So in my last post I said something about owing every second of our life to Jesus Christ. I had a friend send me an email and they were like… "That sounded heretical… doesn’t that defeat the purpose of Grace?" No my friends, that is the very purpose of Grace. I came up with a human metaphor that might help to begin to wrap your mind about what we owe to Jesus.
Say you get taken to court. You are charged of murder (and guilty) and they are going to sentence you to death. But then your best friend runs into the courtroom and confesses that he was the murderer, and everyone believes him. Before you can protest, your friend is executed in your place. Now say that your best friend has a family; a wife and children. Would you not owe to your friend to provide for the family he has left behind? Of course, there is no written law that says "If a man sacrifices his life for a friend and that man has a family, his friend must provide for the family." But we would could easily say that we owe it to that friend.
Now say you don’t want to take on the responsibility of caring and providing for the family. So you kind of slide out of it. Your second best friend notices this and confronts you. "Hey, you owe it to that friend who died for you to take care of his family!" Would you get angry at your friend and tell him to shut up and that there’s no law that says you have to do that? Wouldn’t you agree it would be a selfish, cold-hearted, weasly, and just downright spinelss thing to do? You would probably feel guilty, if you have any concience at all. And if you ignored that family, I thinkn we would agree that any outsider could easily judge you to be a cold-hearted, immoral, unrepentant, selfish person. Am I wrong?
How much more the blood of Jesus Christ! My friends, do you see the worth of that blood that was shed for our sakes? Do you know what Jesus had to go through on the cross? There have been countless martyrs who have gone singing to be crucified and lit on fire at the same time, rejoicing all the time. But before his death, Jesus was cowering in a garden, so distraught he was sweating blood. Do you REALLY think that the master of the whole world would be afraid of something so paltry as dying on a cross or being beaten? I think not. He was afraid because the righteous wrath of God almight was going to be poured out fully upon him. He was going to the cross to bear your judgement and eternal condemnation. It pleased God to crush him.
I know I’ve said this many times before, but people just don’t get it! I get so agitated when I start talking or thinking about this. Do you really realize what happened on the cross? Do you really realize how unworthy every single man on earth is? Do you know how depraved we really are? Do you know the power of God to cleanse us from all unrighteousness? Do you know the power that the Holy Spirit offers us that so many don’t utilize in the least?
My fingers are flying. I got agitated. Oh dear. But I just….
<sigh>
Jesus sacrificed so much. How can we say we don’t owe him our lives?
Now something that has been brought to my attention. I do not mean to condemn people. All I hope to do is cut people. I want the Holy Spirit to start doing his job; making people feel miserable. I want people to walk with God, to see God’s power, to see all these things; to have the revelation of Christianity. I’m not standing up in my little pulpit saying, "You’re all going to hell!" I am included in all my above statements as well. That’s why I say ‘we’ and not ‘you’. I don’t hate people. I love people. I have to love people, because God commanded me too. But I really do. I just want people to see their blindness. I want people to get off that sidetrail that leads to hell. I’m not judging anyone. I am merely trying to get people’s attention. I’m trying to make a fool of myself for Christ.
Another thing that’s been brought to my attention. I do not believe I am going hell (for some of you that may seem obvious that I don’t think that, to others it may not be so obvious). And though I’m always saying how melancholy and sad and mournful I am, I do have the joy of the Lord. I have the peace of God beyond all comprehension. I know what Paul is talking about. But see, if I truly have the peace and joy of God, I must be in mourning. I know I’ve been pulled out of Satan’s kingdom, but I know my worthelessnes. I know what I am. I will never understand why God saved me, but he did. And I AM saved. So like I was saying before, all I can do to show my gratitude is hold up my life to God and relinquish all control. And a Christian cannot help but mourn (espcially in these days) when he sees the state of the world and the church. If everyone who professes Christ could be counted as the church, then the bride of Christ has become a dirty mud-splattered harlot who cannot even see her own wretched state. But thankfully not everyone who professes Christ is a saved man.
But there is so much evil around us. We are essentially swimming in a mudhole of sin and debauchery and lawlessnes. We have become hardened to the world. We come in contact with it every single day. We cannot escape it now. Satan is building things up, making it harder and harder and harder to be a Christian in these last days. When you look around you, and when God starts opening your eyes to give you a glimpse of the truth, you cannot help but fall to your face in tears. But at the same time you have the joy of God in being saved yourself. It is really quite paradoxical. But it is so.
Wow. That was kind of a run on of emotions and random thoughts.
<clears throat>
I guess that’s what comes out when I just sit down and start typing…. I think I’m becoming this insane crazy radical person for Christ. I wonder if that’s good. But it must be comical to other people. God be the judge. But when I sit back and look at myself, I can’t help but laugh at what I’m becoming. But at least God is working on me.