This is a late post of an earlier conference with Holiness. As life happens fast and furious, sometimes I get pulled away and side tracked from posting, but His words are important to me and so I share them today, even through late. This was our conference on Resurrection morning:
The Holy One calls me this morning. The dark of the night is giving way to the morning of a new day. It's the day we celebrate as the Resurrection of Jesus from the dead. History tells us the tomb is empty. Eye witnesses tell us He lives. My heart tells me that all of that is true.
For years I have tracked on the day my Savior was crucified. In my mind, through the Scriptures, I have placed myself at the Last Supper, in the Garden of Gethsemane, at the trial, and along side of Him as He bore the weight of the Cross, to the place of His crucifixion. For the 6 hours on that horrific day when the suffering Messiah surrendered His life and His Glory, I have year after year tracked Him, knowing it is my sin and guilt for which He, the sinless One, hung on that Cross.
The graphics of the film, "The Passion" gave an even greater vision of His suffering and instilled in me and even greater sense of guilt and shame for what He suffered.
Today, the Holy One calls me to focus on the Resurrection past the Cross into the place of "New Life". As I ponder the past "Easters", for all the celebrations, with all the new outfits, and songs sung about a victory over death, my mind remained focused on the Cross. I haven't been able to shake the guilt for a life that made His suffering necessary.
The Holy One speaks through time and repeats what my Savior said so long ago:
Then the conversation turns personal. "Stop living with the guilt of what Jesus was sent to die for." The Holy One continues to press in and on the message of the Cross. He gently lifts me out of my own thoughts to gain a new perspective. "The death that Jesus died was necessary and nothing about your life could or would have changed what had to be done."
His point is well taken. The agony of the Cross relates back to each one of us and the sin we have inside. However, and this is the point to be made for Grace and not to relieve any personal accountability, we were born with a "sin nature" and that means it was not our choice.
Our flesh birth carries a death sentence and we on our own simply cannot live up to God's Holy standard necessary to be in right relationship with Him. All our attempts are futile in and of our best "works" at being good enough. We need to grasp and understand the mystery and majesty of God's plan.
Jesus came to die for more than that argument we had yesterday, or the indiscretion of 30 years ago. Jesus came to die for more than the sin of our national leaders or our neighbors that impact our lives and our best intentions.
Jesus had to die to take away the sin of this world of people born after the fall. Jesus died to give us a chance for a new nature, a new birth as it were. All of us were born in sin that happened at the original fall. We cannot undo that original rebellion. We in our "flesh" have no hope of living a life without violating God's Holiness.
It is this "sin nature" that Jesus came to die to save us from. Without a Savior, we will stand forever guilty with no way to get free from a corrupted nature. Without a new birth we will live forever in an old death.
The message to me today is: "move past the guilt of the Cross as if you were ever capable of sparing Christ the suffering. If you live in guilt for what He paid to free you from, then He suffered and died in vain. Embrace the Salvation He provided and move on into resurrected life. Live for Christ now and stop agonizing over the "if only I hadn't done that".
Nothing but the Cross can change our birthright and take us out of the Kingdom of darkness and death and bring us victoriously into the Kingdom of Light and Life.
The reality is, however, that while Jesus came, lived and died to atone for the sin nature that drives all flesh failures we have and do commit against our God, there comes a day when we must make the decision personally give up the old and take on the new.
This is the true message of Passover and our celebration of the Resurrection some call "Easter". The dead of Winter is giving way to the new life of Spring. The death of the Savior crucified for the sin of the world, gives way to the Resurrection of His new life within.
The important truth is that not all can experience this New Life. Only those who willingly pass through the Cross of Jesus and leave their sin nature nailed there with Him can claim His new Life. Only those who say, "Yes" to Jesus as their Savior can claim the New Birth He promised as their Lord. A fresh start, new beginning, born again, resurrection life requires a willing surrender.
I know that The Holy One has a message for all who are reading this post.
But for me, the Holy One speaks to my heart of hearts, "It is finished, now walk in your freedom". I rejoice with thanksgiving for what He has spoken to me today.
The Spirit is calling. Can you hear Him?
The Holy One calls me this morning. The dark of the night is giving way to the morning of a new day. It's the day we celebrate as the Resurrection of Jesus from the dead. History tells us the tomb is empty. Eye witnesses tell us He lives. My heart tells me that all of that is true.
For years I have tracked on the day my Savior was crucified. In my mind, through the Scriptures, I have placed myself at the Last Supper, in the Garden of Gethsemane, at the trial, and along side of Him as He bore the weight of the Cross, to the place of His crucifixion. For the 6 hours on that horrific day when the suffering Messiah surrendered His life and His Glory, I have year after year tracked Him, knowing it is my sin and guilt for which He, the sinless One, hung on that Cross.
The graphics of the film, "The Passion" gave an even greater vision of His suffering and instilled in me and even greater sense of guilt and shame for what He suffered.
Today, the Holy One calls me to focus on the Resurrection past the Cross into the place of "New Life". As I ponder the past "Easters", for all the celebrations, with all the new outfits, and songs sung about a victory over death, my mind remained focused on the Cross. I haven't been able to shake the guilt for a life that made His suffering necessary.
The Holy One speaks through time and repeats what my Savior said so long ago:
"IT IS FINISHED". John 19:30.
Then the conversation turns personal. "Stop living with the guilt of what Jesus was sent to die for." The Holy One continues to press in and on the message of the Cross. He gently lifts me out of my own thoughts to gain a new perspective. "The death that Jesus died was necessary and nothing about your life could or would have changed what had to be done."
His point is well taken. The agony of the Cross relates back to each one of us and the sin we have inside. However, and this is the point to be made for Grace and not to relieve any personal accountability, we were born with a "sin nature" and that means it was not our choice.
Our flesh birth carries a death sentence and we on our own simply cannot live up to God's Holy standard necessary to be in right relationship with Him. All our attempts are futile in and of our best "works" at being good enough. We need to grasp and understand the mystery and majesty of God's plan.
Jesus came to die for more than that argument we had yesterday, or the indiscretion of 30 years ago. Jesus came to die for more than the sin of our national leaders or our neighbors that impact our lives and our best intentions.
Jesus had to die to take away the sin of this world of people born after the fall. Jesus died to give us a chance for a new nature, a new birth as it were. All of us were born in sin that happened at the original fall. We cannot undo that original rebellion. We in our "flesh" have no hope of living a life without violating God's Holiness.
It is this "sin nature" that Jesus came to die to save us from. Without a Savior, we will stand forever guilty with no way to get free from a corrupted nature. Without a new birth we will live forever in an old death.
The message to me today is: "move past the guilt of the Cross as if you were ever capable of sparing Christ the suffering. If you live in guilt for what He paid to free you from, then He suffered and died in vain. Embrace the Salvation He provided and move on into resurrected life. Live for Christ now and stop agonizing over the "if only I hadn't done that".
Nothing but the Cross can change our birthright and take us out of the Kingdom of darkness and death and bring us victoriously into the Kingdom of Light and Life.
The reality is, however, that while Jesus came, lived and died to atone for the sin nature that drives all flesh failures we have and do commit against our God, there comes a day when we must make the decision personally give up the old and take on the new.
This is the true message of Passover and our celebration of the Resurrection some call "Easter". The dead of Winter is giving way to the new life of Spring. The death of the Savior crucified for the sin of the world, gives way to the Resurrection of His new life within.
The important truth is that not all can experience this New Life. Only those who willingly pass through the Cross of Jesus and leave their sin nature nailed there with Him can claim His new Life. Only those who say, "Yes" to Jesus as their Savior can claim the New Birth He promised as their Lord. A fresh start, new beginning, born again, resurrection life requires a willing surrender.
I know that The Holy One has a message for all who are reading this post.
But for me, the Holy One speaks to my heart of hearts, "It is finished, now walk in your freedom". I rejoice with thanksgiving for what He has spoken to me today.
The Spirit is calling. Can you hear Him?
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