By 
The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified.He is not here, for he has risen,as he said. Come, see the place where he lay” (Matthew 28:5-6, ESV).
It is so easy for us simply to wonder about the reactions of the women and the details of that important morning. What did He look like? Why didn’t some people recognize Him? In what order did things happen? Subsequently His friends and followers saw Him, talked with Him, touched Him, felt His crucifixion scars, even ate with Him. This wasn’t a vision or an altered spiritual state or a feeling. This was a real human, back from the dead and walking around on a real planet made of real molecules.
It is almost too much for our minds to grasp that this was the morning that changed all of human history. Jesus was the victor. The dark of death had been the most powerful force in the world since the Garden of Eden, and now the Light of the world had defeated it.
We get discouraged by what we read in the news. Soon I turn into my grandmother and say, “Well, it’s never been as bad as this, and it’s just going to get worse.” Have you ever felt that sense of foreboding, darkening—like maybe this is the end of something great?
Take heart. Christians throughout two millennia have felt it. On the cusp of invasion and war, under oppression and persecution, our brothers and sisters throughout the ages and across the map have felt the weight of living in a sinful world that is opposed to Christ. Today, thousands are being killed for their testimony in the name of Jesus—but He is still getting it done. He is still on the throne. As long as there is a Holy God who is unchanging, loving, all-powerful, and good, He is going to win.
There have always been bad guys. Forever. From cover to cover the Bible is chock-full of those who oppose God and are contrary to Him, His will, His design, His love, His goodness, and His glory. That’s the bad news.
Ironically, the good news is: there has always been opposition to the Lord! The strife of today is nothing new. Most people believe the world is getting worse; but the fact is, there is no new sin, no new pain, no new evil.
In a strange way, we can take comfort in that. Someone has suffered what I am suffering. Human civilization has inflicted harm on itself as an attack against the Lord for thousands of years. Just because our technology is shinier in the 21st century, the motive and inclination toward darkness is not new. Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection are sufficient to destroy any attack from an enemy—ancient, 21st century, or future. The God who was and is and is to come, who exists always outside of time and sees all of it, does not think the world is getting worse. And He’s not adapting His plan for changing times. His plan is already complete. It is finished.
Throughout history many antichrists have come, as John warned in 1 John 2:18. But there is one good thing about antichrists; they all DIE. They have all been bound by time and decay, and every evil power finally meets its demise. Many kingdoms and nations have risen and fallen, but our Champion is eternal. He is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning AND the end. And unlike the rest of the cosmos, Jesus is death-proof.
I heard a pastor once say that for the believer, “the worst thing is never the last thing.” The thing we fear most is never the end of the story. Because we live in the resurrection of Christ, we are guaranteed that there is always light after the dark. Always.
So we who are IN Christ have hope. Because of His resurrection, the Church will stand until Jesus calls us to the wedding feast. The Bride will not be destroyed—not by persecution or execution or condemnation or laws or ridicule or dissension or deception or politics or the media.
“And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matt 28:20, ESV).
Praise the one who is the firstborn among the dead, who has supremacy in all things!
“Amen!
Praise and glory
and wisdom and thanks and honor
and power and strength
be to our God for ever and ever.
Amen!”
—Revelation 7:12, NIV
Susan Barton
Susan Barton grew up in Tyler and is a Bible Study teacher at Bethel Bible Church Downtown, where her husband Eric is pastor. They have two sons, a junior in college and a senior in high school. She was first introduced to Womenary by her mother, Alice Rhodes, who also recommended Eric as a Womenary professor. An English major, traveler, and freelance writer, Susan loves to lead women in Bible Study, where she always encourages women to go deeper into the amazing story of the Lord in Scripture. 
