Longing for Wholeness in a Broken World
On every side we are bombarded with reminders of the broken world we live in. We walk through our days longing for assurance, desperate to know we are secure, safe, and that no evil or tragedy will strike. Yet that is not the world we live in. And as we grapple with this existence, questions arise. Is our God good? Is He just? Will He prevail?
This world presents festering questions within us — ones we cannot answer. We have no response to the brokenness of this society. These big inquiries demand big solutions. Yet the answers are often found in simple, quiet spaces. Gazing into the night sky, star-spotted and stretching endlessly, we gain perspective. We glimpse answers also in tree-canopied forests and in valleys painted in wildflowers. Staring out over a calm lake, sunlight filtering through clouds, bouncing softly off gentle ripples, we remember: God’s ways are much broader, grander, deeper, and surer than ours. When sin, evil, tragedy, sickness, and hardships press in, we can cling to the blessed assurance found in the quiet: God has made us whole.
Never was there a more grand display of brokenness made whole than on Calvary Hill. Looking back on our innocent Savior dying a prisoner’s death underneath a bruised and blemished sky, we see the one and only way to our wholeness. We read of this scene in Matthew 27:51, as Jesus breathed His last breath on the cross, “the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.” This was the veil described in Exodus 26:33: “And the veil shall separate for you the Holy Place from the Most Holy.”
This partition was a dividing of sacred space. For the Israelites, it was a barrier from God’s direct presence. Only the high priest could enter through it, and only once a year. The tearing of the veil was a declaration of freedom bought with Christ’s blood: our access to God. At creation He made us for relationship with Him, at the fall that relationship was severed, and on Calvary Hill the way back to God was declared.
Because the veil was torn, we may now, as Hebrews 4:16 invites us, “draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” As the veil was torn in two, our brokenness was mended. Living in this fractured world, we return again and again to this truth. In His death, Jesus vanquished sin, and in His resurrection, He defeated death. With the tearing of the veil — with Jesus sacrificing His life for our own — we have been made whole.
One day we will see and experience the fullness of this promise, as we’re given a glimpse in Revelation 21:4, “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.” Oh what blessed assurance we have when facing the uncertainties of this world! Our Jesus has won, and He has made us whole!
“He is alive, He is risen
The stone rolled away, He is risen
Death has lost, Life has won
Jesus saved our souls
Touch the scars in His hands, He is risen
See the glow on His face, He is risen
Our Savior lives and we have life in Him
Jesus saved our souls
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Christ our Lord is risen
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Jesus is alive
The work of the cross, it is finished
Victory is won, He is risen
Salvation sealed for all eternity
Jesus saved our souls”
Listen to “He Is Risen” from “Hidden In My Heart, Volume III”
