In this pre‑service devotional delivered at Springfield First Church of the Nazarene on August 4 2013, the speaker reflects on the meaning of the crucifixion and resurrection for Christians today. He begins by citing Revelation 21:5 (“I am making all things new”) and then explains the historical reality of Roman crucifixion—its extreme humiliation, public exposure, and use as a punishment for treason. He argues that Jesus’ death was politically treasonous because proclaiming Him “Lord” directly opposed the Roman oath to Caesar. The speaker critiques the Platonic notion that Christianity is primarily about the soul’s after‑life, insisting instead that the Kingdom of God is a present, transformative reality that redeems the past, reshapes the present, and secures the future. He emphasizes that resurrection is not merely a future event but the inauguration of a new creation where death is defeated, all things are being renewed, and believers become citizens of God’s kingdom rather than of earthly nations. The devotional concludes with an invitation to worship the resurrected Christ, trusting that God’s love is remaking the world and each individual now.
Chapters
Good morning. Today is August 4th, 2013, and even though it is August, some people celebrate Christmas in July. Here at Springfield First Church of the Nazarene, we are celebrating Easter in August. Just a few devotional thoughts before we start our worship service today. And as the music leader, these are just some things running through my head as we are going to be singing songs of resurrection, songs of Easter. "He who is seated on the throne said, 'I am making all things new.' Then he said, 'Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.'" That is from Revelation 21. I am thinking about what it means today to make all things new. I am thinking about crucifixion because that is so much a part of our story when we think about resurrection. I have been thinking about what crucifixion is, why it is significant that Jesus chose to be crucified as a way to show us his love A crucifixion was not only an execution, it wasn't the electric chair, so to speak. It wasn't just the firing squad, which would be quick and maybe even almost painless in some ways. It was designed to humiliate people. It was designed to make the condemned person as vulnerable as possible. Writings by Seneca the Younger suggest that victims were crucified completely naked, no loincloth like we have in often many artist renderings of the act. When a victim hanging there, to be graphic, had to urinate or defecate, they had to do so in view of all who passed by, in the open from the cross. And you would have to do that. Imagine the insects that would attract in the hot sun, and the hot sun itself just beating down on you. It gets hot in Middle Eastern places. Crucifixion was described by Cicero as a most cruel and disgusting punishment. He suggested that the very mention of the cross should be far removed not only from a Roman citizen's body, but from his mind, his eyes, and his ears, because it was seen to be such an unjust form of death for anyone. Crucifixion was used primarily for treason. It was used for slaves, pirates, enemies of the state. It was considered the most shameful and disgraceful way to die. Condemned Roman citizens were usually exempt from crucifixion except in cases of high treason, which is why Jesus was crucified. He was treasonous. We have this idea often that Jesus was crucified because he came to save people's souls. That was a very Platonic idea. Still to this day in the church, we hold these ideas from Plato that are not really from the Bible about, you know, we gotta get our soul right so we can go to heaven after we die. That's a much smaller picture than what Christ really came to bring us. The idea of the Kingdom of God, something that changes everything in the now, in the present, redeeming our past, forming our future. It's not as simple as just a prayer we pray This oldest confession that we have, which comes from resurrection, is Jesus is Lord. It's the oldest confession of Christianity. Jesus is Lord. It's a direct contradiction to the mandated oath of Rome in that day and time, which said Caesar is Lord. That word Lord, it means prime minister, ruler, high priest, king, president. You name it, whatever you can say is the highest ruler in the world, the land, the universe, that word "Lord" was meant to be. To be a Roman citizen meant you must say Caesar is Lord. That was the oath you took. For you to say someone else was Lord, for you to pledge your allegiance to somewhere else, meant you were guilty of treason. And if you had tried to bring others into another another kingdom. That's why people like Zealots, who were often very violent, were actually people who were condemned because they were trying to overthrow the government. Well, Jesus was here to overthrow the world, but in a different way. He was here to overthrow the Empire, not by force, but by the assertion that it had no power at all, that it was not true power. Speaking to empire, speaking truth to power. Jesus' assertion that the powers of the world were no powers at all brought him to the point of his crucifixion. His resurrection is evidence of that. To put it in a modern-day, maybe American context, Jesus refused to pledge allegiance to the empire because his allegiance was to God and God alone, and not to Caesar. His resurrection is the beginning of a new world. The Bible is not so concerned, as I said before, about our souls going to a heavenly realm after we die Again, that's more Plato than it is Jesus. Resurrection is about the world being reordered, everything being made new, all creation being redeemed, not with a sword, but with the love of God that changes absolutely everything. It's from that Revelation passage I read at the beginning, "Behold, I am making all things new." new. What do you think all things means? All things means all things. His resurrection is the beginning of the new world, the reordering of all things. Jesus shows us what God is like. If we truly believe, one of the greatest assertions and beliefs, truths of our faith that we believe as Christians, is that Jesus is the image of the invisible God, showing us what God is truly like. Showing us our errors are in our ways of thinking, then it's true that God would rather die than to take our lives. That's how desperately he wants to free us from the powers and principalities of this world. On the final resurrection morning, when every molecule in our bodies fly back together and we are resurrected before his throne in our final judgment, the word Jesus speaks again and again to us, just like after his resurrection. Is fear not, because he is making all things new. Revelation talks of the renewal of all things, and it will happen. This is what we believe as Christians. Things will be set right that have gone so wrong. Evil will be banished. Things that in this present age are completely out of order will be redeemed, will be set right. This is the hope of resurrection. Make no mistake, death is the enemy. Almost every week, someone in our congregation, no matter where our congregation is, they are dealing with death. They're dealing with the pain, with the, uh, the wounds that it inflicts upon us. But resurrection tells us that death is a defeated enemy. It's the worst that the world, that the empire, can do to us. But God can give us life and life remade, life renewed, stored. It changes everything. It's not just about after we die either. It's about while we live, living as citizens of the kingdom in the here and now, living as citizens of a different world. Our citizenship, as it says in scripture, that if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation. The old is gone, the new has come. Our citizenship is in heaven. We're no longer citizens of this world or citizens of whatever government or whatever fences put up. We're citizens beyond those borders. We're citizens of the Kingdom of God. God is revealed in Christ through the transforming power of the Holy Spirit, brings us new life, reordered, remade, renewed in his perfect creation. And we hear again these words of Christ in the book of Revelation I am making all things new. As we come to celebrate the resurrection today, we come to behold the redemption of the world that God has begun in Jesus, and he is renewing it, bringing it about in us. So just some pre-service thoughts this morning as we come to worship today. Let us worship together on this glorious resurrection morning.
