All photos courtesy of Unsplash
What do we all want to achieve in our lives?
That is a pretty searching question, but, if we are honest, we would all like to think that we have made some significant contribution to the world in the time we have spent here.
Even so, in actual fact, few of us make any real impact on society during our lives. On the other hand, as we look at history there are some names that stand out in their contribution to the world.
My education was in the sciences and names like Newton, Kelvin and Faraday were legendary in my experience, but so many of them brought contributions to science which, although they developed the working of science, were mostly theoretical. I am thinking of the Kelvin absolute temperature scale, Newton’s laws of motion and Faraday’s discovery of electromagnetic induction.
On the other hand there were men whose discoveries have directly affected each one of us. Men like Edward Jenner who pioneered vaccination and eradicated smallpox, Joseph Lister who introduced antiseptic surgery and Alexander Fleming, the discoverer of penicillin have all brought us things which have made our lives safer and better. Right up to this present time, we all have reason to be thankful for the ongoing work which is fighting the battle against viruses and infections that threaten us all
As I think of the great inventions and discoveries of history, I realise that so many of them came about because there was a problem or a threat in the world of that day.
When we think of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ we remember, not a discovery or an invention, but a victory over the greatest threat that has ever existed in this world. It is a threat that affects every single one of us and on that we will all ultimately face.
It is the threat of death, but the great message for today is that this threat has been fought and utterly defeated. Two thousand years ago, the Lord Jesus Christ met and defeated death, not in a laboratory, but on a hill outside Jerusalem. The battle was not fought with vaccines and petri dishes but with blood that was shed. The victory was not a partial one that needed more work by others, but one that was complete and eternal.
Jesus Christ, the Lord and Creator of all, gave Himself to die upon a Roman cross so that sin and death, which had enslaved the whole of humanity might be defeated.
So many of the great inventions and discoveries we see were worked out in theory, but the proof of their worth was only seen when they were demonstrated practically. The sceptic may ask “Where is the proof of the worth of Calvary?”
The answer was seen early in the morning on the first day of the week as the stone was rolled back to display an empty tomb. That is the message of ether gospel – Jesus is alive!
Though death is still with us, the grave has been defeated, for in the resurrection of Christ, we also have the promise of eternal life in Him. As the apostle Paul could say, “O death, where is your sting? O grave, where is your victory?”
May you know discover this for yourself.
Written by Stephen Treseder for Messages with Meaning (04/04/21)/Your542Day
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