"O My Father....if this cup cannot pass from Me unless I drink it, Your will be done....." Matthew 26:42
It started in a garden.....
And it was finished in a garden.....
It started with disobedience with a tree being the central focal point.
It ended with obedience with a tree being the central focal point.
It began with a man named Adam.
It ended with a man who was called the Second Adam.
In the first garden, relationship with the Father of heaven was broken.
In the second garden, that relationship was restored.
It started with blame shifting and finger pointing between the man and his wife.
It ended when one lone soul took it upon himself, blaming no one, to give himself as a sacrifice for all humanity.
It started as a selfish, self-centered act.
It ended with the ultimate giving. Not just for the good or those who loved God. But for the blasphemers and adulterers.
For the junkie and the drunk.
For the prostitute and the housewife.
For the college student and the church-goer.
For the religious and the atheist.
The door to salvation was opened and the invitation was extended to humanity.
Just as Jesus had to choose obedience....
The open door and the invitation mean nothing without our obedience to enter in.
It started with cursed ground which produced thorns.
It ended with the cursed thorns being worn by Jesus.
It started with the introduction of death into the garden.
It ended with the ultimate show of power by death being shattered and tossed aside as Jesus stepped from the tomb.
You see...
We cannot reach the joy of resurrection until we pass through the cross.
We cannot embrace the completeness of this relationship with God the Father...
Until we embrace the brokenness of our sin and our need for His salvation.
Jesus made all of this possible.
It was because of His sacrifice on a hill outside the walls of the city of Jerusalem that he tomb became a place of victory.
Jesus redefined what death meant by not succumbing to its power.
He shook off the power of death and the grave and stepped forth to declare a new day for all of humanity who would live on this planet.
Today is the day of salvation.
Today is the day of new beginnings.
Celebrate Jesus today....
II Corinthians 15:55
"O Death, where is your sting? O Grave, where is your victory?"
God on you...
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