He will raise us up!

Come, and let us return to the LORD; for He has torn, but He will heal us; He has stricken, but He will bind us up. After two days He will revive us; on the third day He will raise us up, that we may live in His sight. Hosea 6:1-2

Take a moment to think about these verses. Though Hosea was speaking to the people of Israel at the time, these verses are also prophetic regarding Jesus sacrifice. Think about the reason Jesus came to earth in the flesh to live among men, so that we would return to the Lord. For He has torn, but He will heal us; we must remember that these people were rebellious and idolaters yet they were the chosen of God. They were His special people however when they sinned against Him there were consequences for there sins. God always sent one of His prophets to warn these people, to give them a chance to repent before His judgment was issued upon them. The bible says that the Lord is slow to anger and great in mercy, so He always gave His people the opportunity to repent and correct their ways yet when they didn’t they usually fell into some kind of captivity. So they were torn from there land and heritage yet there were still those who were faithful to the Lord and the Lord would heal His people and restore them to their land when the repented. Jesus was also torn. His flesh was torn for our sake so that we would be healed. His heart was torn for us because we were lost and without hope yet He would heal our wounds and give us new hope. He has stricken but He will bind us up; praise God! Israel was stricken with affliction when she sinned against God but in His mercy He would send His prophets to exhort them and give them words of encouragement when they repented and He would bind them up. Jesus was also stricken with all of our infirmities, with all of our sin, with all of our hatred He was stricken so that He could bind us up to Himself. Glory to Jesus! After two days He will revive us; on the third day He will raise us up, that we may live in His sight. I don’t know about you but this part fills me with great joy and a tremendous love for our Lord who loved us first. When Jesus died on the cross, He was buried and in the tomb three days. During that time He went down to gates of hell and snatched the keys of death from the devil and on the third day He rose. After two days He will revive us – Jesus takes the keys of death from Satan and revives us because now He has overcome death! On the third day He will raise us up, that we may live in His sight. When He rose from the grave on the third day He was telling us that we too would be raised so that we could be with Him forever! Whether we rise from the grave or we are caught up in the twinkling of an eye without seeing death, one thing is for certain, we will live with Him for always!!! In His sight! That is a wonderful place to be. In God’s presence, in His sight, in His perfect will. Praise God! Jesus sacrificed everything He had for you and me. He left His throne in glory to walk among us, feel what we feel, hurt how we hurt, so that we cannot say “God you just don’t understand how I feel”. Yes He does!!! He experienced it all. He was tempted just like we are, He was betrayed just like we are betrayed by those we love and those we think are our friends, He felt pain just like we feel pain! He is the perfect mediator for us because He knows what it is to be human. He knows our frame and remembers that we are dust. We are in victory my brothers and sisters because Jesus has given it to us through His life, death and resurrection! Praise the Lord!!!