The Lord All-Powerful will destroy the power of death
  and wipe away all tears.
No longer will his people be insulted everywhere.
  The Lord has spoken!
At that time, people will say,
  "The Lord has saved us! Let's celebrate.
  We waited and hoped—Now our God is here."
      —Isaiah 25:8-9 (Contemporary English Version)

    They were surprised! Isn’t that amazing? The disciples were surprised at Jesus’ resurrection. They hadn’t anticipated it. Even when they saw him, they had trouble believing because of their overwhelming joy. But you know what? We would have been surprised, too!

    We should have expected God to do it. It shouldn’t have come as a surprise. He has always been the God of new life. He spoke light into darkness, order into chaos, and life into dust. He turned slaves into conquerors and shepherds into kings. He took prisoners and made them commanders and fashioned housewives into generals. He took the impoverished widows and made them royalty, and called fig pickers to become his mouth piece. He turned the number one persecutor into the number one evangelist and transformed unlearned fishermen into the leaders of world wide change. He has always been the God of new life!

    If our God did all of this, then surely we should have expected him to turn the stone cold tomb of death into the launching pad of eternal hope. He has always been the God of new life!

He spoke light into darkness, order into chaos, and life into dust.

    The last few months have been hard. I’ve seen Satan kicking the life out of wonderful, beautiful Christian people. Whether it’s a precious mother and school teacher who gives up her life for her students or an abandoned unknown therapist who has lost all her funds because of toxic poisoning, the searing pain of Satan’s sting is real. Whether it is the arrest of innocent believers in Laos or the drowning of a 13 month old child, the Evil One’s vile lust for suffering is unrelenting. Whether it’s the unwanted news of cancer or the power of sin to destroy integrity, the Devil’s thirst for destruction is always insatiable. But our Hope has always been the God of new life!

    Every believer’s grave is redeemed by a mocking tomb that denies Satan his victory. This tomb is empty. It has been for many years. That once sealed stone is forever rolled away. The empty tomb reminds us Satan’s victories are short-lived, his agonies only passing blows. He cannot, he will not claim what is truly life from us. Because Jesus’ tomb lies empty, so will ours, for our faith is in the God of new life!

    Our Savior, our Father, our Almighty Lord has always been the God of new life!