Today's Worship: Redemption and resurrection!

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him in Hosea 13:14,

 

"I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death. Where, O death, are your plagues? Where, O grave, is your destruction?"

 

In the midst of the Lord's proclamation of judgment upon Israel for her spurning him to turn to the vapid, lifeless idols of her neighbors, the Lord injects the greatest of all hopes for his people: redemption and resurrection! In the darkness and gloom of God's judgment, he brings the bright ray of eternal hope for those who need it most, people who have sinned and facing his judgment.

 

While Israel will not escape the short-term judgment of God for her rebellion against him, he speaks of a future time when he will provide redemption from death. Paul quotes this passage, as well as Isaiah 25:8 in 1 Corinthians 15:50-55, "Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: 'Death has been swallowed up in victory.' 'Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?'"

 

Here is the great hope we have as believers! From this hope spring the faith and love that energizes our ardency for our wonderful Lord and our fervor and tenacity in living productive lives for him. It puts that edge of excitement to our faith in him. Colossians 1:5. I am reminded that when Martha told Jesus she knew about the resurrection, that she would see her brother again, Jesus proclaimed, in perhaps one of the most dramatic accounts in all of Scripture, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die." John 11:25-26.

 

What a hope we have in the redemption provided by our Lord Jesus Christ and our resurrection we look forward to! 

 

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share your thoughts of worship with us from your Bible reading today. We'd love to hear from you!

Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com