Three million acres, nearly fifty thousand square miles of prime Montana/Idaho forest, lay in charred ruins in the wake of one of the greatest forest fires in North American history. Timber which might have been harvested by the trainload and used to build thousands of homes, forest where many different types of wildlife thrive, forest where campers and tourists came to enjoy the natural beauty and feel their spirits revived, was now a scorched, lifeless, total desolation. Green, the color most associated with life, the color most pleasant for the eyes to look on for long periods of time, had completely disappeared and been replaced by the ash gray and char black of smoking ruin.
This is the first of two parallel scenes I would like to call to your attention. The second is halfway around the world. Although only three trees are involved, it is even more desolate. The three trees are really crosses made out of wood. On each of the three crosses was nailed a man. According to the custom of the times, each cross had a small board nailed to it just above the head of the person crucified. Two of the signs had “Thief” printed on them. The sign on the middle cross had the words “King of the Jews” printed on it.
They were all executed as criminals, but one was not a criminal. The man in the middle had for three and a half years walked through the countryside of Israel proclaiming love, goodness, and the mercy of God. The message He spoke was confirmed to be God’s truth by the miracles He performed. He raised the dead, healed the sick and lame, gave sight to the blind, and even commanded a storm to cease. Now, on Calvary’s hill, the One who brought such life to others by word and deed has died and His lifeless body is hanging on the cross.
Let me fast-forward you to the present. The year is 2007. It is almost two thousand years after Christ’s death on the cross and nearly 100 years after the great Montana forest fire of 1910. If you were to go to Montana today, you would be hard pressed to find any remaining traces of the fire which laid waste to a large part of the state. The great forest has grown up again. Timber is being harvested. Animals live in it. Campers and tourists and all types of people visit it. The beautiful green has returned. Life has issued forth from that scene of desolation.
And what life has issued forth from that other scene of desolation! The body of the Lord Jesus was carefully taken down from the cross and laid in a tomb. The mouth of the tomb was closed with a large rock. After lying cold and lifeless for three days in death, the body of the Lord Jesus came back to life in resurrection. Rising, He showed His victory over death’s awful power. He is now exalted to the highest place in heaven. Seated at God the Father’s right hand, His name is higher than every other name.
Millions have received the gift of eternal life by believing on His name. “The wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life though Jesus Christ our Lord” (Rom. 6:2323For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 6:23)). They are millions who otherwise would have been swept away to everlasting destruction through the power sin had in their lives, but Jesus Christ has the power to set the vilest free. “If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed” (John 8:3636If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed. (John 8:36)).
And what life we may find in the Lord Jesus! He said, “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly” (John 10:1010The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. (John 10:10)). There is no other way to live life to the fullest but by drawing near to the Lord Jesus Christ, who is “the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:66Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. (John 14:6)).
When this life is over and death claims the mortal bodies of believers, the spirits of those that belong to the Lord Jesus will enter into His presence in heaven. The Bible says they are “absent from the body” and “present with the Lord” (2 Cor. 5:88We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord. (2 Corinthians 5:8)). How wonderful it will be to see His face and hear His voice in the place where sin and sorrow never come!
Yet God in His love has an event even more wonderful planned for those who love His Son. A grand, incredible moment is coming in the near future, when all those who died in faith will follow their Lord in resurrection. In a moment of time their bodies will be made new in a state suitable for glory. The same power that raised the Lord Jesus from the grave will raise them up. Bodies and spirits reunited, they will enjoy God for all eternity. So “when this corruptible [body] shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?” (1 Cor. 15:54-5554So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. 55O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? (1 Corinthians 15:54‑55)).
This is the life that flows from the crucified Savior. This is the life that has issued forth from Calvary’s scene of awful desolation. This is the life that God in grace has for you! You can never earn it, you will never deserve it, but God would have you receive it as a free gift. Will you believe on the Son of God that the gift of eternal life might be yours?