As Christians, we've come to the Lord by the cross. We believe that Jesus died for us and we're forgiven and made clean through Him, but we still will not walk in the other side of the cross. Although we say we believe we're forgiven, we continue to walk in the same sin conscience we did before we were saved. The other side of the cross is the resurrection. That's where we were made free.
If Jesus hadn't been raised from the dead, then you and I would both be lost. Jesus became sin with my sin and I was made righteous with His righteousness. It was on the cross where Jesus was made a curse for me, but now through His resurrection, I can walk in the blessing. These weren't simply things that await me when I get to heaven, but that I can walk in heaven here on earth.
So often, we keep reminding each other of their sin when God has said that now (because we have accepted Jesus) our sin and trespasses "He remembers no more." We keep identifying with Jesus' bearing our sin, but we haven't actually taking it to the grave with Him. Jesus died, not being a sinner, but in the place of a sinner. Jesus died as a curse, but He was risen in glory. Everything I was, Jesus became. Now, everything Jesus is, I became. This great exchange was made in order that we would be born again as a new creation. Now, God expects us to walk in the cleansing glory of the Risen Christ.
We have been made so clean, so pure and so holy by Jesus' sacrifice that God Himself has now taken up residence in us. Of course, you know that a Holy God cannot live in a sinful temple. Even if the High Priest had sin in his life when entering the Holy of Holies, then he would die. But, now through Jesus, we've been made so pure by His sacrifice that we've become the temple of the Lord.
Was our past sinful? Of course, it was. That's why Jesus died for us to make us clean. Now that we've been crucified with Him and buried with Him in baptism, we should also live with Him in His resurrection. As Christians, we sometimes still identify ourselves more with the cross than in His resurrection. When Jesus died and was buried, we died and were buried. When Jesus rose from the dead, we were also raised with Him. This isn't some future event. It's a reality for us now. We're supposed to be living a life of victory and authority in His Name.
Easter Sunday is soon approaching and we celebrate as His day of glory in His resurrection. We should celebrate the truth that we were raised with Jesus. He wasn't the only One Who was raised from the dead that day. We were raised together with Him. If we weren't raised with Him in Life, then we're still dead in our sin.
Nearly all the sermons we hear in church are about Jesus on the cross. This is the fact that Jesus went to the cross for all who will believe. I hear very few sermons about us now being without sin and being pure in the Father's eyes. Somehow, we still act like God looks at us differently than He does Jesus. The only way God sees us is through Jesus. When God sees you and me, He sees us from the resurrection side of the cross and not the sin side.
Romans 6:10-11 (Amplified) says that, "For by the death He died, He died to sin (ending His relationship to it) once for all; and the life that He lives, He is living to God (in unbroken fellowship with Him)." Verse 11 says, "Even so consider yourselves also dead to sin and your relationship with it broken, but alive to God (living in unbroken fellowship with Him) in Christ Jesus."
Have you ever thought of yourself living in unbroken fellowship with God? Probably not. We still think that ever time we make a mistake, we are in broken fellowship with Him. We're depending more on our own ability to stay in fellowship than we are in living in unbroken fellowship because of Jesus.
And, because of this, we're still living (in our own minds) more under Law (based on our performance) than we are in His perfect performance from Calvary to the Throne Room. Very few Christians I know, are living a life of victory by His resurrection. We're still putting off our cleansing until we reach heaven. It is true that, "All have sinned and come short of the glory of God," according to Romans 3:23 (Amplified). But, what he was saying is that even those under the Law, as well as the Gentile nations, have sinned. But, in the very next verse Paul says, "(All) are justified and made upright and in right standing with God, freely and gratuitously by His grace (His unmerited favor and mercy) through the redemption which is (provided) in Christ Jesus," Verse 24.
We have a covenant of Grace and Faith with God because of Jesus. The Law was fulfilled by the One and last Great Sacrifice Who is the Lamb of God. There is now, no more sacrifice that can or will be accepted to God on our behalf. The sacrifice of God's Son on the cross took care of everything and anything that can ever come up on our behalf.
Because this is a covenant of faith, all grace was made available to every believer when he receives Jesus as his Lord. However, everything must still be received by faith. What I mean by this is, even though it's available to every believer, if we won't receive it by faith, then it does not profit us.
Romans 5:1-2 (Amplified) says, "Therefore, since we are justified (acquitted, declared righteous and given a right standing with God) through faith (it is already done, but we must have faith in it to enjoy it) let us (grasp the fact that we) have (the peace of reconciliation to hold and to enjoy) peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One)." Verse 2 goes on, "Through Him also we have (our) access (entrance, introduction) by Faith into this grace (state of God's favor) in which we (firmly and safely) stand. And let us rejoice and exalt in our hope of experiencing and enjoying the Glory of God."
The "rest" we refer to in our new covenant is that we were made righteous with His righteousness and it can bring peace to us, but only if we accept it by faith. Even though it's already ours through Jesus, we still must receive it by faith in order to enjoy it. We have right standing with God through Jesus. But, if we won't receive it by faith, then we will never enjoy it because we never feel worthy enough to enter into this rest.
Even though it's ours in Christ, each portion of our inheritance must be accepted by faith in order to enjoy it. Our forgiveness comes if we, by faith, only believe what Jesus has done. Then we can enjoy our walk with God as sinless in His eyes like Jesus is. We can enjoy our ability to stand in God's presence as clean and as pure as Jesus Himself, because it isn't based on our performance, but His. Now I can enter His rest. I no longer have to try and become righteous because I can rest, by faith, in His righteousness.
No comments:
Post a Comment