The beauty of any before and after story presents the viewers the opportunity to capture two realities with the same person. The transformation of someone from one position to another will always bring awe to the human heart, believer or not.

We’re able to capture befores and afters so easily on this side of eternity because we see ourselves and others, whether in a mirror, physically or virtually.

A woman going from a size 18 to a size 8, a man with a face full of acne going to an almost spotless face, a house renovated from a garage to a modern dwelling. We see these realities so easily and so it’s easy for us to acknowledge the transformation and rejoice in the awe of it.

As I prayed this beautiful good Friday morning, I felt the Holy Spirit leading me to pray for grace to capture fully the two sides of Jesus’ before and after; As the man on the cross, and the glorified king now sat in heaven.

He was helping me see that our spirits must capture both realities for us to grasp the agony of the cross that was meant for us, and also the glory of heaven that we now enjoy with Abba.

It’s easy to miss this particular before and after because it could seem so distant, so folktale-like, so in the past, but the victory of the believer today is in our ability to daily grasp this pictures; the crucified man and the resurrected king.

So today and this Easter, I’m choosing to dwell and put myself in every scene of Jesus, from the cross to the sky. I’m choosing to reminisce on the suffering and pain so I can also understand the glory and the crown.

I’m altering my mind to see that it was the same person who walked with men and lived like men, that now sits at the right hand of God, reigning forever.

You know what I’m confident that it’ll do for us?

It will bring us closer to the reality of Jesus, He wouldn’t be the only one touched with our infirmities, we also will be touched with the infirmities He suffered on our behalf, and appreciate the glory He was given.

It’ll eliminate the folktale-like, story-time idea that’s often hinged around the life of Jesus, we will see it as real, reality and relatable.

Finally, it’ll bring both realities to our present, not just something that happened in the distant past, but rather something that happens daily on account of what happened in the distant past.

We’ll see the before and after of our saviour, but much more than that, we’ll see our own before and ever-happening-after.

So grateful for what Jesus did on the cross. Like the famous song writer said: “we’ll just never know how much it cost to see our sins upon that cross”, so until we grasp it fully, we’ll dwell in the awe of this revelation we’re preview to.

Glory to king Jesus!