Oh, What Love

1 Peter 1:3
...in His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead....

Have you ever considered what it means when something is defeated? When the hope you have resides in knowing that which you once were enslaved to now and forever is defeated, the word carries a more powerful meaning; one that merrits investigation.

The gospel is a beautiful and amazing story of God's love and mercy for a people so undeserving. Sacrificial love is something so counter-cultural and difficult to grasp. The gospel, however, does not end with sacrifice. The story does not end there. What is most often forgotten is Jesus' resurection. Jesus is alive. As a result, we were freed and made alive.

This relationship not only offers life, but life to the full - a life of freedom. Freedom found in perfect love. A Love that makes all things new. A Love that heals and redeems.

Defeated, death, sin and shame can no longer hold you captive. No longer in bondage to fears of abandonment or failure, to lies that you are too much or not enough, to believing that you are unworthy or unlovable. He, Jesus, defeted these things. Therefore our hope stands and will remain. Hope which is not fleeting or easily broken. Rather, a living, breathing, growing hope.

My mind often struggles to wrap around this concept. What I know to be true: Jesus has overwhelmed my brokenness. God is big enough to heal the extremely deep wounds of my heart. I no longer have to be enslaved to lies and sin and shame. Oh, to remember this:

Be free.