We celebrated Easter last week. How does that change how we live daily? Do we go back to living governed by circumstances, more fraught in fear and uncertainty of late? Here is a devotion that challenges us to live differently in the light of the Empty Tomb:

IN WORD We celebrate the gift of salvation. Most of us celebrate because of the eternal life we know we’ll have in heaven. Though we suffer pains and trials today, we know it won’t be this way forever—that in heaven there will be no more sorrow and no more tears. We look across the Jordan and into the Promised Land, wondering when we’ll cross over and leave this wilderness behind.
We love the prospects of our future. But the Messiah’s ministry is much more than a ticket to future glory. It has present implications that, if we had faith to believe, would allow us to taste glory right now. Many of God’s promises included in redemption are for “the land of the living” (Psalm 27:13). His benefits are more than a distant hope (Psalm 103:2-5). The punishment that Jesus suffered on our behalf brought us peace—notice the fullness of life experienced by His followers in Acts—and by His wounds we are healed.
The blessings of salvation began the day Jesus blew the doors off of a tomb. If we place all of our hopes in the future, we’re missing an awfully large part of salvation.
IN DEED Does your life revolve around a future hope or a present reality? The truth is that both should shape the decisions of each day. But when the life we live doesn’t measure up to the life we’re promised, we’re often content to shrug our shoulders and assume the promises of God are all for our life beyond the grave. God disagrees. He gave His disciples the gift of faith—an unnecessary gift in the clear vision of heaven, by the way—in order to bring heaven into the now.
Jesus even commanded His disciples to pray that God’s will be done on earth as it is being done in heaven. The truth of salvation is not just that we will go to heaven, but that heaven will come to us in the here and now—if we believe. Live in that truth, praying and acting as though the Kingdom is invading your life. The punishment that brought us peace and healed our wounds means that it truly is. “It is certain that all that will go to heaven hereafter begin their heaven now.” —Matthew Henry (in “God With Us” by Chris Tiegreen)

Today’s devotion reminds us that we are in the “already, not yet” period of human history. Jesus has ushered in the end of human history that is governed in the power of the Holy Spirit. We saw this in the signs and wonders in the book of Acts, and we continue to see God’s continuing work transforming the nations both spiritually and materially.
So, though things may seem driven by circumstances such as the pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war, in reality, God reigns supreme and continues charting human history toward His end purposes.
The book of Revelation was written for such a time as this. As Christians faced increasing persecution and a changing world toward the second century, the apostle John was given a vision to encourage doubting believers. The book is a reminder that God is at work even as circumstances change. Take time this month to read chapters 4 – 22 and know that history marches in accordance to God’s plans. As such, each day moves us ever forward in God’s unfolding will. Have a blessed week! - from Singapore, Pastor Sam