I know that my Redeemer lives. Job 19:25
Hallelujah! We celebrate the empty tomb and the resurrection of Jesus who paid for our sins. The popular song with those words is sung as a hymn of victory over death. It’s a joyous time.
The passage those lyrics come from may surprise you. It wasn’t at a feast or celebration. Job, afflicted and suffering, made that proclamation. Just as it spoke of his confidence in God, it also declares his need of being redeemed. He cannot save himself.
Job spoke by faith in the midst of his suffering. The truth of a Redeemer is most sweet to those aware of their need; those who know they are dead in their sins; those who feel the crush of a fallen world. Our faith is fixed in the blessed knowledge of the resurrection and our hope is sure that He will make all things new.
When we suffer the chaos of this world, we can cry out as Job did, “My Redeemer lives.” There is nothing more beautiful than the empty tomb. We cannot save ourselves. Death and chaos have been conquered for us. He is alive and He has offered that life to us.
Our eternal life of fullness begins here, even though, for now, our world continues to decay. When my heart aches with the need of redemption, when my body suffers pain and destruction, I cling to the truth, “My Redeemer lives.” And because of His empty tomb, mine will be empty some day, too.
But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 1 Corinthians 15:20
