The Reality of Christ's Powerful Victory Over Death Renders Every 'Yeah, But' Ultimately Powerless

Did you know the largest Powerball jackpot to date was awarded in November of 2022. The amount? $2.04 billion dollars. 

Now imagine that I, in November of 2022, am walking through a friend's house and notice a Powerball ticket on his kitchen counter. But wait. This isn't just any Powerball ticket. This is the winning ticket! Stunned by my friend's life-changing windfall, I confront him with the ticket and ask, "Do you know what you have here?", to which he replies, "Yeah, but I'm not sure I have time for that right now. I have so many things stressing me out." 

So naturally I ask, "What are you talking about? What things?" He responds, "You know, problems. Like I'm worried about how to get my daughter through school. Private colleges aren't cheap." After shaking my head, I tell him, "Friend, you just won the Powerball jackpot. You can definitely afford to pay for her bachelor's degree. Throw in a master's degree and doctorate while you're at it. Heck, you could probably buy the school." 

"Yeah, but, I feel like my job is on the chopping block. Did I tell you my employer is making serious cuts right now?" "Who cares if you get laid off," I chime in. "If you don't want to, you don't have to work another day in your life."

"Yeah, but my grandmother is really sick. And we're stressed out because the treatments she needs are not covered by her insurance." He noticed the puzzled look on my face. "Friend," I say as calmly as I can, "I understand you have some very serious challenges right now. But you seem to be missing the magnitude of what's happened. Every problem you've shared with me so far is a financial problem. But because of your newfound wealth, all of those problems have, in effect, lost their sting. Do you understand?"

Wonderfully, in Romans 8:33–34, the Apostle Paul seems to be telling his readers something very similar. Having begun the chapter by plainly stating in 8:1 that there is "now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus", Paul finishes the chapter on this same theme. Listen to how he expresses this in Romans 8:33-34...

Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.

Paul's letter to the Romans seems to indicate that these believers were both struggling with sin and suffering through adversity. They battled with the voice of condemnation on the inside, and with voices of persecution on the outside. This is precisely why Paul writes to them a chapter like Romans 8. If Jesus died for us--"more than that" (as Paul writes)--if he "was raised" to life on the third day, then everything changes. Everything.

But only if you believe. Only if trust is what ultimately defines your relationship to Jesus. You see, when you trust in Jesus as your only hope, you are trusting in a King that has been raised from the dead. And as Paul tells us here, that King (the object of your ultimate trust) is now at the right hand of God. "More than that", He is the One "who indeed is interceding for us". Friend, do you understand the magnitude of what's happened? By grace through faith, in the resurrection of Jesus you have won the spiritual equivalent of the Powerball jackpot. 

Though some might scoff at this, we know that trusting in the risen Jesus is so bigger and so much better than the Powerball jackpot. But... here's how they are alike. If I were able to talk to you personally and remind you of the fact that Jesus Christ is alive, victorious over sin and death, that he is at God's right hand at this very moment, that he is interceding for you, you just might be tempted to say (or think to yourself)...

"Yeah, but... I'm really miserable at work.

"Yeah, but... I'm drowning under a flood of debt."

"Yeah, but... my life is going nowhere, and it's making me depressed."

"Yeah, but... my marriage is falling apart."

"Yeah, but... I don't feel loved or appreciated."

"Yeah, but... I can't seem to do anything right."

"Yeah, but... people expect more from me than I can give them."

"Yeah, but... I'm afraid for my teenage son... I'm worried about my teenage daughter."

"Yeah, but... I'm scared about what the doctor will tell me at my next appointment."

"Yeah, but... I'm addicted to prescription meds. I'm addicted to pornography. I'm addicted to gambling."

"Yeah, but... I don't think I'll ever find a spouse."

"Yeah, but... I'm haunted every day by what happened to me."

"Yeah, but... I need to prove to them that I'm a real man."

"Yeah, but... I feel lost. I feel useless. I feel angry. I feel anxious. I feel ashamed. I feel alone."

"Yeah, but... there are so many people I don't want to let down."

"Yeah, I hear what you're saying about Jesus, but... I just have too much on my plate right now."

Friend, if Jesus is alive at this very moment, then all of our 'yeah, buts' really do lose their ultimate power. No, I'm not saying that your struggling marriage or debt or addiction or feelings of anger aren't important. But God has made you so spiritually wealthy in and through the risen Jesus, that you have both the resources to spiritually overcome any challenge and the reassurance that everything really will work out for you in the end. Even death cannot truly stop you. As Paul wrote a few verses earlier, "And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. "(Romans 8:28) And a few after our main verses, Paul reassures his readers that even our darkest hour and deepest sufferings, in fact, 

...in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. [38] For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, [39] nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:37–39)

I certainly understand that the "yeah, buts" can feel so overwhelming at times. Such circumstances, such hurts, such 'question marks', really seem to have the power to drain every last cent from our emotional, mental, relational, and spiritual bank accounts. But resurrected love, "the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord," is our 'blank check'. 

Whatever you're presently facing, whatever is weighing you down, whatever is dominating your thoughts and tempting you to trust in something other than God, then please know that the resurrection of Jesus provides us with constant reassurance that everything belongs to the risen King and we belong to him, forever.

Just as my Powerball-playing friend's problems were all financial in nature, we need to accept that at the end of the day, according to God's word, all of our problems are ultimately spiritual in nature. Why? Because all of them either drive us to God or away from God. Either we look to him in faith, or we search for solutions and security in something else.

But again, if we belong to the risen Jesus, and all things belong to him, then we have a newfound wealth that is beyond calculation. And because of that newfound wealth, all of those 'yeah, but' problems have, in effect, lost their sting. Just as I asked my friend earlier, so I ask you about the gospel: "Do you know what you have here?"

May God help us to appreciate today that the resurrection of Jesus, of the one at God's right hand... right now, the one interceding for us... always, his resurrection means the ultimate death of our 'yeah, buts'. Or to put it another way, in terms of your eternal good, in terms of God's big picture, the One who was raised up in power on that first Easter really does render every 'yeah, but' powerless.

Talk to him even now about the difficult things in your life, whether that be a voice inside, or voices on the outside. Believer, ask Him even now to show you the greatness of your spiritual wealth as you look in faith to the greatness of the risen Jesus.