In Genesis 3:15, we get a glimpse, a “big picture” sneak peak of God’s remedy to the problem of sin. God said, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” Right after Adam and Eve sinned, God stepped in and brought not only immediate judgment on sin, but also a promise of a future “serpent crusher” who would ultimately deal a sweet blow to the serpent and the problem of sin.

Fast-forward to the New Testament, and we find the main character of the story—God—entering time and space. The Creator God stepped into creation not to destroy it, but to redeem it through the person and work of Jesus Christ.

A key event in redemptive history is the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Timothy Keller, in his book Reason for God, states

If Jesus rose from the dead, then you have to accept all that he said; if he didn’t rise from the dead, then why worry about any of what he said? The issue on which everything hangs is not whether or not you like his teaching but whether or not he rose from the dead (210). [1]

If Jesus really resurrected from the dead, then He really is who He said He is—God in the flesh. The resurrection, among other things, changed the lives of Jesus’ original disciples, who went from being nobodies to being courageous men, ultimately dying for the message of the good news of the Crucified and Risen Messiah.

The disciples could not help, but witness to what they saw and heard about the person of Jesus Christ, especially, but not limited to, His bodily resurrection. Because of Christ and His finished work at the cross, the seed of restoration has been planted, bringing about real transformation in and through our lives.

The resurrection of Christ paved the way for the ultimate restoration to come in the future. As recorded in Revelation 21, the “new heavens and new earth” will be ushered—in all its fullness—in the age to come. This is when we will no longer experience the “former things” of this life, such as pain, suffering, evil, sin, and death.

Those of us who have trusted the finished work of Christ and placed our faith in Him have not only been forgiven and adopted, but also sealed with the Holy Spirit, who is “the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory” (Eph. 1:14).

One day we will finally “acquire possession of it” and it is going to be glorious! We will experience and enjoy perfect relationship with God, perfect relationship with each other, and perfect relationship with creation, just how things were meant to be from the very beginning.

[1] Keller, Timothy. Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism. Print.