Altar Call – Opelika-Auburn News
Walter Albritton
April 8, 2012
There’s just got to be another
morning!
Years ago when we lived in Mobile a
neighbor’s little girl was killed in an automobile accident. I think she was
seven. She was a beautiful child. Our young sons often played with her and
other children in the neighborhood.
The child’s sudden death in a freak
wreck at an intersection shocked and saddened us. Though we were not close
friends with the family my wife and I decided to attend the funeral at a nearby
church. The church was filled with friends and family members who wanted to
share the sorrow of the grieving family.
What I remember most about the
funeral was a solo sung by a young woman. I had never heard the song before but
it seemed perfect for the occasion. Though I cannot locate this song anywhere
today, the words still etched in my mind are these: “There’s got to be another
morning!” That was the theme of the song: because of the pain and sadness of
life, there’s got be another morning.
I wept as I listened and kept
saying in my mind, “Yes! Yes! That’s right! There’s just got to be another
morning!” That beautiful girl had only begun to live. Her life was cut short.
So there just has to be another morning when bad things are made right, when
the unfinished can finally be completed. Surely her tragic death is not the
end; there simply has to be more, thus the plaintive hope for “another
morning.”
In the face of the heartbreaking
death of a child the human spirit longs for, even cries for more. The cynic
does not share this longing. Life is not fair, he says; the grave is the end so
accept it and get on with your life. But hope lives on in the hearts of others
who cling to the conviction that a loving God provides for life beyond the
grave.
That is one reason why I believe in
the resurrection. Surely God has another plan for a beautiful life that is
snuffed out at age seven. Surely his plans include the completion of lovely
things that are not finished in this earthly life. Surely the God who is the
author of life is able to finish on the other side what he so beautifully began
on this side.
Question my conclusion if you must
but I am persuaded that at last, whenever God brings down the curtain, the
crooked will be made straight. Darkness will be overcome by the light. Goodness
will prevail over evil. Life will conquer death. Love will win in the end; hate
will lose. Though God allows evil to have its day, ultimately he will see to it
that right triumphs over wrong. Righteousness will finally defeat wickedness.
I believe in the resurrection
because it was necessary for God to complete what he began in Jesus. Death,
hell and the grave had to give way to the power of God. He raised his son Jesus
from the grave so he could complete the gracious plan of redemption. Alive once
again, Jesus gathered his disciples and commissioned them to make known and
complete the plan of salvation for the world.
Confronted by the resurrected
Christ, the apostles could hardly believe what had happened – but they did
believe it. They saw Jesus die on the cross. Then they saw him alive, raised
from the dead by the power of God. They did as Jesus told them and soon were
filled with a strange new power themselves. The same divine power that raised
Jesus from the dead filled the disciples with new life, joy and hope. They
began spreading the word – “He’s alive!”
Down the centuries since then that
good news has continued to spread. Millions have believed the testimony of
those early disciples and have continued to pass along the message – “He’s
alive!”
On this glad Easter day that message will be proclaimed on every continent as more and more people believe and celebrate the resurrection of Jesus and his promise of eternal life to his followers. Then one day the end will come and Jesus will return to judge the world. At that time there will be another morning, a glorious morning when God will finish the unfinished. I believe it. There has just got to be another morning – because He’s alive! + + +