It’s Ruined! It’s All Ruined!

It’s ruined!

Are there more devastating words?

I cringe when I hear those words whether they are spoken by a child weeping over rain soaked artwork or a friend decrying a failed marriage.

“It’s ruined” is the first stone thrown through the perfect window of Eden, sending shards of glass sailing through time to penetrate each of our lives – puncturing vital organs, severing hope from realized dreams, slicing through veins that spill the blood of our life’s work into thirsty graves.

You’ve ruined the moment.

The holiday is ruined.

My dress is ruined.

Our plans are ruined.

The rain ruined his laptop.

Their dreams lay in ruins.

He ruined her reputation.

His career is ruined.

The business is ruined.

The decision ruined her life.

Ruined.

There is no greater condemnation.

There is no coming back from ruined. Ruined is a dead end street. Ruined is a purple stain on a bolt of white silk. Ruined is D-Day, Pearl Harbor and Iwo Jima. Ruined is the harvest that remains when the locusts move on. Ruined is a life sentence. Ruined is the sound of an IED. Ruined is a suicide bomber. Ruined is taps.

Ever since Eden, we have lived our lives among ruins. Like survivors of a nuclear holocaust, we scratch out an existence from the remnants and refuse of ruin. Even when we bask in the sun enjoying a rich harvest, we watch for the gathering clouds of ruin on the horizon.

Until Jesus.

Are there more exhilarating words than “This can be saved after all.”?

Look, the stain is completely removed.

We’re renewing our marriage vows.

His plan turned the business around.

The medication is working.

Mom, I want to come home and start over.

She seems like her old self again.

His decision saved the day.

The city is coming back.

Isaiah 61:4:“They will rebuild the ancient ruins and restore the places long devastated; they will renew the ruined cities that have been devastated for generations.”

Isaiah 58:12: “Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins and will raise up the age-old foundations; you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls, Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.”

The greatest story ever told:

Once upon a time, all was lost, everything was ruined.

Then, God revealed His plan: Code Name “Jesus”.

The Ruiner tried to destroy the plan, thought he had brought even this Son of God to ruin, but there was a power greater than ruination.

Resurrection.

It is restored.

They are redeemed.

He is risen.

And they all lived ever after.