The resurrection should lead believers to have further faith in God! We often have faith as a static concept. Is our faith diminishing or something? True believers will never lose their faith. The faith can be weak and small faith at times. “Night and day we pray earnestly for you, asking God to let us see you again to fill the gaps in your faith.” (1 Thess 3:10).

Living in Vanity Fair of Life

One of my favorite stories of all time is Pilgrim’s Progress written by John Bunyan published in 1678. The Pilgrim’s Progress is the 2nd most popular book in World History, after the Bible, and has been translated into more than 200 languages.

It is the story of a man named Christian, who is an allegorical story of heading to the Celestial City, which is heaven. Christian leaves behind the City of Destruction to find relief from his burden.

As the story unfolds, what Christian realizes as he progresses through life in search of salvation that anything that this world offers is truly empty and meaningless. Why? For the world is broken, sinful and hopeless.

Halfway through the story comes to a place called “Vanity Fair” Here, Faithful and Christian are mocked, smeared with dirt, and thrown in a cage. They are condemned to death for belittling Vanity’s false religion.

Have you ever felt like a Christian wandering through a Vanity Fair? Scripture says, “Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity.” (Ecc 1:2). There are many valuable lessons we will learn from Christian’s journey.

We live in a broken world, don’t we? Why is that? Because there is sin.

How can we live on in a world that is empty, broken, sinful hopeless? What does this mean for Christians today? How does “emptiness” have affected upon our lives?

1. Empty World

We are broken people living in a broken world. Full of hurting people and hurting each other. Because of that, we see “Brokenness” all around us.

It is tempting today to give up and live with dead hope for our faith in a compromising way. Sin never satisfies our hearts. This wasn’t always the case though. Prior to Genesis 3, there was a world without sin. There was a world without pain, suffering, and hurt.

This is not to minimizes the amount of pain, and the great trials they are walking through, but points them to the new life in Christ.

In John 4 we witness, there was something new: Cana of Galilee.

• (1) Jesus turns water into wine.
• (2) Jesus cleanses the new temple.
• (3) Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus.
• (4) Jesus’ conversation with a Samaritan woman.
• (5) Jesus heals the sick.

The cure to this is Christ! We have not been abandoned simply because difficult times have assaulted us. Our future in Christ is not in jeopardy. The difficulties we experience cannot undermine the certainty of our coming inheritance.

C.S. Lewis said it well, “If we find ourselves with a desire that nothing in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that we were made for another world.”

I think of the old hymn, “Deep Deep Love of Jesus”. Oh, the deep deep love of Jesus. Vast unmeasured boundless free. Rolling as a mighty ocean. In its fullness over me. Underneath me all around me. Is the current of Your love. Leading onward leading homeward. To Your glorious rest above.

I would not understand the thought or the great deep deep love of Jesus. All the languages and words in the world do not suffice to define that love. But we do have an example, and that is Jesus’ crucifixion upon the cross.

2. Empty Cross

The crucifixion of Jesus is the historical foundation of a Christian worldview. Events that took place in History: It is not mythology, truth that has been decorated with historical facts. What we read of Jesus being crucified, ought to solidify our conviction!

When we take a close look at the unimaginable suffering Jesus endured on that wooden tree, this troubles my heart.

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