Saved! The very good news!

rescued and saved!

Last time I wrote about the bad news of the drastic "fall" of creation from the way God made it in the beginning and intended for it to be.  Now it's time for the very good news of His promised One, Jesus Christ, our rescuing hero.

Jesus praying for us?

To appreciate the rescue we have to appreciate the bind we are in.  When Adam and Eve's spiritual nature was changed they lost their spirit to Spirit communion with God.  When they had children, the children were also lacking that spiritual ability.  What's more, the children had never experienced it in the first place, so they didn't even know who they had been meant to be.

There are many many religions in the world.  I think that reveals that somewhere in each of us there is a sense that we need more than ourselves.  We are reaching out to something beyond and there have been many religions invented to give people hope that they can find it, whatever it is.  The story the Bible tells is of God reaching out to us to recover the lost relationship, and our lost identity as spiritual human beings.

How did He do that?  God (a Spiritual Being, remember), sent His own Son, also Spiritual, to become born as a human being.  He was called the Son of God and also the Son of Man because he was both of God and of humankind.  He was spiritual in the sense that Adam and Eve had been, but he came and lived without ever distrusting his Father.  He lived a perfect life, meaning he lived in relationship to God and never acted out of a will that disagreed with his Father's.  To us that could sound not only impossible, but undesirable.  Why would you not want to have your own way at times?  I think it is because of love.  Jesus knew God's love so intimately and so surely that he couldn't imagine ever disagreeing with anything God might want for him.  He was able to love God back and trust Him so completely that he never ever took anything into his own hands.  He only did what God was guiding him to do - the way it had started out with Adam and Eve.

But the part that is so amazing is that in the midst of this deepest love Jesus and God both knew he was coming to earth as a man to die.  He was sent here to represent God to us in his love, compassion and character, and he was sent to bear the punishment of all the sin of the whole world.  In verse 5 of Isaiah 53 it says "...the punishment that brought us peace was upon him..." and in verse 6 it says "...the the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all."

Our rescue can only be possible because Jesus was a perfect human being who bore the penalty of sin, which is death.  He agreed to be the scapegoat for us.  He took all the guilt himself and was executed for it on the Cross.    Sin was punished according to the law of God.  When Jesus prayed, "Father forgive them, for they know not what they do" it was heard by God and He did forgive us.  Justice had been served and forgiveness was given.

Then God, being entirely just, raised His Son from his grave.  He had carried out all he needed to do for us though not guilty in the slightest, so God released him from death and he was resurrected!  (Now seriously, would anyone make this up?!!  It is beyond amazing.  There are no words.  And yet it is TRUE!)

Holy Spirit portrayed as a dove

There was just one more problem.  Man needed to have his spiritual nature restored so that he could once again, know God.  So in the same way that Jesus became identified with us, we can become identified with him.  He was one of us - a person.  That is not a stretch to identify with.  But we also get to identify with him as the Resurrected Son of God.

If you believe the Bible account of all of this (and you need to read it there to hear in your own heart how God tells it), then the response that God asks for is that you tell Him you believe and accept what Jesus did for you.  You tell Him that you realize you were born deficient in being able to connect with Him spiritually and you know that you have not lived as He designed you to live.  You admit that you do not really know Him or love Him because you can't do it.  He will hear this.  This is what He has waited all your life to hear from you and He is so excited to hear it!  Then you tell Him you need and want Jesus' Spirit (the Holy Spirit) to come into your being so you will be spiritually whole and completely able to have a relationship with God.

 Jesus, himself, described this as being "born of the spirit".  It is like a second birth and it really is your true life as it was intended to be that begins right here.  Woohoo!  Happy Spiritual Birthday!!

Whether you have passed through this narrow gate a long time ago, or just recently, let's keep going.  It's a fantastic journey into a totally new realm.  It's God's kingdom we are a part of now.  We are lambs of the fold, adopted sons and daughters, and we have growing ahead!

Saved? The bad news...

Some people are really turned off by talk about being "saved".  Some, who have been in church for awhile take that term for granted.  But this blog wouldn't make any sense if it didn't say anything about the facts of salvation.  Please bear with me as I retell the story which lays the foundation for everything else I'll ever have to say.

facts of life

What is this narrow gate the Bible says to enter by and why is it even there?  In the beginning I referred to the "journey" we are on just because we are born.  We all find ourselves here and we all know that some day we will die.  This situation has led every generation to seek answers to eternal questions about life, death and the purpose of it all.  If you don't believe we have a soul that lives on beyond physical death, then the rest of this will seem pretty irrelevant. 

The Bible says we not only have a soul, but a spirit.  The soul is sort of like the psychological side of us.  It includes the mind, the will, and the emotions.  The spirit is different and probably less familiar in our culture.  Some Native American tribes saw themselves united with nature in a spiritual sense, and other cultures are more sensitive to spiritual reality than we generally are.  But the Bible says we are created in the image of God and that God is a spirit. (see Genesis 1&2)  The Bible furthermore says that we must be born of the spirit in order to enter the kingdom of God (see John 3:5).


In order to understand what that means we must realize that there was a change from the way things were set up at first.  There came a time when man took the initiative to live apart from what God had given him.  He chose not to trust the goodness of his life or the relationship he had with God, and wanted more.  This is the story of Adam and Eve and it is very bad news.

But it looks so good!

The Bible says that Adam and Eve died when they betrayed their relationship with God and went beyond the one simple boundary they had been asked to respect.  It was the death of their spiritual connection with God.  They were physical and He is spiritual.  Without their spirits being alive in relationship with God, they lost connection to His love and peace and everything they had enjoyed together.  Suddenly they became aware of their smallness in the world.  They were unprotected.  They felt guilt and shame for the first time.  Distrust entered their own relationship and they discovered the strategy of blaming each other in order to cope.  On top of all this, God told them how this behavior had released a curse on them and on the earth itself.  It was a mess that was going to become messier and messier with every generation going forward.  (see Genesis 3&4)

But that is not all God had to say that day.  He also announced that events in the future would lead to the crushing of the evil power unleashed (Genesis 3:15).  It's hard to recognize much in those few words but they are talking about Jesus who would be born of a woman and who would defeat the enemy who had taken over the earth.  Everything in the Bible from this point through the Old Testament is about God preparing the way for a Savior to come and defeat evil, end the curse, restore our relationship with God and our dominion over the earth.

Luke 2:10-11

The New Testament, then, is the story of the birth of that Savior, Jesus Christ, his life, death, resurrection, the return of the Holy Spirit to the people who will receive, and what happens when they do.  These times continue to this day.  The journey to the narrow gate is coming to believe that something is desperately wrong with you and your life.  Entering by it is believing that Jesus is the answer to your need, that he is your personal Savior, and accepting what he did to save you.  It involves laying down all of your own mess and letting it become his.  This story is referred to as the Gospel in the Bible.  It is the "good news" that the angels announced to the shepherds ("But the angel said to them, 'Do not be afraid.  I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.  Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.'" -- see Luke 2:10-11).

More about the Good News next time.

Freedom

celebrating freedom!

 Let's look at freedom, then.   Don't most people associate freedom with doing what they want?  I doubt that most people would think of religion and freedom having much in common.  When I was a new Christian and I began going to Bible study in earnest, I saw everything through the lens of rule-following.  If you want "success" in life, then follow these rules.  These are God's rules so they are the best ones.  Invest in them and you will be happier and a better person.  That was my paradigm and I "heard" the Word of God through it.


Ironically, the first Bible study I joined was studying Paul's letters, and the first book I studied was Galatians which is all about freedom in Christ.  That obviously went right over my head!  I'm thinking of what remarkable things Paul wrote to this church:
"All who rely on observing the law are under a curse, for it is written;  'Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law'."  (Gal. 3:10/my emphasis added)
"I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing."  (Gal. 2:21)


So if following the rules is not the way, what is it?  Paul tells us what really happens (again, the emphasis is mine):
Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts...Gal.4:6a 
But by faith we eagerly await through the Spirit the righteousness for which we hope. Gal.5:5
But if you are led by the Spirit you are not under law. Gal.5:18


The result, or fruit, of the Spirit of God's Son in our hearts is this:
"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control." (Gal. 5:22-23a)

To me, the freedom God offers means freedom from striving to be good, and freedom from the fears and anxieties I used to have.  It also means freedom to let the Spirit do his transforming work in me, and freedom to know and rely on God's LOVE for me.  No wonder Paul is so passionate in this letter to the Galatians.

"the righteous will live by faith" Rom 1:17

"It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.  Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery." (Gal. 5:1)  

Thankfully, I have come to understand that I do not stand firm in certain standards of behavior, but in faith and trust in God's ability to make me into the daughter He wants me to be.  By grace, I will not be moved from that hope!

Before and After?

the river at a restful place

What is the life we enter beyond the narrow gate of salvation through Jesus Christ?  I can think of several scenarios based on experience (my own and others'):  times of joy over what God has done;  times of strength (or disillusionment) when difficulties are encountered;  anxiety over whether or not we live up to the expectations of sons and daughters of God; temptation to take pride in our belonging; or times of living no differently than before salvation. 
 

I want to stop right here and say that I am not planning to write about how I am learning to do a better job of living the Christian life nor to offer suggestions on how you can do so either.  What I get excited about sharing is what God says He has done for me and for you, and what that means for us day to day. 

I prayed about what to call this blog.  I never thought about a name until I tried to sign up and it was the first question asked!  I prayed and flipped through my Bible for inspiration, and the scripture about the narrow gate caught my attention.  Walking with Jesus is a different life than going along with the world, but the idea of narrowness being restrictive and my new life of increasing freedom in Christ was very intriguing.  I knew I wanted to explore this and write about it.  I wanted to write about what God has done and says about it to his children and the heirs of His kingdom.  It's about what happens beyond the gateway, and it is such good news!

I searched for the life I read about and heard preached about for a very long time.  It was illusive and there it always seemed there was something I needed to do.   And to tell the truth, that appealed to me.  If there was something I could do, then I would do it!  I wanted peace and joy and contentment and purpose and significance. I wanted to be rid of sadness and a mild sort of hopelessness about myself.  I believed the claims that this was possible.  I wanted to conquer fear and to do something with my life that would satisfy my soul.

But happily I was delivered from all that.  All that was about me.  The answer was all about God. 

Entering In

Jesus said "Enter through the narrow gate .  For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it.  But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it." Matthew 7:13-14

the gate is always open

My understanding of that scripture has changed in recent years.  It used to say to me - it is hard to live a Christian life.  There are many things you cannot do or have, but it is worth the deprivation because you will get to real life in heaven.  I see it differently now that I understand the gospel better. 
 

It is the way leading to life in Jesus Christ that is narrow because there are so many obstacles to believing.  Jesus also said that "...it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God". (Matthew 19:24 NIV) But in verse 26 he also said "...With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible".

We're all like the rich man, maybe not in money, but in some form of self-sufficiency.  Maybe our intellectual pride prohibits believing, or we feel our shame rules us out.  Perhaps success is covering the sense of need for a Savior.

I started out going to church with my mom and brother and sister, but my dad didn't go.  After high school I stopped because it didn't seem relevant to me anymore.  It wasn't until I was over 30 and being divorced that I finally fell to my knees.  I wasn't looking for Jesus. I was really looking for a way to make life work better for me.  But God knew me, and at just the right vulnerable moment He orchestrated that I would hear with my heart about His love for me.
  

If this were a fairy tale I would say "and I went on to live happily ever after".  It wasn't like that, of course, but I came upon that true way in Jesus Christ and I chose to enter in.  I put my hope in him and began a new journey and a new life.  That has made all the difference.

 

I have a destination and Someone who is seeing to it that I arrive.