s just our circle of friends. We cannot begin to pretend that any of us know how deeply her children are feeling her absence.
During times like this, a common question that inevitably arises is this: Where is this mighty and all-powerful God that we seem so attached to? If He’s so great, why do things like this happen? Where are the miracles of the Bible? And why didn’t He pull one of those out for either one of these families?
The short answer is that we live in a sinful and fallen world. This world is shrouded by the enemy’s darkness, and that darkness will creep and crawl into every aspect of our lives.
I blame Adam and Eve.
However, the longer answer is a bit more complicated. It actually isn’t entirely Adam and Eve’s fault…sure, sure—they ate the forbidden fruit. That was their choice, but the real enemy is The Enemy, aka, Satan (Lucifer, the father of lies, the prince of darkness, etc). He was the one whispering falsehoods into the ears of our first parents. He was the one trying to undermine the plan that God had for humanity. And he will be the one to pay the price in the end.
This world that we live in, has many wonderful and beautiful aspects to it. But, she is dying. Day by day, inch by inch, the world we inhabit is moving closer toward death, and as she makes her move, all of her people go with her. The sin stains from Adam and Eve have bled over us all; meaning, we will never know full, total or complete peace this side of heaven.
So, where’s the miracle?
Well, the Miracle was first prophesied immediately following the first sin. God told Adam and Eve that while they would live in turmoil for the remainder of their days, one day a child would come who, although Satan was attacking man’s heel, this Promised One, would crush Satan’s head. “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel” (Genesis 3:15).
This is the first mention of the Miracle.
Jesus’s lineage, the Messiah, the Savior of the entire world is traced from Adam all the way through the ages until He is born from a virgin. For the whole scoop on His line, see Matthew 1:1-17 (or click here).
While the lineage of Jesus is a fascinating subject, just knowing the names of the people in His family tree does not a miracle make. We need to look at His life. God knew before He created Adam and Eve that they would fail. Nothing surprises God. He had a plan to save us from ourselves long before we ever thought about messing things up. When Jesus chose to take on human form, and literally be God With Us, He showed us all how to live, and how to die.
When Jesus went to the Cross on that Friday, He knew the people would be completely reliant upon what their eyes showed them. He knew people would assume that because His death was certain on the Cross, that He would remain dead.
Satan thought that, too…
Until Jesus rattled the very gates of Hell that Satan was hiding behind. “For Christ died for sins once for all…He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit, through whom also he went and preached to the spirits in prison who disobeyed long ago…” (1 Peter 18-19). This verse reminds us that even during Christ’s physical death, He was still fighting for us; fighting face-to-face with the enemy himself.
But, is this the Miracle?
Again, the short answer is no.
The longer answer is almost.
The full and complete Miracle begins on Good Friday, and ends with the Empty Tomb on Easter morning. Jesus gave up His God-Power, so that He could be crucified for the world’s sins…the entire world’s sins…meaning those in His time, and allllll of those who would come later. He told His disciples (several times) this was the plan. He told them He was “going to prepare a place for them” in His Father’s house (see John 14 for the whole story). Jesus promised the thief on the Cross that he would be with Jesus that night in Paradise (see Luke 23:39-43). And still, the Miracle was not complete.
On the first day of the week (Sunday morning), the women closest to Jesus went to the tomb, in order to fully and properly prepare His body for burial. However, when they arrived, the stone sealing the tomb had been rolled away, and the tomb itself, was EMPTY.
MIRACLE ACCOMPLISHED.
During His earthly lifetime, Jesus raised people from the dead. But, to raise Himself? That was His God-Power flexing. The apostle Paul reminds us in Romans, “If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9).
So, where does that leave my two stories from last week? Well, the miracle is simple: Jesus kept the promise He made to the thief on the Cross…those people are with Him in Paradise right now. The instant they closed their eyes here, they opened them in Heaven, looking at the face of the One who truly has the power to save, heal, and rescue.
Still, knowing that, seldom erases the pain of loved ones left behind, but hopefully it eases the pain a little. We often have to walk through the refiner’s fire before we become the best versions of ourselves. Sometimes that fire is literal, and sometimes it is figurative. But, regardless of what the exact type of fire is…we will all suffer the burns. Jesus takes all the pain and hurt away when He calls us home.
That, is the true Miracle.
Remember, God is way more interested in your character, than in your comfort.
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Jean says:
You can find a wonderful Christian grief support group in your area. Go to GriefShare.org and enter your zip code to find a group,