Look around in the world today and there are many reasons to despair. On many different levels in many different countries.
Minor despair of financial difficulties.
To the major despair of war coming to steal from and to murder entire towns of people.
When Jesus was betrayed, arrested, set up, tortured and killed slowly in public. What despair his followers and family must have felt. All seemed lost, all his teachings must have seemed in question. The entire religion of Judaism and belief he was the messiah dashed to pieces in their minds.
Life can very often tempt one to ask in despair:
“Who can live in such a world?”
“Why does everything have to be so hard?”
“Why are those people so cruel and selfish?”
“What are we going to do?”
“Are we even safe? Will we be able to buy food and stay in our homes?”
The resurrection of Jesus Christ turned this despair of humanity into joy unspeakable.
Unspeakable because it is inexplicable. For those in Christ it bubbles up from within, in the midst of terrible life situations.
Joy because our days of death and suffering are numbered. Precisely numbered and meticulously planned out. Not indefinite, not forever, not alone.
Our suffering and deaths are for a particular purpose and appointed at a particular time. (See Hebrew 9:27).
Furthermore Jesus himself promises to strengthen and be with us as we suffer. Even further we are actually partaking in the sufferings of Christ. They actually are his sufferings if we can understand spiritual reality. All our suffering in this world is a result of Satan’s lashing out against Jesus Christ. As Jesus expands and takes back his humanity and his earth it terrifies and likely infuriates Satan and his principalities and powers.
But their end is coming. New bodies, new hope, new future, new heavens, new earth, eternal growth, eternal expansion, eternal glorification, and more are all in store for Jesus Christ. And for us also, if we are in Him.
Therefore the Joy that is unspeakably wonderful cones bubbling up from within even at the prospect of suffering and death.
