Transformed – teen devotion – April 9, 2023
One truth shared: The resurrection of Jesus is the foundation of your faith.
The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay.”
Matthew 28:5,6
Proof of God With Us
Imagine that a seemingly ordinary person walks up to you and claims to be God. They say things that only God has the right to say. There is something magnetic about the way they act—you are drawn to them, but at the same time you are skeptical of their claims. As well you should be.
What would they have to do to prove that they are who they claim to be? What kind of miracle would it take? What feat of power would settle your doubt?
There are lots of tricks that mankind has figured out over the years. What we can do today with our science and technology would seem like miracles to people who lived 200 years ago.
But there is one thing that science and technology will never figure out: a way to get around death.
Death is something we are constantly at war with. Thanks to God’s gift of medicine, we can win a lot of battles against sickness and prolong our lives. But we cannot win the war against death. Death wins every time.
So if God were to show up as a person on earth to help us, it would be a very short-lived solution if his priority was to cure illnesses, establish justice, or address poverty.
What is amazing is that while Jesus did those very things, they were just a prequel to a greater battle that he would face. He battled death just like every other human. But unlike any other human, he won.
His victory establishes a new hope for you and all mankind. We still have the daily problems of life that go along with living in a sinful world, but we do not have the eternal problem of death to deal with.
At his resurrection, Jesus proved he really is “God With Us.” Even more, his resurrection was the beginning of hope for the entire world.
Prayer: Dear Savior, let the certainty of your resurrection be the foundation for my faith and hope in you. Amen.
