There are things that happen to us that we do not simply “get over.”
Some wounds leave scars. Some betrayals change the way we trust. Some losses divide life into before and after. There are things done to people that are genuinely evil, deeply unjust, and devastatingly painful.
Christianity has never asked us to pretend otherwise. And the Bible never minimizes suffering in order to make Jesus appear greater. It does the opposite. Scripture looks directly at the reality of betrayal, abuse, abandonment, violence, grief, injustice, and death- and then declares that Jesus Christ is greater still.
When I say, “What Jesus did for you is greater than anything that’s been done to you,” I'm not saying what happened to you was insignificant. Not true.
What I am saying though, is that what happened to you does not get the final word over you. Jesus does.
The Gospel is not just the promise that God will help us cope with the things that have happened, it is the announcement that Jesus has entered our broken world, defeated the powers that held humanity captive, carried our sin and suffering to the cross, conquered death, and begun making all things new.
Like I mentioned in another recent post, Isaiah described the coming Messiah as one who would be “despised and rejected,” a “man of suffering, and familiar with pain” (Isaiah 53:3). Jesus literally understands wounds from the inside.
He knew betrayal by someone close to Him. He knew abandonment by friends. He knew false accusation, humiliation, rejection, physical brutality, and unimaginable suffering. Even as He hung on the cross, people mocked Him.
So when you bring your pain to Jesus, you are not bringing it to someone unfamiliar with suffering, you are bringing it to the wounded Savior who received the most unfair treatment of us all.
And remarkably, He even still carries the scars.
The resurrection did not rewrite history and pretend the crucifixion never happened, it demonstrated that the crucifixion could not defeat Him. There is something beautiful in that for us.
Healing does not always mean that your past will disappear... it means your past no longer owns your future.
The scars may remain, but the wound does not have to remain open; the story can still be remembered without continuing to define you. Paul writes:
“If anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” -2 Corinthians 5:17
Notice what Christianity gives us: not simply improved circumstances, but a new identity.
You are not ultimately the thing someone called you.
You are not the thing someone did to you.
You are not your worst moment.
You are not your greatest failure.
You are not your abandonment.
You are not your abuse.
You are not your divorce.
You are not your grief.
You are not the years you lost.
If you belong to Jesus, your identity is now found in Him. That is why the cross is so much bigger than forgiveness alone; although forgiveness itself would have been more grace than we could ever deserve.
At the cross, Jesus purchased your redemption. “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins” (Ephesians 1:7).
He reconciled you to God (Romans 5:10). He broke the condemnation hanging over you (Romans 8:1). He defeated the powers of darkness (Colossians 2:15). He brought you into the family of God (John 1:12). And He secured a future in which suffering itself will eventually be destroyed.
Think about the enormity of that promise.
God does not merely promise to make your pain manageable. He promises a day when pain itself will be gone.
This is why Christians can have hope without pretending everything is okay. Side note, everything may not okay. But that is why Jesus came.
Some things done to us are evil. Some losses cannot be replaced in this lifetime. Some questions may remain unanswered on this side of eternity. Forgiveness does not make evil acceptable, reconciliation is not always possible or wise, and healing cannot be forced onto someone else's timetable. But none of those realities make Jesus smaller. Your darkest chapter is still only a chapter.
The enemy would love to convince you that the worst thing that happened to you is the truest thing about you. Shame says, This is who you are. Trauma says, You will always be trapped here. Condemnation says, You are ruined. Despair says, Nothing good can come after this. But Jesus says something entirely different. “I am making everything new.” (Revelation 21:5)
Not pretending it never happened... making things new. That is the difference.
Joseph experienced extreme betrayal, to which he eventually declared, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good” (Genesis 50:20). He did not call evil good. He declared that God was powerful enough to accomplish good despite the evil.
The cross is the ultimate demonstration of that truth.
Humanity took the sinless Son of God, falsely accused Him, tortured Him, humiliated Him, nailed Him to a cross, and killed Him. It appeared to be the greatest victory darkness had ever achieved. Three days later, the tomb was empty.
God took the darkest event in human history and made it the doorway through which redemption came to the world.
That means there is no darkness in your story beyond His ability to enter. No wound too deep for His presence. No shame too great for His grace. No past too ruined for His redemption. No grave from which He cannot bring life.
Jesus never promised that following Him would erase everything that has happened to us. He promised something far greater: He would redeem us. And redemption means the worst thing that happened to you no longer gets to determine how your story ends.
What was done to you may have changed you. But what Jesus did for you can remake you.
The cross speaks louder than your shame. The resurrection speaks louder than your loss.
His grace speaks louder than your failure. His love speaks louder than your rejection.
And His empty tomb declares that even death itself does not get the last word. Jesus does.
~Devin
Devin Osborne
The Early Church