Tuesday, the second week of Easter

Exodus 15

I will sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously; the horse and its rider he has thrown into the sea.

Our existence as Christian is sometimes confusing.  We say we are saved from sin and death, and yet we still sin and die.  We say that Christ has triumphed, yet the battle still seems to rage.  We say we live in God's presence, but we are still so bound to this world.  This is the "already-and-not-yet" of the Christian life.  It is why all these statements are indeed true.  It is how we were saved at the cross, are being saved today, and yet will be saved on the last day.   It is how we can seem to sit on both sides of the Red Sea, how we can say that "God will fight for us, we need only to keep still" and yet confidently declare already that "God has triumphed gloriously."

Now this may seem at first like a topic for philosophers and theologians to debate in ivory towers, but in reality it has great implications on our every day lives.  What wonderful comfort it is to be able to know, when caught between Pharaoh and the sea that the great work is already accomplished, our enemies already defeated, that we are indeed victorious even while the battle rages.  It is for this reason, the fact that we are already seated in the heavenlies with Christ, already a party to His Easter triumph, that we can face all conflicts no matter how hopeless. 

In our life there should be, can be, no hopelessness,  because even though we can't always see it, the victory is won, the issue is decided, God has triumphed gloriously, the horse and its rider have been cast into the sea!