When you’re born, you get this tiny piece of paper. It has all of your information on it. The specific date and time that you were brought into the world. It says who you belong to, and somehow you know your blood type. 

It’s basically a piece of paper documenting your existence. 

A death certificate is parallel. It contains the specific date and time of which you left your body. A time when your heart ceased to beat; air no longer filled your lungs. 

Both life and death have slow processes on the body. At birth, you take time to get good color, good motor skills, eyesight, and even familiarity. In death, the body loses color, the warmth of touch fades, the life is no longer seen in the eyes, and sometimes you even forget who you are in death. 

But, the same first and last words we ever speak, ever take, are the words that name our Creator. YHWH. 

The human mind tries to provide vowels between the consonants forming the word: Yahweh.

But, it’s actually the sound of taking a breath. It’s the sound of inhalation and exhalation. The very essence of our being rests on the constant rhythmic process that is uttering the personal name of God; YHWH. 

He is the embodiment of our entire existence from birth to death; His loved bestowed upon humanity with perpetuity. 

He quite literally loves us from our very first breath to our very last. Eternally. Beyond death. He loves us beyond the grave.

He weighed in on Calvary with a cat of nine tails, and a face free of a beard; a mother recognizes a baby face. His last bath was the spit of his neighbor, and a wooden cross for a towel to dry. He stood 10-15 feet tall, with a nails for mittens and booties. His bonnet was a crown of thorns, and he cried to his mother before asking where his dad was. 

And he left this world just as he entered. Alone. No clothes. No food. No water. 

But, what did He really do during those hours up to death that go beyond the obvious physical? It goes beyond the concept of what none of us can conceive about what he actually did from an emotional and mental perspective. 

Spiritual perspective.

His words tell us. 

“Father, forgive them.” 

Forgiveness.

“Today, you will be with me in paradise.”

Salvation. 

“My God. Why have you forsaken me?”

Abandonment.

“Woman, here is your son. And here is your mother.”

Care.

“I thirst.”

Humanity.

“It is finished.”

Accomplishment.

“Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” 

Surrender. 

His death certificate was our birth certificate. His blood type is our blood type. His time of death was our time of birth. 

A silent Saturday. 

Then came the morning that sealed the promise,

Your buried body began to breathe.

Out of the silence, the Roaring Lion

Declared the grave has no claim on me.

Jesus, yours is the victory! 

Sunday is coming!