Daily Devotions
He is not here, but has risen. Remember how He told you, while He was still in Galilee. Luke 24:6
Libya’s Moammar Gadhafi is dead.
While there is a great deal of confusion as to how he died, everyone is in agreement the colonel has breathed his last.
Under normal circumstances Islamic tradition would say he should be given a quick and timely burial. That didn’t happen.
Instead, his body was put into a room-sized freezer at a shopping center. To make sure his body was neither venerated nor desecrated a guard was placed at the entrance of his makeshift tomb.
The guard on Gadhafi’s body reminded me of the guard which was placed at the entrance of Jesus’ tomb.
Of course, that’s as far as the comparison could go.
While Gadhafi’s time on the world’s stage is over, Jesus’ burial was in many respects just the beginning of His work and influence. Unlike Gadhafi who is dead and will stay that way until the Day of Judgment, Jesus’ time in the tomb was temporary.
His resurrection on the third day showed to all the world that God’s Son, our Savior, had completed the work of redemption. Jesus’ resurrection brings about a reformation in our lives. We are reformed because our sins have been carried and paid for; we are reformed because Satan’s stranglehold on sinners has been broken and our eternity is reformed because death has been defeated.
From the moment Jesus stepped out of that tomb, anyone whose repentant heart acknowledged Him as Lord found His sins were removed and eternal life had been freely given. This is the great reformation brought about by the love of God, by the blood of the Lamb.
It is a Scriptural truth which makes Jesus unique among all those who have ever walked this planet. It is a truth which makes Him our Savior.
THE PRAYER: Dear Lord, dictators, leaders, great men and women come and go. With His life, death and resurrection, Jesus has shown us that He is one-of-a-kind. Acknowledging His Lordship, may we remain citizens of the kingdom whose leadership will always be the same and uncontested. In our Savior’s Name we pray it. Amen.