Steven Furtick - The Greatest Story Forever Told (01/29/2026)
Pastor Steven Furtick preaches "The Greatest Story Forever Told" from Mark 16:1-7 on Easter, inviting everyone to enter the resurrection narrative afresh. He highlights the women arriving early at the tomb, the rolled-away stone God already moved, and how Jesus—the Lamb provided, the Lion triumphant—is the center of every biblical story, turning endings into new beginnings with power over sin, death, and every barrier.
Entering the Greatest Story – The Setting at Dawn
Now I want to read to you from Mark chapter 16, verses 1 through 7. I would like to ask you, in the short time we have together today, that as I present The Greatest Story Forever Told, that you would not just observe it or think about it or try to remember it, because you may know it already, but just enter into it. And by entering into the elements of this story, I think there are new and fresh things God wants to speak to each of us and do inside of each of us today.
So we'll begin with the text here in Mark's Gospel, verse 1, chapter 16. The Bible says, When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Salome, bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus' body. Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb.
I want to read a little bit more, because the really good part is coming, but I'd like to stop. If we're going to call this The Greatest Story Forever Told, we've got to look at the setting, because a great story has to have a great setting. So you could just skip over this part, or you could take a look at the specific details of the setting. On the surface, there doesn't seem to be anything spectacular about this setting. You've got some women. Let's hear it for the women who are going to perform a ritual to embalm the body of Jesus.
And the Bible says that it was when the Sabbath was over. Now, the Sabbath is Saturday, so this is Sunday, Easter Sunday. And Holy Week had started on a Sunday, the Sunday before this Sunday. Now, if you count with me, I want to show you something. Jesus came riding into Jerusalem to be crucified, to begin Holy Week on Sunday. It's the first day. Now, let's count. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday. Six is the number of man in the Bible. Anytime you see it, it's the number of man. It's an incomplete number. He's crucified on Friday, silent on Saturday. We've learned in this church that seven is the number of perfection, completion, all throughout the Bible. But then one thing I wanted to tell you this Easter day is that eight, anytime you see it in the Bible, is the number of new beginnings.
So, that might seem like an insignificant detail to you, but is it a coincidence? Let me help you out. No. The day they discovered that Jesus was no longer in the tomb was on the first day of the new week, which was the eighth day after he rode in to Jerusalem, signifying that our God is a God of new beginnings. Not just a God to be idolized in the past, but a God who is able to make a new beginning today. That's awesome. Everybody say, awesome. The Bible is so cool.
3 to 6 A.M. – The Worst Time Becomes the Best
But here's something that to me is even more relatable. It says in verse 2 that it was very early on the first day of the week. Very early. If we were reading the Bible in the original language, it was written, and we would see specifically it was between 3 and 6 A.M. The technical term for that is, it sucks to be alive time. That's what I call 3 to 6 A.M. Don't look at me all stiff like you never say sucks. It's Easter, but I'm going to talk real. I hate the morning.
How many of you are morning people? Raise your hand if you're a morning person. Morning people, raise your hand. I respect you. I honor you. I don't understand you. I have nothing in common with you. If you're the other kind of person like me, raise your hand. If you are this kind of person, if you are, I will kill the person who just raised their hand. I will cut them and watch them bleed out if they look at me the wrong way before I've had my appropriate caffeine intake. Raise your hand if that's you. That's me.
You know, one of the ways I knew that me and Holly were meant to be together was after our wedding night. I mean, I'm going to leave that alone. But the morning... I didn't mean for it to dip to that place real quick. Y'all are some real horrible people, what you were just thinking. But the day after our wedding, we had to buy one of those plane tickets. We stayed locally after the wedding. You know how tired you are after. After the planning of the wedding, all of the details. Shut up! Let me tell this story. So, we wake up and we had to buy one of those plane tickets to go catch the cruise ship where, when you can't afford to buy a real plane ticket, where you tell them what time you want to leave, you've got to tell them how much you'll pay. And then, after you pay, you click the button, it's like your plane is leaving at kill yourself o'clock in the morning. That's what time your plane is leaving.
So, we found out we had to get up at like 4 or 5 in the morning. And we had both been awake. This is how I knew she was the one for me. I mean, there are many ways I knew because she's beautiful and godly and sexy and all that. But, one of the ways that God confirmed it is, we had both been awake for 20 minutes. Neither of us has spoken a word to one another. And after 20 minutes, she breaks the silence. She looks at me. She goes, you don't like to talk in the morning either? And I said, no, I hate it. In fact, this conversation right now is kind of getting on my nerves. If you want to know the truth about it. She looked at me. She said, you are my soulmate. And we knew. We knew we were meant for each other. Because 3 to 6 A.M., that's the worst possible time.
Here's why. It's too late to go back to bed. But God knows it is too early for me to be awake. Let me get an amen from the second group one more time. Why did God choose to send these women out on their journey to discover that the body of Jesus was no longer in the tomb between 3 and 6 A.M.? Here's what I think he was saying. It's the end of one day and the beginning of another. Let me try it another way. You didn't respond like I wanted you to. Only our God is so skilled at writing a story that he can make the conclusion the introduction. And that's what he does in our lives.
And see, you may be at 3 A.M. in your life today. You may be buried in the ground of some circumstances. Maybe you lost a relationship already this year. And maybe somebody left you that was supposed to never leave you. Maybe somebody left you because of a physical illness and they had no choice. Or maybe you lost a job. Maybe you've lost some time. Maybe you've lost some strength. Maybe you've lost some hope. Maybe you lost an opportunity. Maybe you blew something. But we're in the greatest story forever told. When at 3 A.M., when you're stumbling in the darkness wondering, Is there any hope to this? God turns that situation into a resurrection. Isn't he good?
In fact, when Jesus sat on the cross in John 19, 30, when he stretched his arms and they gave him vinegar to drink, and they had put a robe on him and mocked him because he was the king of the Jews, and they twisted a crown of Thorn on his head, and then they gave him a sponge, and as he drank the vinegar, he uttered these words. He said, It is finished. He wasn't saying he was done. He was making an announcement. Everything that needs to be accomplished has been accomplished, and now my saving work can begin, because God turns endings into new beginnings. But that's not my sermon. That's just the setting. I have to get that out of the way, because now we have to get to the action.
The Conflict – Who Will Roll the Stone Away?
I mean, it's no good to have a great setting if you don't have some action. We need some action. We need some action. The ceiling fan is falling. Get out while you can. We need some action. Verse 2 says, Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb, and they asked each other, Here comes a conflict. Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb? Every great story needs a great conflict. You don't want to watch a movie about a guy who wants a Volvo, so he buys one. It needs some conflict. It needs a Volvo to catch on fire. He's rolling down the street. I need some action.
So here's the conflict of the story. Who will roll the tomb away? Now this tomb we're talking about is the stone set in front of the door of the cave where they laid the body of Jesus. It weighs about 250 pounds. Much too large for these women to move. Now if it had been some men, they wouldn't have made a plan. At least these women are planning. They're on their way. Somebody's got to move this stone. Who's going to do it? Let's start talking about it. Let's start figuring out how this is going to go down, because they're on their way to do something. They're going to anoint the body of Jesus. They've got oil and spices, and they've got a job to do. But who's going to roll the stone?
So now they're doing the thing they set out to do, but they've got an obstacle in the way that is bigger than them. I wonder who has a stone standing in your way today. A stone you can't move, a conflict you can't resolve, a relationship you can't restore. Who will roll the stone away? It's a good question. You know, you came to church. You want to live for God. You want more passion in your walk with God. But there's this thing in my way. I can't move. There's this addiction that I've always dealt with. It's too big for me. I've been in my family for a long time. Who's going to break this addiction? This addiction to drugs, alcohol, eating, gossip, this depression, this sadness, this sorrow. Who's going to move it away?
And so now these women have met an immovable object, and it's too big for them, and it's too strong for them. But watch verse 4. Critical climax of the plot of the story. Scripture says, When they looked up... Everybody say, look up. When they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away. So here's what we're saying. God got to the tomb before they did, and did what they couldn't do. And if there's something you can't do that's keeping you from God today, you need to know that he already moved the barrier.
So here's the word. Don't let a barrier keep you from coming to God that God himself has already removed. He's already broken the power of addiction if you'll trust him. Now, if you go trying to move the stone on your own, you can't move it. But what you could never do in a lifetime of trying, God wants you to trust that he's already done. Here it is. He's already made a way. He's already provided deliverance. He's already stronger than your struggle. And the stone was rolled away. Why aren't you happy? This means you don't have to stay at a distance from God's purpose for your life because of something you can't accomplish. Heaven answers your, I can't, with a resounding, God did. That's Easter. That's Easter.
And when they looked up, they saw it. Oh, the thing we were so worried about not being able to do has already been done. The thing we could never move, the thing we could never break, the chains we could never escape have already been unlocked by the power of God. And since I already told you about my ceiling fan and my honeymoon, we're already very personal, intimately acquainted, I may as well tell you this little story too about the first time that me and Holly ever moved at when we obviously moved when we got married. But then the first time we moved as a married couple from our apartment in Shelby, North Carolina. Casting, make some noise for your neighboring peoples, your comrades in Shelby, North Carolina. Toronto, you have no idea about Shelby, North Carolina. And we were moving from Juniper Terrace, apartment C-15 to 330 Delwood Drive. And we had to move across town and we started a little late. And see, I thought it wouldn't take that long to move because the apartment wasn't very big anyway. But it would surprise you how much crap you can cram into a little apartment once you go trying to move it all. So it took us the whole weekend.
We had these friends, the couple that helped us start the church. They went on to help us start the church. But this is back in the Shelby days. You don't know about the Shelby days. This is the Shelby days. Chunks and Amy Corbett, they came over to help us move. Well, we all worked the hardest we could. Holly had a little Ford Contour. None of us had vehicles suitable for moving. So we had not thought this thing out, but we had to be out a Sunday night because a new tenant was going to be taken over. So we had to be out. And somewhere along in the process, you know how you can get into a job and realize we're not going to get this done. We can try as hard as we want to try. We're not going to get this done. We're not going to move all this stuff. We're not going to get this big blue couch into Holly's Ford Contour. We're not going to get this done. I should have rented a truck. I don't have any money to rent the truck because I put all the money into the down payment to be able to afford the house. And I don't have a truck And I need to move this couch. I'd like to take the couch to the dump. The couch came out of somebody else's storage. It really needs to go to the dump, but it's the best couch I have, and I'm not going to be able to get it there. So I'm thinking all this. I'm not going to be able to get it done. And I have to go to church because I'm the song leader at Christ Covenant Church in Shelby.
And so I go, I'm leading music, but I'm not thinking about Jesus all Sunday morning. All I'm thinking about is as soon as this is over, I got to come off this stage and run to my car because we got to get this done. So I'm up there leading music, thinking about how I got to And then that one person that will wait for you when church is over, the person who is first in line to talk to you when church is over if you're on the stage, that person is crazy. I'll promise you that is a certain… Here are some things you need to know. Jesus died for you. He Rose again. The people who stand there waiting for you when you come down off the stage from preaching or leading are crazy people. Well, this guy wasn't exactly crazy. I'm about to prove to you that this story took place in the setting of Shelby, North Carolina. This guy's name was Mully McCraw. You have to go to Shelby to find Mully McCraw. Mully was awesome. Mully wasn't crazy. In fact, Mully had his own construction company. I love Mully, but not today because Mully likes to talk. Mully is standing there, and I know this is going to be a long conversation. I'm from the South, so I can't just say, Mully, I don't have time to talk to you. I have something to do. When you're in the South, you scroll through all these options of things mentally that you would like to say to the person, but you have been programmed not to say any of those things. Instead, you say, hey, how you doing, Mully? Now, some of y'all from other parts of the country, you just say whatever. The first thing pops up on the screen in your mind. No filter, no selection process, no delete, no scrolling. Just say it. Boom. Mully, get out of my way. I got to go. I don't have time for you today. But I'm standing there. Hey, Mully, how you doing? Good to see you.
Mully goes, what you got going on today? I'm like, Mully, man, I got a lot going on today. I'm trying to move. You moved back in 1973. I don't have time for you, Mully. I love you, Mully. You're a good man, Mully. But you need to get out of my way, Mully. But what I say is, Mully, I'm trying to move today. Then all of a sudden, Mully shifted into a mode where I found him quite helpful. He goes, you need any help? I'm like, man, Mully, we could use all the help we get, actually, man. It's so good to see you, Mully. All of a sudden, now I'm real happy about Mully. I said, Mully, I could use some help. He said, I'll bring my truck. So I'm like, cool, man. He's got a truck. He said, I'll be there at 2 P.M. I said, all right, Mully. I thought Mully was going to roll up in a Dodge Ram or something. Mully comes up in a rollback, a flatbed trailer. The trailer was the size of my apartment. I'm happy now. Mully backs that trailer up. It's got hydraulics on it. He lowers the trailer down to the front door of the apartment. I'm jumping up and down. I love Mully. I love Mully. Give me some Mully. I want to kiss Mully on his mouth. I love you, Mully.
You see where I'm going with this illustration? See, there's some stuff you couldn't do. There's some sins you couldn't move. There's some stones you couldn't budge. But when Jesus backs up his life to your life, and when Jesus pulled up his cross to your life and his forgiveness to your life, He said, I've got room for all your sin. I've got room on my shoulders for the weight of the world. If you're sorrowful, bring your sorrow. If you're broken, bring your brokenness. If you're hurting, bring your pain. I've got to roll back, God. Somebody say, roll back. Roll back. He rolled back the stone. He showed up early. He said, I've got this cupboard. So please don't spend the rest of your life trying to move the stone in your own strength and cart your issues across town in a Ford contour when you've got a God working on your side who can roll back the stone.
The Angel's Message – He Is Risen, He Ain't Here
But that's just the action. That's not the main part of the story. That's just the action. You can have a great setting and great action and still have a terrible movie, Waterworld. What we need is a character, a main character. Now, if there is one thing we have learned in this series, looking at seven of the greatest stories in all of Scripture, it's that every passage of the Bible on every page, every plot points to a meta-narrative and a main character that is bigger. It all points to Jesus. And so when the women went to the tomb, it's so crazy how this angel... Look at this verse number five. As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed.
I think this next verse is humorous. Don't be alarmed, he said. I'm just an angel sitting on a stone in a place where you were expecting to see a dead body. Move along. Nothing to see here. They came there to perform a ritual, but they were about to experience a miracle. Some of you came to church to perform a ritual. It's what you do on Easter. Got to get the wife off my back. This dude needs to hurry this long and get me home right now. Come on, I done sat through enough. That long movie. That crazy man picking up that knife over his son. Send that dude to jail. Come on. They came to church to perform a ritual. They went to the tomb with oil and spices, but they couldn't move the stone. The people who came to perform a ritual are about to experience a miracle, a resurrection miracle.
I believe God is working in some of your hearts right now. You've been touched as we've been preaching and singing and experiencing together. The next line is the key of the whole passage. He said, Don't be alarmed. You are looking for Jesus. They knew they were looking for Jesus. They just didn't know where to look. You know you're searching spiritually. You just hadn't found it yet. You're looking for Jesus, the Nazarene who was crucified. He has risen. He ain't here. When you get your own church, you can read it how you want to. I just said, He ain't here. It ain't good grammar, but it is good theology. He's gone. See the place where they laid him, but go tell his disciples and Peter… I love how personal God is, that coward that denied him. Tell him to. He's going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him just as he told you.
Now we're talking about a remembrance. So we've got the character, and there's a flashback scene now. Now I think we need to call Abraham back out one more time into the supporting cast of this sermon to help us see that Jesus is the main character of the whole story, and he's been at the center of it all along. See, Genesis is the first book of the Bible. As I'm watching that film about Abraham, I'm thinking, no way, God. That's ridiculous. That's where me and you would go separate ways. I actually watched that video with my oldest son on my lap, one of the times it played this weekend. I'm thinking, no way, God. Not a chance. I love you. I appreciate you, but not a chance. Watching that with my son on my lap gave me a little different perspective. He looks up at me toward the end of the film, and he goes, Daddy, where did they get that donkey? Real deep, you know.
Jesus says something interesting one time in John 8, 58. They tried to kill him for it. He said, Before Abraham was, I am. Crazy statement. Thousands of years before him, Abraham came. He was the father of faith. Abraham is the one who got the whole thing started. He's the one God called out. He is the progenitor or the father, the starter of our faith. Genesis, the book of beginnings. We're talking now about a resurrection, a new beginning. These women who looked up. They had the spices. They had the oil, but they couldn't roll away the stone. Now we go back to Abraham. I'll read to you again from Genesis 22, verse 3. The Bible says, Early the next morning…. Where have we seen that phrase before? We've seen that phrase before. Early the next morning, Abraham got up and loaded his donkey, and he took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. And when he cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about. And on the third day… We've seen the third day before. We've seen that before. It's pointing to something. On the third day, Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance, and he said to his servants, Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there, and we'll worship, and then we'll come back to you.
And Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac. And this would not be the last time in the Scriptures that a father would place wood on the back of his son for a sacrifice. The Bible says that he himself carried the fire and the knife. And as the two of them went on together, Isaac spoke up and said to his father, Abraham, Father, yes, my son, Abraham replied. The fire and the wood are here, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering? And Abraham answered, God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son. And the two of them went on together.
Now we've got a pattern. The women went on a journey early one morning on the third day. They had the oil. They had the spices. But who will roll the stone away? Abraham and Isaac went on a journey on the third day early in the morning. Isaac said, We've got the fire. We've got the wood. But who can provide the lamb for the sacrifice? See, in the Old Testament, you had to sacrifice bulls and goats and rams and lambs and pigeons and doves. There was no forgiveness without the shedding of blood. There was no taking away of sins without the shedding of blood. And Isaac knew this, so he says, Father, we've got the fire. We've got the wood, but where is the lamb? And after God stilled Abraham's hand in midair, one of the most disturbing stories in the Bible to me that God would even let it get to this point, but the Bible says that at that moment, when he couldn't take it anymore, Abraham, verse 13, looked up. Here it is again. Here it is again. He looked up, and there in the thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. And he went over and took the ram, and he sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. So Abraham called that place the Lord will provide. And to this day it is said on the mountain of the Lord. It will be provided.
The women looked up, and they saw a stone that God had already rolled away. Abraham looked up, and he saw a lamb that God had already provided to be sacrificed in his son's place. Here's what I'm trying to say. The stone was rolled away. That means God did what you couldn't do. But when you see about the lamb, it's pointing to something else. And here's what it's pointing to. Jesus is who you could never be. See, we're not worthy. We carry shame. We carry guilt. We're not perfect. We're not able. We're not capable. We're not good people. We're dead spiritually in our sin, but there is a lamb.
The Lamb and the Lion – Jesus at the Center
You know how I know this lamb is pointing to Jesus? If you will fast forward with me to the very last book of the Bible, the book of Revelation. We've been to the beginning. That's Genesis. Abraham saw a lamb. We've been to the resurrection in Mark. That's the turning point where the women saw a stone that had been rolled away. Now let's go to the Revelation. This is where John is called up to heaven to see a vision. He's a hundred years old. God calls him up to show him how he's ultimately going to annihilate all evil and how good will overcome and how God's going to win and set everything right in the world. Here's what the Bible says. Revelation, chapter 5, verse 1. John says, Then I saw in the right hand of him who sat on the throne a scroll with writing on both sides… This is not an instruction manual for a microwave that he's holding. This is the document that contains the details for the end of the world, how God will ultimately triumph, how God will ultimately win, but the Bible says there's a conflict.
He said, I saw a mighty angel proclaiming in a loud voice who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll. Here's the women. Look up. Who is able to roll the stone away? Here's Abraham. Look up. Who is able to provide the lamb for the sacrifice? Here's John, last book of the Bible. Who is worthy to open the scrolls? Who is worthy to break the seal? But no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth could open the scroll or even look inside it. And I wept and wept, because no one was found who was worthy to open the scroll or look inside. Get ready to get happy. Then one of the elders said to me, there's a problem in heaven. We got the elders. We got the angels. But who is worthy? We got the fire. We got the wood. But where is the lamb? We got the spices. We got the oil. But who will roll away the stone?
Here's heaven's answer. He said, do not weep. See the lion of the tribe of Judah. I love the Bible. Abraham looked up, saw a ram. John looked up and saw a lion. This ain't just any lion. This ain't Mufasa. This ain't Simba. This is the lion of the tribe of Judah. This is Jesus. And he has triumphed. And he is able to open the scroll and his seven seals. I'm almost home, but hold that applause. Because here's the verse that's got me so excited. And it's my seventh time preaching it. And I'm still enthusiastic about it. He says, verse 6, Then I saw a lamb. A lamb. The lamb in the thicket was pointing to the lamb in the throne room. He said, I saw a lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing at the center of the throne.
And the resurrection shines a light on the lamb of God who was slain before you were ever born. Who was murdered for your sins. Who was bruised for your iniquities. And who has been standing at the center of your life through it all. Every dark night. Every 3 A.M. Every immovable stone. He's the lion who's strong enough to roll away the stone. He's the lamb who's perfect enough to stand in your place for your sin. His name is Jesus, and he's at the center of it all. In the thicket, in the throne room, he is the one.
So God Sent a Savior – Bringing It All Together
Now I have one more thing to show you, and then you can eat ham, because I want to show you one more thing. We've been in this series. This is the eighth week. Eight is the number of new beginnings. This is Resurrection Week. This is the Super Bowl for the believers in Jesus Christ. Did y'all see that Super Bowl commercial about the farmer? Remember? So God made a farmer. That thing was awesome. Did you see it? Did it make you want to go cut your grass? That thing made me want to buy a tractor. I don't even have a lawn mower. It made me want to buy a tractor. I do have a John Deere mug. I drink out of it the next day, but that's as far as I took it. It was awesome. So God made a farmer. It made me love farmers. I love farmers. But I wanted to tell you something. While I was watching it, I thought on Easter I should put something together and share it with the church, bringing our whole series together. I should call it So God Sent a Savior. I would like to share it with you now, if it would be all right.
The resurrection shines the light on the God who sent his Son, the Savior, who was at the center of it all, all along. Here's how it goes. In the fullness of time, God looked down on the crown Jewel of his creation, and he said, These people are the apple of my eye, but somehow they managed to screw everything up all the time. I'm going to have to go down there and fix this thing myself. God said, The man I've made has made a mess of my image, distorted my intentions, and diluted my instructions. Humanity has been reduced to naked shame, eyes wide open, beholding a once wide-open paradise, now locked up tightly, unable to reenter because the rebellion reset the parameters. God said, I need somebody with nimble fingers, somebody who sows more than fig leaves, somebody who can seamlessly weave the broken hearts of humanity back to the loving purpose they were created for, someone to silence the lies of all the snakes in their lives, someone whose mouth has never tasted the poisonous bite of forbidden fruit, someone to pull the tree of the knowledge of good and evil up by its roots and carry it on his back. So God sent a Savior.
God said they need a chain breaker. The cries of my people in bondage are rising up before me, and the sounds of their wailing have pierced the portals of heaven. So I'm sending a deliverer to put an end to their days of backbreaking brickmaking. God said they need somebody who can deliver them from dungeons, addictions, corners, and caves from all the things that have made them enslaved. They need somebody who sees the dry ground clear through a sea of fear, somebody who won't just stretch out his staff but will reach out with nail-pierced hands. God said they need a prophet, a messenger, who means to make it abundantly clear. My God is Yahweh. When the small gods have failed, I need a smasher of Baals, somebody who can make a fool of every idol they've tried to lift their hearts to. God said, I need somebody who won't bow a knee to greed, who won't bow a knee to it's all about me, who won't worship status, position, or things, who can call down fire and then make it rain, unafraid to taunt the enemy, proclaiming prophetically, turning the affection of my people away from what's worthless and back to my love. So God sent a Savior.
God said they need a rescuer, someone who won't board the first boat bound for increased convenience, who won't forestall or flee. They need a rescuer with a heart like me, consumed with compassion and abounding in love. God said, I need somebody to prepare a table in dark places to invite the castaway and the throne away, to let them know, I am there. God is speaking to somebody right now. I am there. Even when they cause their own storms, when they inflict their own pain, when they end up in the belly of their self-imposed suffering, they need someone who will never need but always offer a second chance, someone to plunder the depths of death and distribute the riches of my grace to the ends of the earth. So God sent a Savior.
God said they need an overcomer. They need somebody who has a clean closet that is skeleton-free, a story with no imperfections, a heart with no ill motives, someone with steadfast sincerity and relentless resolve, a perfect lamb with the kind of confidence that makes its bed in the midst of lions, somebody who can grab fear by the throat and render it powerless, who will shut the mouths of every liar, wield the hearts of kings, and silence the roar of every enemy, somebody who can pray prayers and sweat blood in gardens of Gethsemane. So God sent a Savior. I love this one. God said they need a water Walker whose voice stills winds and waves, a man with perfect faith, to narrate the rise and fall of chaotic conditions and to point the way through clouds of doubt. When the boat is breaking up and storms are raging on and visibility is getting worse, they need someone steady on his feet, trained to tread on the surface of the deep, somebody who refuses to accept that walking is an activity reserved just for dry land, who believes living fluid and walking in faith go hand in hand, bold enough to place the ball of his foot onto the the uncertainty of water, a peace speaker with a firm grip, strong enough to catch a slipping, sinking soul, and carry the one that wavers back to the boat. So God sent a Savior.
God said, I need a perfect son with the skills to lead a search party for every runaway and renegade, somebody to retrieve and redeem all my lost sons and daughters, to remind the world that no matter what they've done, where they've been, no matter how low they fall into the pig's pen, they still have a chance to be called my kids. Somebody who knows how to throw a welcome-back party for the prodigal, willing to light the grill and kill the calf in celebration of the one who still smells like the swine he slept with last night, willing to Bury the rebellion of the world in the righteousness of his redemption. So God sent a Savior.
Don't get bored. I'm almost home, because on the third day, God said, I need a grave robber, somebody who can bear to be bruised by the knuckles and maligned by the heckles of sinful men that he himself created, and stare back into their faces of stone with a compassion carved more deeply than the canyons he constructed with a word, and not utter a word, but be silent before the shearers like a sheep sent to the slaughter. Somebody who can be beaten beyond recognition and buried in a borrowed tomb and still get up with the presence of mind to fold the strips of linen he's leaving behind. God said, I need a morning person, a morning person to wake up after three days and stretch a little and then roll his own stone away. Somebody to change the game of hide-and-seek and say, don't come to this grave looking for me, uh-uh, who will walk into the octagon and hand death its first and final defeat. God said, I need a hero, a conqueror, who knows where death and hell keep the keys and has the power to shake them down and take them by force.
Stand up, help me preach this thing. The one who strips shame bare and exchanges it for grace. The one who shatters every shackle and with one word liberates. The one who revives lost passion for the greatness of his name. The one who redirects intentions, making every path straight. The one who descends into the depths and stares fear in his face. The one who walks beyond every doubt and against the wind, stands unafraid. The one who recovers sons and daughters and restores their rightful place. He is the resurrection. He is the life. And he lives beyond the grave. Our God sent a Savior. His name is Jesus. Come on and shout if you love it.