Wow, when I truly
think of the cross - exactly the way the Lord intends for me to understand His
cross, I do glory in it.
Paul said he
did. God wants us all to know why.
The cross indeed is
the place of death. But death to
what? All. Yes, but why?
This is such the
"job" of God's Holy Spirit for us to understand the incredible,
profound, deep and absolute deadness of all.
Romans 5 is so clear concerning sin and death spreading to ALL men
through Adam's act. It is completely
pervasive and again, absolute.
Presbyterians talk
about the total depravity of man. It is
true. All flesh is dead - no matter how
one might try to "dress it up" in the flesh.
However, not enough
to me is said about the TOTAL LIFE of Jesus Christ and His pervasive LIFE in
us. It still goes back to one
thing: HOW do we live the Christian
life?
But
Romans 5 also declares that God's Life and Grace are MUCH MORE than the sin and
death AND depravity that came through Adam. I need to get busy and find
out just exactly what MUCH MORE really means.
Is it the dead
flesh "trying" to be holy and righteous as a Christian now? OR is it truly what the Scriptures admonish
us to do and that is RECKON yourselves DEAD to sin and death through Adam and
ALIVE to God through His Son Jesus Christ.
Then we are told to
live a life of faith through HIM and HIS life bearing fruit in and through us
for ALL things - for life and godliness and yes, even for our works.
The Spirit of Life
in Christ Jesus has come. God made it
possible because of the cross. And if I
want to really be a true Christian, I must take our place at the cross with
Jesus Christ through faith that God says this is the way. After this though, we also take our place
with Jesus Christ in His resurrection - hoping in His power and life to make us
EXACTLY what we need to be and want to be - all through Him.
So we keep the
precious glory of the cross in the midst of our hearts as well as the
resurrection power of the Son of God ALSO in the midst of our hearts.
To me, we need to
be reminded that we, without the Son of God are indeed as dead as dead can
be. Only WITH the Son of God are we
alive.
And we walk by Him
- through His life, in His life, by His life.
Paul - that dear
man of God - made this clear. It is why
he was so persecuted. He was saying to
ALL men, Jews first that there is NO religion now - no keeping of any law that
can make you holy or right with God.
Nothing. But also, that no one -
absolute no one can walk either by the law through their efforts either. It has to come ALL through the Son of God and
by His life in us. "The Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus."
All must come to
Jesus Christ for life from the dead.
Included in this is forgiveness of ALL transgressions, sins, evil,
degradation AND the receiving of God's gracious love, favor, mercy, power,
peace, and eternal life with an inheritance.
In the meantime, God
has given us His precious Holy Spirit to teach us, guide us, strengthen us,
lead us, show us the WAY of the Lord.
My, my what a deal
- what a salvation - that Jesus Christ would truly come to live in a pot like
me! And He is there - there to FINISH
why He came.
All we have to do,
is let Him. Let's not live by our flesh
NOR serve Him with our flesh and its puny efforts; no, let's do ALL by faith in
HIM, His life dwelling in jars of clay!
Next time you see a
cross, glory in it - for it is the cross of Jesus Christ where He died and we
died too. Then remember too, God raised
Him from the dead. And in Him, we are
raised too - to sit with Him in the heavenly places - ALL by His marvelous
grace, love, and mercy.
Thank you dear God
for Your unspeakable gift!
Sue Gaither
No comments:
Post a Comment