“On this mountain he will destroy the shroud that enfolds all peoples, the sheet that covers all nations; he will swallow up death forever.”
Isaiah 25:7-8a
Death seems to have an unlimited reach and an insatiable appetite. It devours anything and everything in its path. But this fact remains: death could not stomach God! On the day that death swallowed up the crucified Christ, God swallowed death whole! What a wonderful irony, that death on a Friday afternoon would result in eternal life when the Son rose on Sunday morning.
This has important implications for our present study. Sin-laden, guilt-ridden, and helpless, we are a people afflicted, condemned to die. Accordingly, faith, hope, and love all lie dead within us until God raises us to new life in Christ. We receive them from the hand of God through the preaching of His gospel. That same gospel also nourishes these virtues. If their cultivation depended on our meager efforts, they would soon wither and die.
But what we are powerless to do, God does. His Word resurrects faith, enlivens hope, and liberates love from the fearful tyranny of death. Would you grow in these virtues? You must turn to Christ in His Word.
This has important implications for our present study. Sin-laden, guilt-ridden, and helpless, we are a people afflicted, condemned to die. Accordingly, faith, hope, and love all lie dead within us until God raises us to new life in Christ. We receive them from the hand of God through the preaching of His gospel. That same gospel also nourishes these virtues. If their cultivation depended on our meager efforts, they would soon wither and die.
But what we are powerless to do, God does. His Word resurrects faith, enlivens hope, and liberates love from the fearful tyranny of death. Would you grow in these virtues? You must turn to Christ in His Word.
Scripture Focus
Isaiah 25; 1 Peter 1:23-25
Insight
“To rest in God’s promises is his people’s only strength. To delight themselves in his Word is their refreshing feast.” (Raymond C. Ortlund, 2008)
Bible In A Year
- Numbers 3-4
- Psalm 62
- John 2-3
