A Timeless Truth, An Eternal Hope
I know that my Redeemer lives! When we speak these words we are brought to the joy of the empty tomb. We join the women who heard with amazement the glad good news: “Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen!” (Lk. 24:5-6).
This is the joy of Easter. He who died for us has risen again. Living in the time of fulfillment–when all these things which God promised have come to pass–many fail to realize that our Redeemer, whose death gave hope of life to the patriarchs of old, was also looked upon by the patriarchs as their risen and everliving Savior.
The truth of Jesus’ resurrection is not a new truth, but one that was part and parcel of God’s plan from the beginning. It was a truth clung to in faith by those who have gone before us.
It is for this reason that the words of Job are so precious to us. “Oh, that my words were written! Oh, that they were inscribed in a book! That they were engraved on a rock with an iron pen and lead, forever! For I know that my Redeemer lives and He shall stand at last on the earth” (Job 19:23-25).
For Job, who lived many centuries before Christ was born into the world, the truth of a living Savior and Redeemer was more than some nice sounding words, or a finely spoken truth, or a doctrine to believe. It was for him a living reality.
It was this reality of an everliving Redeemer that brought hope to him in the most desperate circumstances he encountered in life. It brought him the everlasting hope of an eternal life of glory before the Lord. “And after my skin is destroyed, this is know, that in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another. How my heart yearns within me!” (Job 19:26-27).
A Sure And Certain Reality!
As we celebrate the fulfillment of all that the Scriptures prophesied regarding our Savior and Redeemer–who had to suffer and die for the remission of our sins–we find this same timeless truth lying at the heart of our faith. I know that my Redeemer lives! Yes, He who died has risen and lives forevermore.
I, too, look to that day when He shall stand upon the earth, and my eyes shall behold him in His resurrected glory. Though almost two millennia have passed since the resurrection of Jesus from the grave, the reality remains as sure and certain.
The truth remains intact, for the truth of a living Redeemer is a truth of God, and so it is for us a living reality. We read the joyous account of an empty grave, and it gives the same assurance, the same eternal hope that Job possessed in his heart. We look to the victory over death and the grave which our living Redeemer secured for us by His death and resurrection.
And we have hope, yes, even in the face of this life’s most desperate days. We possess the eternal hope of a living Redeemer who shall stand once again upon the earth. I shall see Him for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another!
–Pastor Theodore Barthels