The Holy One calls to me this morning. So much to ponder as my education in Holiness has gone to a higher level. I've been in "elementary school" for so long and the arrogance of one in the highest grade begins to manifest, and is being called out as I face graduation and the beginning of a new and deeper course of study.
Pride gives way to the excitement of finding out more about the Lover of my soul. This is what the school of Holiness is really all about. Discovering more about the One Who calls me into a Sacred Romance with Himself.
The Holy One opens up the conversation this morning with what seems to be a random statement. "Humans want heroes. When humans see what they perceive as a a loss, they come to despise the "loser".
I wonder where He is going with this and then I get a picture of Jesus standing before Pilate. His body beaten and His head pierced by a crown of thorns. The Glory of God hidden within the mutilated flesh of a tortured "man".
Then came the moment for the crowd to vote. John 18:36-John 19:16 tells the story.
In John 18:36, Jesus lays it out, "My kingdom is not of this world". He continues, "In fact for this very reason I was born and for this I came into the world, to testify to the Truth. Everyone on the side of Truth listens to Me."
Now there was another prisoner by the name of Barabbas, who had taken part in a rebellion. Two "men" were in line for execution that day, but due to the benevolence of Pilate, one would be released.
Who would it be? It was left to the crowd to decide, and the rebel was set free.
Most of us know the rest of the story. Jesus, the Christ, went to the Cross, died as One innocent, to pay the price that Holiness demands for the sin of all men. It had to happen. Jesus came to die and nothing the crowd did that day would have changed the Sovereign's plan for our rescue.
However, the fate of those in the crowd was decided by their vote. And that scene has been repeated every day over all the generations of men ever since. Every day that the story is re-told, the ones who hear it are being required to choose.
Jesus was never silent about what it would cost to follow Him. He promised persecution. He said that the Son of Man had no place to lay His head. He told all who would follow Him to count the cost before they commit. But the promise that He gave on the flip side was the rescue from the wages of sin which is death and the eternal separation from the light of all life. He promised peace that passes all understanding not to mention an eternity in Paradise with the Creator of the Universe with no more sorrow and no more tears and no more pain.
Unfortunately, the fluffy gospel has been given. We hear the promises and are not advised of the cost. Most are quite shocked to realize that to choose the One crucified means that we must follow Him into death. It is a far more pleasant thought to follow a rebel who lives to fight another day for the temporal freedom and pleasures.
The point the Holy One makes is very clear to me now and He asks each one in the crowd, "Who is willing to be identified with the One crucified? The "loser" in the day of the Romans"? "Who is willing to stand with Jesus and His Kingdom even to the point of death?" The Gospel means death to the ones who embrace it.
This message and therefore the truth has been taken out of most of our presentations of the Gospel. "Join Jesus and God will be pleased. Your life will be brimming over with blessings in this temporal world" is the message most take away from the Church. History tells us that to follow Jesus Christ brings persecution and possible death. The "feel-good" Gospel is exposed as a fraud every day as we try to live with a foot in both worlds.
The way of life as a Christian is to pick up our cross DAILY and follow Him. This life is a daily sacrifice of the self life, chosen and then tested . The Cross is simply a place of execution, nothing darker nor deeper than surrendering our right to self unto Jesus so that we can become more like Him every day.
Today, in our land, our sacrifice is not unto physical death but rather death to our flesh desires in order to follow our Hero.
Someday it might require more. But the question must be asked, if we are unwilling to live for Him today, how we ever be able to die for Him tomorrow? If you had been in the crowd that day, what would have been your vote?
The Spirit is calling. Can you hear Him?
Pride gives way to the excitement of finding out more about the Lover of my soul. This is what the school of Holiness is really all about. Discovering more about the One Who calls me into a Sacred Romance with Himself.
The Holy One opens up the conversation this morning with what seems to be a random statement. "Humans want heroes. When humans see what they perceive as a a loss, they come to despise the "loser".
I wonder where He is going with this and then I get a picture of Jesus standing before Pilate. His body beaten and His head pierced by a crown of thorns. The Glory of God hidden within the mutilated flesh of a tortured "man".
Then came the moment for the crowd to vote. John 18:36-John 19:16 tells the story.
In John 18:36, Jesus lays it out, "My kingdom is not of this world". He continues, "In fact for this very reason I was born and for this I came into the world, to testify to the Truth. Everyone on the side of Truth listens to Me."
Now there was another prisoner by the name of Barabbas, who had taken part in a rebellion. Two "men" were in line for execution that day, but due to the benevolence of Pilate, one would be released.
Who would it be? It was left to the crowd to decide, and the rebel was set free.
Most of us know the rest of the story. Jesus, the Christ, went to the Cross, died as One innocent, to pay the price that Holiness demands for the sin of all men. It had to happen. Jesus came to die and nothing the crowd did that day would have changed the Sovereign's plan for our rescue.
However, the fate of those in the crowd was decided by their vote. And that scene has been repeated every day over all the generations of men ever since. Every day that the story is re-told, the ones who hear it are being required to choose.
Jesus was never silent about what it would cost to follow Him. He promised persecution. He said that the Son of Man had no place to lay His head. He told all who would follow Him to count the cost before they commit. But the promise that He gave on the flip side was the rescue from the wages of sin which is death and the eternal separation from the light of all life. He promised peace that passes all understanding not to mention an eternity in Paradise with the Creator of the Universe with no more sorrow and no more tears and no more pain.
Unfortunately, the fluffy gospel has been given. We hear the promises and are not advised of the cost. Most are quite shocked to realize that to choose the One crucified means that we must follow Him into death. It is a far more pleasant thought to follow a rebel who lives to fight another day for the temporal freedom and pleasures.
The point the Holy One makes is very clear to me now and He asks each one in the crowd, "Who is willing to be identified with the One crucified? The "loser" in the day of the Romans"? "Who is willing to stand with Jesus and His Kingdom even to the point of death?" The Gospel means death to the ones who embrace it.
This message and therefore the truth has been taken out of most of our presentations of the Gospel. "Join Jesus and God will be pleased. Your life will be brimming over with blessings in this temporal world" is the message most take away from the Church. History tells us that to follow Jesus Christ brings persecution and possible death. The "feel-good" Gospel is exposed as a fraud every day as we try to live with a foot in both worlds.
The way of life as a Christian is to pick up our cross DAILY and follow Him. This life is a daily sacrifice of the self life, chosen and then tested . The Cross is simply a place of execution, nothing darker nor deeper than surrendering our right to self unto Jesus so that we can become more like Him every day.
Today, in our land, our sacrifice is not unto physical death but rather death to our flesh desires in order to follow our Hero.
Someday it might require more. But the question must be asked, if we are unwilling to live for Him today, how we ever be able to die for Him tomorrow? If you had been in the crowd that day, what would have been your vote?
The Spirit is calling. Can you hear Him?
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